jp2a

I recently tried out jp2a and was impressed by its ability to convert JPG images to ASCII. Despite being a small utility, jp2a is a powerful tool that is written in C and released under the GNU General Public License v2 or later.

To build and install jp2a, you will need to have jpeglib installed. On Mac OS X, I found that using the command sudo port install jpeg, followed by ./configure --with-jpeg-prefix=/opt/local make make install, did the trick. When using the --with-jpeg-prefix option, configure will search for /opt/local/include/jpeglib.h and link it with /opt/local/lib/libjpeg.a. It is important to note that while many systems have libjpeg.a, they often lack the development headers that are required to use jp2a. In such cases, these headers can be downloaded from the link provided in the setup instructions.

One of the main benefits of this release is that it is now compatible with older C compilers like GCC 2.95.4. Overall, jp2a is a highly functional tool that makes converting JPGs to ASCII a breeze. Its compatibility with older compilers coupled with its user-friendly installation process makes it a worthwhile addition to any software library.