Fuse Bead Pattern Maker
Turn a photo or drawing into a bead pattern in the colours you can actually buy. Pick Perler, Hama or Artkal, see how many beads and pegboards you need, and print a chart at true size.
Choose a picture
JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 25 MB. Processed on your device and never uploaded.
Loading the converter…No picture handy? Try a sample
Sample photos are licensed from Pixabay (see Licenses).
How it works
A bead pattern is a grid: one square, one bead. The tool shrinks your picture to the number of beads you choose, reduces it to a handful of colours, and then replaces each colour with the nearest bead in the brand you picked. Two colours that land on the same bead are merged, so the list on the right is a real shopping list: one line per colour, with the number of beads.
Choosing a size
Size is counted in pegboards. A large square board holds 29 × 29 beads and measures about 14.5 cm (5.7 in) across. One board is enough for a simple icon or a face; two or three boards across give room for a portrait or a pet. The largest pattern the tool makes is 500 × 500 beads.
| Boards across | Beads wide | Width |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 | 14.5 cm (5.7 in) |
| 2 | 58 | 29.0 cm (11.4 in) |
| 3 | 87 | 43.5 cm (17.1 in) |
| 4 | 116 | 58.0 cm (22.8 in) |
Getting a clean result
- Start with a simple picture. A clear subject on a plain background works far better than a busy scene. Crop the photo before you upload it.
- Use fewer colours than you think. Eight to fifteen colours are usually enough, and every extra colour is another bag of beads.
- Remove the background. Tap “Leave empty” on the background colour to keep only the subject, which saves beads and ironing.
- Stay with one brand. Brands melt at slightly different rates, so mixing them in one piece can leave an uneven surface.
- Tidy single beads. “Edit square by square” opens the pattern in the editor, where you can repaint stray squares before printing.
Printing and ironing
Download the PDF and print it at “Actual size”. Each page is one pegboard at real size, numbered so you know where it goes; the first page shows the whole design and how the boards fit together. Place a printed page under a clear pegboard and fill it in, colour by colour. When a board is full, cover it with ironing paper and fuse it with a dry iron on a medium setting, keeping the iron moving. Ironing is a job for an adult.
The colours come from an openly licensed set of values sampled from real beads; the makers do not publish official screen colours. See Licenses for the sources.
Frequently asked questions
Is this bead pattern maker free?
Yes. Making a pattern, the bead counts and the PDF are free, with no account and no watermark.
Which bead brands does it support?
Perler, Hama Midi and Artkal S, all 5 mm fuse beads. The pattern is matched to the colour range of the brand you choose. Colours are screen approximations sampled from real beads, so compare with the beads themselves before buying a large quantity.
How big will my bead pattern be?
Each bead is 5 mm, so multiply the number of beads by 0.5 to get centimetres. A design 58 beads wide is 29 cm (about 11.4 in) wide and needs two large square pegboards side by side.
How many pegboards do I need?
A large square pegboard holds 29 × 29 beads. The tool shows the number of boards across and down for your size; interlocking boards let you build a larger area.
Can I print the pattern at real size?
Yes. The PDF prints each pegboard on its own page at true size. Print at “Actual size” (100%), slide the page under a clear pegboard and place the beads on top of the matching squares.
Is my photo uploaded?
No. The picture is converted in your browser and is not sent anywhere.
Is this site connected to Perler, Hama or Artkal?
No. Those names are trademarks of their owners and are used only to say which colour range a pattern is matched to.