Photo to pattern

Turn a photo into a cross stitch chart, pixel art or a Minecraft build, with everything you need to make it. Your photo never leaves this device.

One photo, every craft

Here is a cat, already charted. Switch the craft to see the same photo as pixel art or Minecraft blocks, or point at a colour in the key to see where it goes.

Example images

Examples

  • Close-up of a tabby cat looking at the camera

    100 × 10020 colours14-count7.1 × 7.1 in

    CatExample image

  • A single orange and pink dahlia on a plain grey background

    100 × 12520 colours14-count7.1 × 8.9 in

    DahliaExample image

  • A wooden front door with a eucalyptus wreath, a lantern and potted plants

    100 × 12520 colours14-count7.1 × 8.9 in

    Front doorExample image

  • Head-and-shoulders portrait of a smiling woman with dark wavy hair

    100 × 12520 colours14-count7.1 × 8.9 in

    PortraitExample image

Two minutes to a chart

Most of the time goes on choosing the photo. The rest takes about as long as threading a needle.

Tonight

Choose a photo10 sec

Set the size and colours1 min

Download the chart5 sec

This weekend

Buy the threads on the listone trip

Find the centre of your fabric2 min

After that

Stitch from the centre outwardsyour pace

You hold a chart and a thread list2 min

A 19th-century needlework chart hand-painted square by square on graph paper: a bird, a basket of flowers and a nest of eggs

A 200-year-old idea

In the 1800s, Berlin publishers sold needlework charts painted by hand, square by square, on graph paper. Each square was one stitch.

This one, with its bird, basket and nest of eggs, was published by A. Nicolai in Berlin. PatternSquare does the same job for your own photo, in about a second instead of a week of painting.

Needlework pattern (1800–1900), A. Nicolai, Berlin. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, CC0

Questions

Is it free? Yes. Every tool is free to use, with no sign-up, no trial and no watermark on your chart.

Are my photos uploaded? No. Your photo is turned into a chart inside your own browser. It is never sent to a server, so nobody else can see it.

Which crafts does it work for? Cross stitch, pixel art and Minecraft builds today. Bead, brick, crochet and knitting patterns use the same engine and will be added one craft at a time.

What makes a good photo? One clear subject, good daylight and a plain background. Faces and pets work well when they fill most of the frame.

How accurate are the thread colours? Each colour is matched to the closest thread, but screens and real thread never look exactly alike. Check against a printed colour card before you buy.

Who owns the chart? You do. Charts made from your own photos are yours to stitch, share or sell. If the photo is someone else's, ask them first.