Guides / Making your chart
How to turn a photo into a cross-stitch chart
The site's converter turns a photograph into a chart in real DMC thread colours, free and without an account. Here is how to set each step.
The converter reduces your photo to stitches and gives each colour the nearest DMC thread. Everything is computed in your browser: without an account, the photo never leaves your computer.
What you need
- A photo in JPG or PNG format
- A printer, for the chart
Drop in the photo
Open the converter in another tab to follow along, and drop your photo into the frame.
The converter at work: the photo becomes a chart, width and colours are set, the threads to buy line up, then the chart is printed.Choose the width in stitches
The most important setting: it decides the detail, the size of the piece and the time it will take.
A stitch is a pixel: the wider the chart, the more detail it holds, and the bigger the piece. To scale, on 14-count aida.- “Stitches wide” runs from 20 to 200; the height follows the photo's proportions.
- Allow 40 to 50 stitches for a small design, 70 to 100 for an animal, 120 for a portrait.
- For the size, divide by 5.5 on 14-count aida, or ask the fabric calculator.
- These landmarks in detail: choosing the size of a chart.
14.5 cm wide for 80 stitches on 14-count aida
Choose the number of threads
Each thread is one colour in the key: a skein to buy, and one more needleful.
- “Thread colors” runs from 2 to 35, and the chart redraws at every notch.
- Fewer threads: a bolder, more graphic picture, quicker to stitch.
- More threads: the gradients stay, but so do the single stitches.
8 to 15 threads suit most photos
Tip. Note the number you like, then try two notches lower: you often lose less than you think. The method: reducing the number of colours.
Adjust the colours
Thread is more saturated than it looks on screen: a faithful chart can seem dull beside the photo.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|
| Colour brightness | Livens everything up, from Natural to Very vivid |
| Remove the background | Cuts the subject out; works best on a plain background |
| Outline the piece | Adds a dark edge round the stitched area |
| Thread brand | Anchor, Madeira or Cosmo instead of DMC |
| Use my own threads | Only your references, or those in your thread box |
Replace a thread, edit by hand
The thread nearest in numbers is not always the truest to the eye. Changing it takes two taps.
- Tap a thread in the list: its stitches light up on the chart.
- The wheel beside it replaces it: another thread from the range, a colour, or one of the suggestions.
- Its page shows its neighbours; for a coherent palette, see choosing your DMC colours.
- A stray stitch, an eye, an initial? “Edit by hand” opens the pattern maker.
Tip. Skin and skies: trust your eye. For pale skin, compare 948, 754 and 3770. One precise colour to match? Try colour to DMC.
Download and print
Choose the layout, then download the chart: a PNG image, free.
One square, one cross; one symbol, one thread in the key. The darker line every ten squares is there to count without getting lost.- Your choice: counting grid, key, symbols, black and white, backstitch outline.
- These signs: reading a chart. The outline: backstitch.
- The key is your shopping list: one skein covers about 1,500 stitches.
- With an account, share it in the gallery, then your stitched piece in finished pieces.
Tip. Print the chart as large as you can, over several sheets if need be: you will be reading it for hours.