Powerful ASCII art editor designed for the Mac.

Requires macOS 11 Big Sur or later.
Educational Pricing

Harness the Power and Simplicity of Plain Text

Plain text has been around for decades and it's here to stay. Monodraw allows you to easily create text-based art (like diagrams, layouts, flow charts) and visually represent algorithms, data structures, binary formats and more. Because it's all just text, it can be easily embedded almost anywhere. Of course, exporting as images is also supported (PNG and SVG).

Diagrams

A picture is worth a thousand words. A diagram is probably worth twice as much. Enhance your technical documentation (code, specs) with easy to comprehend textual art. Visualisation of data structures, algorithms and data formats plays a crucial role in understanding. You will be reading the code more often than writing it, so why not make it much easier to grasp.

Mind Mapping

Combine the simplicity of plain text with the power of mind mapping. Monodraw gives you the freedom to manage your textual data exactly the way you want. Move text around anywhere in the infinite canvas – no need to be constrained by the linear structure of a text file.

ER Diagrams

Do you deal with databases? Then you know how useful entity-relationship diagrams can be. Visually describe your data model with a simple ER diagram. Monodraw supports Crow's Foot notation in three different variants to suit your personal preference.

Banners

Easily create text banners with just a single click. FIGlet is built into Monodraw and we bundle 148 fonts as standard (custom ones are supported, too). You can interactively resize the text box, change the font and adjust the alignment – no need for a terminal.

Text Tool

Monodraw is powered by a custom CoreText-based text engine giving you precise control over the layout. You can adjust the alignment, position, line sweep direction and line movement. Adding a border around your text is only a click away, too.

Line Tool

The line tool makes connecting shapes as easy as pie. Orthogonal and staircase lines are supported with the ability to set a line dash pattern. Attachment points allow you to dynamically attach your lines to other shapes so that you don't have to re-arrange them each time you move things around.

Rect Tool

The rectangle tool can be used to create all kinds of boxes which are the most commonly used element in text art. Specify border or a background with just a few clicks. Oh, you can add shadows, too! Last but not least, custom attachment points will help you attach your lines at exactly the right place.

CLI Included

Monodraw includes a command-line interface (Direct version only). For example, you can use it to automatically generate docs when committing by leveraging version control hooks. The tool can also output JSON, for easier programmatic manipulation.

Drawing Tools

The basic drawing tools that you would expect make their usual appearance. The Pencil, Eraser, Bucket Fill and Picker are all indispensable when it comes to producing textual art. You can also easily overlay any images on the canvas for tracing purposes.

Powerful Features

When it comes to creating text art, Monodraw helps you out by providing the tools you need.

Groups

Shapes can be grouped for effortless management. By composing multiple elements to form a single group, duplication and movement become very easy.

Guides

Alignment guides are a life-saver when arranging and sizing your content – no longer do you have to stare at the screen and count the number of characters.

Focus

When you need to focus on a particular part of the canvas, the rest of the shapes can be locked or hidden away. You can then zoom in to concentrate on the currently visible elements.

Shortcuts

All functionality can be efficiently accessed via shortcuts, so there is no need to take your hands off the keyboard. Tools are quickly accessible with a single keystroke, without the need for a modifier. 

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Designed for Mac

Monodraw is designed for the Mac from the ground up – everything from the text layout engine to the interface is made to take advantage of macOS. Like all native apps, it just works the way you expect. When you make a mistake, undo is always ready to come to the rescue. Exporting your text art could not get any easier – just copy and paste it into your favourite text editor.

Not displaying correctly?

What are the system requirements?

The app requires macOS 11 Big Sur or later.

If you're running an older version of macOS, you can download Monodraw v1.3 which requires macOS 10.10 Yosemite or Monodraw v1.5 which requires macOS 10.14 Mojave.

Which versions include the command line tool?

Only the versions which you download directly from our website and purchase from our store. Due to restrictions imposed by the App Sandbox on the Mac App Store, the tool cannot be included there.

How do I provide feedback?

We would love to hear from you — the best way would be to drop us an email. Alternatively, just tweet us @Monodraw.

How are you going to use my email? I hate spam.

We hate spam, too. We would not share your email with any 3rd parties, period. We would only email you if we have important news about Monodraw and our upcoming products, that's it.

Do you have a Press Kit?

Of course — you can download it from here.

Do you offer Educational Pricing?

Yes, we do — just get in touch.

Privacy Policy

We take your privacy very seriously. Monodraw does not collect any data whatsoever.