85 symbols · Ascii85 · ~25% overhead · Adobe / Git
Denser than Base64 (~25% vs ~33% overhead). Also known as Ascii85. Used in Adobe PostScript/PDF and Git binary diffs. Uses 85 printable ASCII characters, excluding quotes and backslash for safe embedding.
Text → Base85 box — the Ascii85 encoding appears instantly in Base85 output.Copy result to grab the string (including the <~ … ~> delimiters).Base85 → Text and the plain text appears below.Clear any time to reset a box.Ascii85 is used inside PDF and PostScript streams — decode them to inspect the raw content.
Git encodes binary diffs in a zlib/Ascii85 form; this tool helps you understand that output.
About 25% overhead versus Base64's 33% — every 4 bytes become 5 characters.
The alphabet avoids quotes and backslash, making it easier to embed in source code and text.
Compare against Base64 and Base91 to see the density-vs-complexity spectrum.
Everything runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, logged, or sent to a server.
85 printable ASCII characters, chosen to exclude quotes and backslash for safe embedding in code and documents.
About 25% — every 4 input bytes become 5 output characters.
They are Ascii85 delimiters that wrap the encoded data, and z is shorthand for four zero bytes.
Adobe PostScript/PDF streams and Git binary diffs are the two most common real-world uses.
Base85 is denser but less standardized and more sensitive to errors, while Base64 is simpler and universally supported.
Yes. Upper and lowercase letters and punctuation all have distinct values.
Never. All conversion happens locally in JavaScript.