Turn a picture into a cross stitch pattern
Convert a photo, a drawing or a logo into a counted chart with approximate DMC thread numbers and a printable PDF. It runs in your browser: your picture is never uploaded.
How to turn a picture into a cross stitch pattern
- Choose a picture. Press “Choose a photo” and pick a photo, a drawing, a logo or pixel art saved as a JPG, PNG or WebP. Your browser opens it on your own device; it is not uploaded.
- Set the size and the colors. Choose the longest side in stitches and the most thread colors you want to use. The chart is drawn again each time you change a setting, with its finished size in inches and centimeters.
- Download the PDF. One button makes a printable pattern: a cover with the size and the fabric to cut, a key of DMC thread numbers with stitch counts, and the symbol chart on numbered pages. It is free and needs no signup.
A worked example
Getting a good chart
- Start close. A subject that fills the picture keeps its detail. A face in the corner of a group photo will not have enough stitches to be a face.
- Fewer colors make a calmer chart. The number you choose is a ceiling. Flat artwork uses only the threads it holds, and a thread that would be under half a percent of the stitches is left out.
- A plain background is left as bare fabric. When the edge of the picture is one color, those squares are not stitched. “Stitch it” puts them back. The same color inside a design is kept; in a line drawing on paper, the paper goes from inside the lines too.
- Drawings keep their lines. A thin line is charted one stitch wide, and the uneven light on a photographed sheet of paper is evened out first.
- Pixel art is charted exactly. A picture of 160 pixels or fewer a side is converted one pixel to one stitch unless you untick that choice.
- Flat artwork converts most cleanly. A flat illustration with few colors, a clear outline and a plain background gives the clearest chart.
Questions
How do I make a cross stitch pattern from a picture for free?
Choose the picture at the top of this page, set the size and the colors, and download the PDF. There is no charge and no account to make.
How big will my cross stitch be?
Divide the stitches by the fabric count. A design 100 stitches wide is about 7 1/8 inches on 14-count Aida, 6 1/4 on 16-count and 5 1/2 on 18-count. The page shows the finished size and the fabric to cut for the count you choose, and the fabric calculator works it out for other fabrics.
Is my photo uploaded or kept?
No. The picture is read and converted by your own browser and is never sent to Floss Field. The last chart you made is remembered by the browser tab, so a reload does not lose it, and is forgotten when the tab is closed.
Can I turn pixel art into a cross stitch pattern?
Yes. Small pictures are charted one pixel to one stitch, each color matched to its nearest thread, with nothing smoothed or tidied away.
Can I convert any picture I find?
Convert pictures you took or made yourself, or have permission to use. Making a chart from someone else’s photo, artwork or character does not make it yours to share or sell.
Thread colors are approximate screen matches to DMC numbers. Check against real thread before you buy. Thread numbers are matched to a list of 388 DMC colors by their color on a screen; Floss Field is not affiliated with DMC.