Base85 Encoder & Decoder

Decode Base85

About Base85

What is Base85?

Adobe-style Ascii85 converts each four-byte block into five characters from ! through u. This tool emits unwrapped text, uses z for an all-zero four-byte block, handles a short final block, and decodes optional <~ ~> wrappers and whitespace.

Why use Base85?

Use Ascii85 when binary data must remain printable with about 25% expansion instead of Base64's roughly 33%. Its punctuation often needs escaping, variants such as Z85 use incompatible alphabets, and the encoding provides no compression, secrecy, or integrity.

Base85 in JavaScript

// npm install ascii85
const ascii85 = require('ascii85');

const encoded = ascii85.encode(Buffer.from('Hello')).toString();
console.log(encoded);
// Output: 87cURDZ

const decoded = ascii85.decode('87cURDZ').toString();
console.log(decoded);
// Output: Hello
				

Base85 in Go

package main

import (
	"encoding/ascii85"
	"fmt"
)

func main() {
	dst := make([]byte, ascii85.MaxEncodedLen(len("Hello")))
	n := ascii85.Encode(dst, []byte("Hello"))
	encoded := string(dst[:n])
	fmt.Println(encoded)
	// Output: 87cURDZ

	decoded := make([]byte, len("87cURDZ"))
	n, _, _ = ascii85.Decode(decoded, []byte("87cURDZ"), true)
	fmt.Println(string(decoded[:n]))
	// Output: Hello
}
				

Base85 in PHP

<?php
// composer require tuupola/base85
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

$base85 = new Tuupola\Base85;

$encoded = $base85->encode("Hello");
echo $encoded . "\n";
// Output: 87cURDZ

$decoded = $base85->decode("87cURDZ");
echo $decoded . "\n";
// Output: Hello