Cross Stitch Pattern Maker: Turn a Photo into a Pattern

How do you make a cross stitch pattern from a photo?

Four steps, all free, with no account.

1. Add a JPG, PNG or WebP photo: drag it onto the hoop, choose it, or paste it. No photo to hand? Press “Try an example”.
2. Pick one of three versions with 12, 20 and 30 colours. The highlighted one is the fewest colours that still stay close to your photo. You can also type any number from 2 to 100.
3. Set the width in stitches and the fabric. The finished size in centimetres and inches changes as you type.
4. Press “Download PDF”. You get a cover page, a colour key and the chart pages, ready to print.

The conversion runs on your own device, phone or laptop. A large photo is shrunk while it is opened, so a 48-megapixel picture does not fill a phone’s memory.

Which DMC threads does the pattern use?

The maker picks straight from the 489 DMC stranded cotton colours. It adds one thread at a time, always the one that brings the pattern closest to your photo, until it reaches the number of colours you asked for. Each stitch then gets the closest of the chosen threads. “Closest” is measured the way the eye sees colour difference, using a standard formula called CIEDE2000, not by raw screen values.

Near-white areas use DMC B5200 (Snow White), so a white dog or a white dress does not turn pale blue. There is no randomness anywhere: the same photo with the same settings gives the same pattern every time in the same browser.

Does it clean up stray stitches?

Yes, and it is on by default. A pattern made straight from a photo is full of single stitches in odd colours. They are slow to stitch and each one can mean another skein. Before you see the result, the maker tidies the chart in three ways:

• A lone stitch with no neighbour of the same colour takes a colour from around it, unless the photo really has that colour there. The most-used colour is never changed.
• A colour used for only a few stitches is merged into the closest colour, so you don’t buy a skein for two stitches. Small, important spots such as the light in an eye stay when no close colour exists.
• Two colours that look almost the same become one.

The result says what changed, for example “Cleaned 214 stray stitches · merged 3 colours used fewer than 12 times”, and each clean-up can be undone with one click.

How big will it be, and how much thread do you need?

You set the width in stitches and the height follows the shape of your photo. The default is 100 stitches wide on 14-count Aida (14 stitches per inch), which comes out about 7.1 inches (18 cm) wide. You can choose 11, 14, 16, 18 or 28-count worked over two threads, go up to 1,000 × 1,000 stitches, and see how much fabric to buy with 3 inches spare on every side.

The thread list gives each colour’s DMC number, name, stitch count and the skeins to buy. The estimate errs on the generous side: scattered stitches use more thread than solid areas, so they count one and a half times. The table and formula are on the cross stitch calculator page.

What do you get in the PDF and other downloads?

Every download is free, has no watermark and needs no sign-up.

Pages of the printable PDF overlap by two rows and two columns, shaded grey, so you never lose your place at a page edge. Each page header says which rows and columns it holds, and a small map shows where the page sits. Print at 100%: two bold grid lines should be 30 mm apart, and the cover says so.

Using your pattern in Pattern Keeper

Pattern Keeper is an Android app that marks off stitches as you work. It reads PDF charts whose symbols are real text, and the Pattern Keeper PDF is built that way: one chart only (a colour and a black-and-white chart in one file would show up twice), 60 stitches a page as the app’s own guide suggests, no overlap between pages, and a key headed Symbol, Number and Name with numbers written like “DMC 310”.

1. Press “Get Pattern Keeper PDF” and save the file to your phone.
2. In Pattern Keeper, add a new chart and open that PDF.
3. If the app asks whether pages overlap, answer that they don’t.
4. Check the colours in the app’s verify view, then start stitching.

Two limits to know. Pattern Keeper currently shows full cross stitches only, so backstitch you draw here does not appear in the app. And it runs on Android only for now. We are still testing imports on real phones: if a chart does not import cleanly, email the file to support and we will fix it.

Source: Pattern Keeper FAQ.

Is my photo private?

Your photo never leaves your browser while you make, edit and download a pattern. Cloud sync (Pro) stores the pattern, not the photo, unless you switch on “Also keep the original photo in the cloud”, which is off until you choose it.

Free patterns are saved in this browser on their own, as many as you like. Clearing your browser data clears them too, and Safari may remove data of sites you have not opened for a while, so after each PDF the tool reminds you to download the project file as a backup. Details are in the privacy policy.

What is free and what is paid?

Everything you need to stitch a pattern is free. Project Pass (US$4.90 for 30 days) and Pro (US$7.90/month or US$49/year) add the last rows.

Removing a plain background by hand stays free: pick the “Don’t stitch colour” tool and tap the background. The paid tiers are explained on the pricing page.

Want letters or a name instead of a photo?

For a name, a date or a short verse, use the cross stitch letters tool: type the text, pick a font and a colour, and download the chart. The same page has a whole alphabet to download for samplers. Planning a design you already have? The fabric and skein calculator works out size and thread without a photo.

What the first version does not do yet

There are no half or quarter stitches yet, threads are DMC only, backstitch is drawn by hand, and there is no OXS export: use the project file to move a pattern. iPhone photos saved as HEIC don’t open. On the iPhone, choose Settings › Camera › Formats › Most Compatible, or take a screenshot of the photo and upload that.

For lettering without a photo, the text to cross stitch page uses the same chart and thread list.