> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://rdsciv/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Sharing ASCII Settings via URL

> Copy a shareable URL that encodes all your current ASCII settings in the link hash, so anyone who opens it gets the exact same configuration applied.

The share link feature encodes your entire current settings snapshot as a base64 JSON string and appends it to the page URL as a hash fragment. Anyone who opens that URL will have your settings applied automatically — no account, no server, and no file to transfer.

## Sharing your settings

<Steps>
  <Step title="Configure your settings">
    Load an image and adjust all the controls until the output looks exactly how you want it. Every control — character set, color mode, post effects, animation parameters, and export options — is included in the link.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Copy share link">
    Click the **Copy share link** button in the sidebar. The tool encodes all current settings and copies the full URL to your clipboard. The URL takes the form:

    ```
    https://rdsciv.github.io/ascii/#s=<base64-encoded-settings>
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Share the URL">
    Paste the URL wherever you want to share it — a message, a document, a bookmark, or a browser tab. When the recipient opens it, the tool reads the `#s=` hash on load and applies your settings immediately.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  The source image is not included in the share link. Recipients need to load their own image after the settings are applied. The URL only encodes control state.
</Note>

<Tip>
  Combine sharing with a built-in preset as a baseline: apply a preset, tweak a few controls to taste, then copy the share link. This makes it easy to communicate a specific variation of a named style without listing every individual setting.
</Tip>

## What the share link includes

The link encodes the same complete control state as a custom preset save:

| Category      | Settings included                                                                                                  |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Character set | Character set selection, custom character string                                                                   |
| Layout        | Cell size, character aspect ratio                                                                                  |
| Color         | Color mode, saturation, hue shift, background color, palette selection                                             |
| Adjustments   | Contrast, gamma, edge threshold, dithering, invert, edge-aware chars                                               |
| Post effects  | Bloom (on/off + amount), scanlines (on/off + amount), vignette (on/off + amount), chromatic aberration, film grain |
| Typography    | Font family, font weight                                                                                           |
| Animation     | Source, parameter, from/to values, frame count, FPS, direction, easing, quality, loop                              |
| Export        | PNG scale, transparent background                                                                                  |

The source image is not part of the encoding.