Automic VaultAutomic Vault

brew

Install jp2a with Homebrew, apt, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper

Convert JPG images to ASCII. Version 1.3.3 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.

Install commandSecurity notes

install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install jp2a

local Homebrew formula metadata

MacPortsverified · 94%
sudo port install jp2a

MacPorts ports tree · graphics/jp2a/Portfile · source: api.github.com

Linux

Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install jp2a

Debian stable package indexes · jp2a · source: deb.debian.org

Nixverified · 92%
nix profile install nixpkgs#jp2a

nixpkgs package indexes · pkgs/by-name/jp/jp2a/package.nix · source: api.github.com

Arch Linux pacmanverified · 92%
sudo pacman -S jp2a

Arch Linux sync databases · jp2a · source: geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com

openSUSE zypperverified · 92%
sudo zypper install jp2a

openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · jp2a · source: download.opensuse.org

overview

Package summary

Convert JPG images to ASCII

Commands and aliases

  • jp2a

history

Project history and usage

jp2a is a JPEG-to-ASCII converter with the durable appeal of a classic terminal media toy: give it an image file or URL and it emits text, ANSI color, or HTML-style output. Later maintained releases broadened the input surface from JPEG to PNG and WebP.

Project history

Christian Stigen Larsen's original jp2a repository describes the program as a simple JPEG to ASCII converter, notes earlier SourceForge hosting, and gives a 2006-2016 copyright range. The Talinx-maintained repository continues the project with packaging-oriented build instructions, Doxygen documentation support, Docker usage, and support for JPEG, PNG, and WebP inputs.

The maintained release history shows incremental modernization rather than a redesign: truecolor and 256-color terminal output in v1.0.9, PNG and HTML Living Standard support in v1.1.0, edge shading in v1.2.0, and WebP plus Exif orientation handling in v1.3.0.

Adoption history

jp2a has the adoption pattern of a long-lived Unix amusement utility: small C code, autotools build, libjpeg dependency, optional libcurl and ncurses features, and package-manager availability. The batch facts list Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, MacPorts, Nix, Arch, and openSUSE packages.

How it is used

Users run jp2a on image files or URLs to render ASCII art in terminals, web pages, or scripts. The maintained README documents ordinary configure/make builds, Docker execution, and optional network-image conversion through libcurl.

Why package nerds care

jp2a is a tiny artifact of terminal culture: not infrastructure, but exactly the sort of package people install to demonstrate that a shell can still be visual. Its longevity also shows how old SourceForge-era utilities survive through forks and packaging.

Timeline

  • 2006: Original copyright range for jp2a begins in the upstream README.
  • 2016: Original repository README says the project had moved from SourceForge to GitHub.
  • 2022: v1.0.9 added truecolor and 256-color terminal output.
  • 2022: v1.1.0 added PNG image support and HTML Living Standard output support.
  • 2023: v1.2.0 added edge shading.
  • 2024: v1.3.0 added WebP input and Exif orientation support.
  • 2025: v1.3.3 appeared in the maintained release line.

Related projects

  • Letterpress is documented by the maintained README as a graphical interface for jp2a.
  • The original cslarsen/jp2a repository is the historical upstream; the Talinx repository is the maintained package source used by Homebrew.
  • jp2a depends on image libraries such as jpeglib or libjpeg-turbo, libpng, and libwebp.

security posture

Risk level: blue

broad file, network, media, or database tool signal.

Risk classifier

blue risk · medium confidence · tool

Why

  • broad file, network, media, or database tool signal

Signals

  • text:image

Install behavior

  • No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
  • Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
  • Installs with 4 runtime dependencies.
  • Build metadata lists 1 build dependencies.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

executables

Installed executables

CommandKindExposureNote
jp2acliglobal executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-08
manager version1.3.3
manager updated
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected

