figlet

Figlet is a command-line utility that renders text as large ASCII art banners. It uses a set of typefaces called FIGfonts, each defining how every character is drawn across multiple lines of ASCII characters. The output is commonly used for decorative banners in terminal environments, README files, or other text-based interfaces.

Input and font format: The program reads input text and prints the corresponding banner to standard output. Font files are plain text, usually with a .flf extension, and begin with a header describing the character shapes. Users select a font and may adjust alignment or line width to tailor the result.

Fonts and distribution: Fonts are distributed with the FIGlet package and can be installed system-wide or per-user. A wide variety of fonts exists, ranging from simple block styles to more decorative designs. New fonts can be downloaded from repositories or created by defining the ASCII representations for each character.

Applications and ecosystem: Numerous implementations and related tools exist, including wrappers for other programming languages. FIGlet remains widely used for creating stylized headers and banners in command-line environments and is often cited in discussions of ASCII art and text rendering. It has inspired related projects such as alternative ASCII art generators and language-specific libraries that expose similar functionality.