# Install aview with Homebrew, apt ASCII-art image browser and animation viewer. Version 1.3.0rc1 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-19. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:aview ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install aview ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata ### Linux - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install aview ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: aview from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:aview - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 1.3.0rc1 - **Source summary:** ASCII-art image browser and animation viewer - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** GPL-2.0-only - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-06-19T12:30:02-07:00 - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - aaflip (cli) - asciiview (cli) - aview (cli) - aaflip (alias) - asciiview (alias) - aview (alias) ## Dependencies - aalib ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_big_sur, arm64_linux, arm64_monterey, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, big_sur, catalina, monterey, sonoma, ventura ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 1.3.0rc1 - Package-manager updated: 2026-06-19 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://aa-project.sourceforge.net/ - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage Aview is the AA-Project's terminal-oriented ASCII-art image browser and animation player. It displays PNM images and FLI/FLC animations through aalib targets such as curses, slang, stdio, X11, gpm, Linux console, and DOS video modes. ### Project history Aview grew out of Jan Hubicka's experiments with rendering images as ASCII art on old Hercules secondary monitors. The README describes an early attempt to convert a Linux users group penguin logo with Netpbm tools, dissatisfaction with the result, and a new converter based on font bitmaps. The project became part of the broader AA-Project, whose intentionally playful goals included porting important software to AA-lib and making AA-lib available on many platforms. Aview packaged that rendering idea into a practical browser for PNM images, with companion tools such as `asciiview` and `aaflip`. ### Adoption history Aview's official page records version 1.2 in 1998 and a 1.3.0 release candidate in 2001. The batch input shows it still packaged in Homebrew, Debian, and Ubuntu, which is typical for compact terminal media tools that remain useful and fun despite little upstream churn. Its adoption is bound to aalib and terminal culture: users install it less as a modern image viewer and more as a small demonstration that terminals, curses, and text-mode displays can still render recognisable graphics. ### How it is used `aview` opens PBM, PGM, PPM, or PNM images directly. On Unix, `asciiview` wraps conversion through Netpbm or ImageMagick so users can browse many image formats transparently, while `aaflip` plays FLI/FLC animations. The official README highlights contrast, brightness, gamma control, zooming, multiple dithering modes, inversion, and output to text-like formats. That makes Aview useful both as a viewer and as a way to generate ASCII-art representations. ### Why package nerds care Aview is a durable example of late-1990s terminal multimedia: tiny, portable, half demo-scene joke and half useful Unix command. It is kept in package managers because it exercises aalib, charms terminal users, and still does one unusual thing cleanly. The package also demonstrates the Unix habit of composing converters: Aview itself prefers simple PNM input, while `asciiview` delegates broader image decoding to Netpbm or ImageMagick. ### Timeline - 1997: Official Aview page copyright by Jan Hubicka. - 1998: Version 1.2 released. - 2001: Version 1.3.0 release candidate 1 released. - Post-1.2: NEWS records automake conversion, bug fixes, glibc2 build fixes, and stdin support. ### Related projects - AA-lib is the rendering library behind Aview. - Netpbm and ImageMagick are used by the Unix `asciiview` script for image conversion. - XaoS is mentioned in the README as part of the author's path toward ASCII-art Mandelbrot rendering. ### Sources - - - - source_facts.package-manager ## Security Notes broad file, network, media, or database tool signal. - **Geiger risk:** blue / medium - broad file, network, media, or database tool signal ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** aview - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - aview - 1.3.0rc1-11: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: aview from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | high quality ASCII art image viewer and video player | https://aa-project.sourceforge.net/aview/ - Ubuntu apt - aview - 1.3.0rc1-9.2ubuntu1: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: aview from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | A high quality ASCII art image viewer and video player | http://aa-project.sourceforge.net/aview/ ## Related links - [Secret-risk packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/secret-risk-packages/) - Has protected-tool coverage, approval-gate, or non-low Geiger security signals. - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [Media and graphics packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/media-graphics-tools/) - Matched media, image, audio, video, or graphics metadata. - [aalib](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/aalib/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [tpix](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/tpix/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, image-viewer, media, terminal. - [catimg](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/catimg/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, image-viewer, media, terminal. - [timg](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/timg/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, image-viewer, media, terminal. - [viu](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/viu/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, image-viewer, media, terminal. - [agg](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/agg/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, media, terminal. - [feh](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/feh/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, image-viewer, media. - [pqiv](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pqiv/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, image-viewer, media. - [djview4](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/djview4/) - Both packages work with overlapping file formats or content types. Shared terms: browser, cli, image, media, viewer. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/aview.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/aview.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph