How to Use the Image to Pixel Bead Converter

Open Image to Pixel Bead and click Upload your image, or drag a file onto the card. Supported formats are PNG, JPG, and WebP up to 10 MB. Once a file is loaded, the preview generates automatically.

• Replace — swap the source photo without resetting your other settings.
• Remove — clears the image and returns to the empty upload stage.
• Or start from the pattern library — open a design and send it to the converter from there.

The Pattern size dropdown sets width and height together for square presets. Choose Custom dimensions to enter width and high independently — useful for banners, initials, or matching an existing board arrangement.

• Small · 29×29 — one peg board.
• Medium · 58×58 — four boards in a 2×2 square.
• Large · 87×87 — nine boards in a 3×3 square.
• Custom — type any width and height; watch the cell total and board estimate below the fields.

The Colors dropdown selects which real-world bead palette the converter matches against — MARD, Perler, Hama, Artkal, COCO, and others. Every color in the output will be an ID from that brand's catalog.

Changing the brand re-runs the conversion. The same photo may look slightly different across palettes because available hues differ. Pick the brand you actually buy before you finalize counts.

Image framing decides how the photo fits the grid. Fit whole image letterboxes the photo so nothing is cropped — best when the entire subject must stay visible. Crop to fill zooms until the grid is full, which may trim edges.

Detail level sets the recommended maximum number of colors:

• Easy · fewer colors — simpler builds, less shading.
• Balanced — default compromise between fidelity and shopping list length.
• High fidelity — more colors and finer gradients; needs a larger inventory.

Open Image adjustments to fine-tune the source photo before it is sampled into beads. Changes apply live — the preview re-renders as you drag sliders. Click Reset to return all three to default.

• Exposure — labeled Exposure in the UI (brightness behind the scenes). Range −100 to +100. Raise it for dark photos; lower it for washed-out shots. This is the first slider to try when the pattern looks too dim or too flat.
• Contrast — 50% to 150%, default 100%. Higher contrast separates subject from background and makes edges crisper for bead placement. Too high can blow out highlights into a single light bead color.
• Saturation — 0% to 200%, default 100%. Boosting saturation merges nearby hues into stronger bead colors; lowering it can tame neon or oversaturated phone photos.

Expand More image settings for color limits, dithering, and background removal.

• Use a custom maximum — override the detail preset's color cap (2–128). Lower numbers force a simpler pattern; higher numbers preserve nuance.
• Dithering — Off keeps flat color regions; Auto adds subtle bead mixing in gradients; On maximizes dither for smooth shading at the cost of more speckled cells.
• Remove selected background — pick a backdrop color from the image, set Tolerance, then enable removal. Similar pixels become empty pegs.
• Pick background — click the button, then click the photo in the preview. The swatch shows your chosen color. Reset background clears the pick.

The center preview is interactive. Use the header controls to compare the bead result against your source.

• Pattern — shows only the bead grid.
• Overlay — semi-transparent source photo under the beads; adjust Source opacity and Pattern opacity sliders in focus view.
• View full image — opens a zoomable focus dialog. Pan with drag, pinch or scroll to zoom, press +/−/0 on keyboard.
• Grid — toggle peg lines. Coordinates — row/column numbers. Bead codes — show ID on each filled cell.

While Pick background is active, click a cell in the preview to sample that pixel color for removal.

The Pattern output column on the right summarizes beads, colors, and boards. When you are happy with the preview:

• Download guide — opens export options for PNG and PDF with legend and counts.
• Project name — appears on exports and in your workspace.
• Save project — stores the pattern locally and syncs when signed in.
• Edit in Create from Scratch — sends the grid, palette, and reference image to the manual editor for touch-ups.
• Apply cleanup — merges isolated single-bead specks flagged by the app.