How it works
- Choose a picture. Drop, paste or pick a photo or drawing. HEIC photos from an iPhone are converted as they load.
- Set the width, colour limit and bead brand. Width runs from 10 to 290 beads; colours from 2 to 60.
- Preview it as beads. The Realistic view shows round ironed beads, while Chart and Symbols show what you will place on the board.
- Save the pattern. The PDF splits the design along pegboard edges, with a bold line every 29 beads and a bead count for each colour.
Tips for a great bead pattern from a photo
Go small and bold. Fuse beads are chunky, so a photo of a whole garden will turn to mush at 58 beads wide. Pick one subject with a strong outline, crop tightly around it, and let the background drop away.
Plan around 29. Square pegboards hold 29 beads per side. Sizes like 29, 58 or 87 use every peg on every board, and the bold lines in the PDF fall exactly where one board meets the next. The bead count calculator shows boards and packs for any size before you commit.
Limit colours to what you own. Bead tubs come one colour at a time, so 16 colours (the default) is a sensible ceiling for most home collections. Use “merge colours used fewer than N times” to fold tiny amounts into a neighbour rather than buying a pack for three beads.
Turn off dithering for beads. Speckled dithering patterns look noisy once ironed because every bead is visible. Keep dithering on None and raise confetti cleanup to Medium or Strong so areas melt into solid blocks.
Add an outline by hand. Characters and animals usually read better with a one-bead dark outline. Generate the pattern, then open it in the bead pattern editor and trace around the edge with the line and pencil tools.
Check the mini-bead scale. Mini beads suit detailed portraits because you can fit far more beads into a frame, but they are fiddly for children. For a first project with kids, maxi beads and a width of 20–30 are kinder.
Fuse big pieces patiently. Multi-board designs are prone to curling. Many crafters link the boards, iron under ironing paper with slow, even circles until every bead has just fused, then cool the piece under a heavy book so it stays flat.
What you get in the download
The PDF cover page shows a preview, the size in beads and centimetres, and a page map. Chart pages follow the pegboard grid, with board edges in bold and numbers every ten beads, and the colour key gives a symbol, swatch, code, name and exact bead count for each colour. Download the CSV shopping list if you are buying beads by the colour.
What you get
| Sizes | 10–290 beads wide from a photo; editor up to 2,000 × 2,000 |
|---|---|
| Colours | 2–60, matched by CIEDE2000 colour difference |
| Palettes | Perler, Hama, Artkal S, Nabbi, MARD |
| Downloads | PDF (cover, colour key, numbered chart pages, optional colour pages), PNG, SVG, shopping list CSV, .cpat project |
| Files accepted | JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP, AVIF, iPhone HEIC; .cpat and OXS patterns; PDFs made by CraftPatterns |
| Privacy | Runs in your browser. Images are never uploaded. |
| Price | Free — no sign-up, no watermark |
How it compares with other free tools
What you can expect here, every time — no tiers, no trial.
| Free printable PDF | Yes, with no watermark |
|---|---|
| Sign-up needed | No |
| Image uploaded to a server | No — processed on your device |
| Editor | Yes — pencil, fill, line, rectangle, mirror, undo |
| Progress tracker | Yes — free, works offline |
| Switch the same pattern to another craft | Yes — one tap |
Frequently asked questions
Which bead brands are supported?
You can match to colours compatible with Perler® (103 colours), Hama® (92), Artkal S (199), Nabbi (30) or MARD (291). The key also shows the nearest Hama colour for each bead when you work in another brand, which helps if your stash is mixed. These are visual matches, not official brand charts.
How many pegboards will I need?
The tool counts standard 29×29 square pegboards across and down. A 58-bead-wide design, the default, needs two boards across; a 58×58 design needs four boards in a two-by-two block.
How big will the finished piece be?
It depends on the bead size you choose. Midi beads are 5 mm, so 58 beads come to about 29 cm across. Mini beads at 2.6 mm make the same design about 15 cm wide, and maxi beads at 10 mm double it to roughly 58 cm.
Can I convert pixel art or a game sprite I drew?
Yes. Tick "Preserve exact colours" in the advanced settings and set the width to match the sprite's pixel width, so each pixel becomes exactly one bead. Please only use artwork you have the right to reproduce.
Why are some beads matched to a slightly different shade?
Each colour in your photo is grouped, then snapped to the closest real bead using the CIEDE2000 colour-difference formula. Bead ranges have far fewer shades than a screen, so some colours shift. The methodology page explains the matching in detail.
Can I leave the background without beads?
Yes. Set skip background to transparent, white or a colour you pick, and those cells stay empty. This is the usual choice for keyrings, magnets and shapes you will display without a frame.
Is the pattern free to download?
Completely. There is no sign-up and no watermark. You can download a PDF, PNG, SVG, a CSV shopping list of bead counts and a .cpat project file.
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