https://github.com/Talinx/jp2a

  • infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence
  • infoNo cached GitHub release or tag data was available.https://github.com/Talinx/jp2anone confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package keybrew:jp2a
Version1.3.3
Package managerHomebrew
Package manager pagehttps://formulae.brew.sh/formula/jp2a
Homepagehttps://github.com/Talinx/jp2a
Repositoryhttps://github.com/Talinx/jp2a
Upstream docshttps://github.com/Talinx/jp2a#readme
LicenseGPL-2.0-or-later
Source archivehttps://github.com/Talinx/jp2a/releases/download/v1.3.3/jp2a-1.3.3.tar.bz2
Dependenciesjpeg-turbo, libexif, libpng, webp
Build dependenciespkgconf
Uses from macOScurl, ncurses
Bottleavailable (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-installnot defined
Servicenone declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source DatabaseHomebrew formula API
Taphomebrew/core
Full Namejp2a
Version Scheme1
Revision0
Bottle Stable Root URLhttps://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecatedno
Disabledno
Keg Onlyno
URL Keys
  • stable

source database matches

Other package-manager records

Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.

Debian apt95%

jp2a 1.3.2-1

converts jpg and png images to ascii

https://github.com/Talinx/jp2a

sudo apt install jp2a
  • Section: graphics
  • Architecture: amd64
  • 7 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Jp2a
Debian stable package indexes · deb.debian.org · Debian stable package indexes: jp2a from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz
Nix95%

jp2a

nix profile install nixpkgs#jp2a
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Jp2a
nixpkgs package indexes · api.github.com · nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/jp/jp2a/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
Ubuntu apt95%

jp2a 1.1.1-2ubuntu2

converts jpg and png images to ascii

https://github.com/Talinx/jp2a

sudo apt install jp2a
  • Section: universe/graphics
  • Architecture: amd64
  • 5 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Jp2a
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes · archive.ubuntu.com · Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: jp2a from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz
pacman95%

jp2a 1.3.3-1

A small utility for converting JPG images to ASCII

https://github.com/Talinx/jp2a

sudo pacman -S jp2a
  • License: GPL-2.0-only
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • 7 dependencies
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Jp2a
Arch Linux sync databases · geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com · Arch Linux sync databases: jp2a from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz
zypper95%

jp2a 1.3.3-1.4

Converts JPEG images to ASCII

https://github.com/Talinx/jp2a

sudo zypper install jp2a
  • License: GPL-2.0-only
  • Category: Amusements/Toys/Graphics
  • Architecture: x86_64
  • Source Package: jp2a
  • 7 dependencies
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Jp2a
openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · download.opensuse.org · openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: jp2a from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst
zypper95%

jp2a-bash-completion 1.3.3-1.4

Bash completions scripts for jp2a

https://github.com/Talinx/jp2a

sudo zypper install jp2a-bash-completion
  • License: GPL-2.0-only
  • Category: Amusements/Toys/Graphics
  • Architecture: noarch
  • Source Package: jp2a
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Jp2a
openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · download.opensuse.org · openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: jp2a-bash-completion from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst
zypper95%

jp2a-zsh-completion 1.3.3-1.4

Zsh completions scripts for jp2a

https://github.com/Talinx/jp2a

sudo zypper install jp2a-zsh-completion
  • License: GPL-2.0-only
  • Category: Amusements/Toys/Graphics
  • Architecture: noarch
  • Source Package: jp2a
  • 1 provides
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Jp2a
openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · download.opensuse.org · openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: jp2a-zsh-completion from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst
MacPorts95%

jp2a

sudo port install jp2a
  • normalized package name match
  • Matched by: Jp2a
MacPorts ports tree · api.github.com · MacPorts ports tree: graphics/jp2a/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

Related tools

  • jpeg-turboRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • libpngRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • webpRuntime dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • pkgconfBuild dependency declared by Homebrew.
  • spaceman-diffPopular package that depends on this formula.

Same workflow

  • gdShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, image-processing, jpeg, media, png.
  • tiff2pngShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, image-conversion, image-processing, media, png.
  • exiftranShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, image-processing, jpeg, media.
  • glyphShares av.db curated category or tags: ascii-art, cli, image-processing, media.
  • graphicsmagickShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, image-conversion, image-processing, media.
  • imagemagickShares av.db curated category or tags: cli, image-conversion, image-processing, media.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Used sources

  • Geiger risk classifier
  • Nucleus package database
  • av.db category and tag curation
  • cross-ecosystem install command graph
  • curated package history
  • external package-manager database matches
  • package relationship graph
  • package version freshness
  • package-page enrichment