Unicode Braille art: dots, cells and limitations
Unicode Braille patterns represent combinations of eight dots in a cell. Using them to draw an image is neither strict ASCII nor automatically readable Braille transcription.
Build an eight-dot cell
Toggle dots to obtain the pattern and its Unicode code. This tool builds a shape; it does not translate a letter into Braille.
⠉
U+2809 · dots 1, 4
Understand the cell
| Gauche / left | Droite / right |
|---|---|
| 1 | 4 |
| 2 | 5 |
| 3 | 6 |
| 7 | 8 |
The official U+2800–U+28FF chart contains 256 patterns including the blank cell. Dot order is not simply left to right across each row: dots 7 and 8 are at the bottom. This table helps interpret pattern names, not learn a Braille language.
Example 1: a cell with two dots
⠁ ⠉ ⣿
⠁ is dot 1 (U+2801). ⠉ combines dots 1 and 4 (U+2809). ⣿ activates all eight dots (U+28FF). The spaces between these three patterns are ordinary spaces. U+2800 + 1 + 8 gives U+2809: dot 4 has weight eight, not four.
Example 2: a 4 × 4 dot area
⣿⣿
Two full cells side by side represent a logical grid of four dot columns and four rows. That does not mean four pixels on screen: the font draws glyphs and spacing. A graphical converter can use this finer grid instead of one character per region; ArtASCII’s current engine does not offer that output.
Drawing and transcription are different
The Unicode chapter on Braille distinguishes encoded shapes from their association with letters under linguistic conventions. A portrait constructed from patterns is therefore neither a tactile description nor a text that can simply be translated letter by letter. Provide a text description of its subject.
Practical compatibility
Keep UTF-8 encoding and check that the font contains the glyphs. Blank cell U+2800 is not ASCII space U+0020: they can both look blank while being different. Do not use it to bypass input rules. For a simple or unknown destination, ASCII or an image with a description may be more predictable.