How to turn a photo into a cross stitch pattern
Four steps from a picture to a chart you can print and stitch.
- Upload an image. Drag a file onto the panel on the left, click it to browse, or paste an image from the clipboard with Ctrl+V. Any common format works: JPG, PNG, WebP.
- Set the width and the canvas. Enter the width in cells or directly in centimetres — the second field recalculates the first using your canvas. The canvas is what sets the finished size, which is why the builder also tells you the bead number that matches its cell. For a first project, 50–80 cells wide is comfortable.
- Choose how many colours. The colour slider decides how many threads the project needs. Start with 8–12: that is enough for a recognisable image, and it is far more pleasant to stitch than thirty shades.
- Fix the details and save. Click cells to correct the chart by hand: clicking a cell that already holds the active colour erases it, clicking any other cell repaints it. If you are going to sew beads, switch on “circles” so the chart reads closer to the finished piece. Save the result as a PNG or print it with the legend.
Questions about the builder
- Is it safe to upload my photo here?
- Yes: the image is processed inside your own browser and never leaves it. Nothing reaches a server — neither your file nor the generated chart — it all lives in the open tab.
- How many thread colours should a pattern use?
- For most projects 8–15 colours are enough. Fewer than ten gives a graphic, poster-like look; more than twenty barely improves the likeness while making both the stitching and the shopping list much harder.
- What chart size should a beginner pick?
- Start around 50–80 stitches wide, which is roughly 9–15 cm on Aida 14. A piece that size is finished in a few evenings, unlike a 200-stitch chart that tends to be abandoned halfway.
- Why does my photo turn into a noisy chart?
- Photos with fine detail, shadows and a blurred background produce many single stray stitches that are unpleasant to work. Increasing the chart size, lowering the colour count, or choosing an image with large flat areas — a close-up portrait, a silhouette, an illustration — all help.
- Can I stitch these charts with DMC threads?
- Yes, though you will have to match the numbers yourself: the builder lists colours as HEX values rather than DMC codes. Take the HEX from the legend and compare it against the manufacturer chart — automatic DMC matching is planned for the next version.
- How do I print the chart?
- Press “Print / PDF” — only the chart with its symbols, numbering and colour legend is printed, without the control panel. The print dialog also lets you save the result as a PDF instead of paper.
- Will my chart disappear when I close the tab?
- No: the latest chart and its settings are kept in your browser storage and restored when you come back. That storage is local to this device, so the chart will not appear on another computer.
- Can I make a bead embroidery pattern?
- Yes, and there is nothing to switch: a cross stitch chart and a round-bead chart are the same grid, because the bead sits in the same cell of the canvas. Under the canvas field you will find the bead number that suits it, and the “circles” checkbox redraws the cells the way they will look in the finished piece.
- Does it work for bead weaving — herringbone, peyote, loom?
- No, and the reason matters: in bead weaving the rows are offset by half a bead, so a square grid simply does not describe it. The builder covers bead embroidery on fabric, where every bead sits in one cell.
- Does the builder make satin stitch or bugle bead charts?
- Not yet: both lay one long element across several cells along the shape rather than one per cell. That is a different geometry and a different chart, so they get their own mode — which, by the same logic, will be a single mode for both.