Cross Stitch Pattern Maker: Turn a Photo into a Printed Chart
From photo to paper: a PDF with colour and symbol charts split across A4 or Letter, plus the shopping list for your threads.
| Colour | Symbol | DMC | Name | Stitches | Skeins |
|---|
How to turn a photo into a cross stitch pattern
This page starts at 200 stitches and 40 colours on 18-count fabric, a large piece with fine detail.
- Open your photo and set the crop. The report beside it updates as soon as you let go of the frame.
- Read the finished size and PDF pages together. If the page count scares you, lower the width first.
- Open the symbol chart on screen and scroll it, to see how busy your evenings are going to be.
- Choose your paper and download. The first page is the thread list, so print that one first and take it to the shop.
- Print the chart pages at Actual size, single sided, and join them along the dashed lines.
What the PDF costs in paper at each size
The sheet count is what surprises people on a big pattern, so the report shows it before you download. My test size on this page is 200 × 133 stitches, which on 18-count is 28.2 × 18.8 cm, or 11.1 × 7.4 in. On A4 that comes to 13 pages: one thread list, six colour pages and six symbol pages.
Paper shape matters more than you would guess. A 150 × 100 pattern takes 7 pages on A4 but 13 on Letter, because Letter holds 95 rows and A4 holds 102, so the Letter chart spills onto a second row of sheets. If your pattern is close to a page edge, try the other paper or change the width by a few stitches.
Pages in the PDF for common pattern sizes
| Stitches | Colours | A4 pages | Letter pages | Size on 18-count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 × 67 | 20 | 5 | 5 | 14.1 × 9.5 cm |
| 150 × 100 | 30 | 7 | 13 | 21.2 × 14.1 cm |
| 200 × 133 | 40 | 13 | 13 | 28.2 × 18.8 cm |
| 300 × 200 | 50 | 22 | 32 | 42.3 × 28.2 cm |
Each count includes the thread list, the colour chart and the symbol chart. At 50 colours the list runs to a second page. You only need one of the two charts on paper, so printing just the symbol pages saves nearly half the sheets.
How the chart pages fit together
Squares print at ten to the inch, large enough to read without a magnifier. That fits 72 columns and 102 rows on A4, and 75 columns and 95 rows on Letter. When a pattern is larger, each next page repeats the last 3 stitches of the page before it. A dashed red line and a small triangle show where the repeat starts and ends, so you can lay two sheets together and line the symbols up.
Heavier lines fall on every tenth stitch, and the numbers along the edges count from the top left of the whole pattern, not the page. Each page header also states which stitches it covers, for example stitches 70-141 across, so a loose sheet always finds its place.
Reading the thread list
The first page gives the finished size, the total stitches and the assumption behind the skeins. Below that, each row has a swatch, the symbol, the DMC number, the thread name, the stitch count and the skeins to buy, most-used colour first. A colour with a handful of stitches still counts as one skein, as you cannot buy less.
On 18-count I estimate about 2,935 crosses from one skein, and the fine cloth is why that is higher than on coarser fabric: each cross is smaller, so it uses less thread. The estimate assumes two strands all the way. Many stitchers use one strand on 22-count and finer, which roughly halves the thread needed.
Tips for working from the printed chart
- Tick off each ten-by-ten block in pencil as you finish it.
- Print the colour chart once for reference and work from the symbol chart.
- Check one printed square with a ruler: ten squares should measure 2.54 cm.
- Start from the middle of the fabric and count outwards along the heavy lines.
- Keep the thread list with the skeins, so a symbol is never more than a glance away.
Privacy
Your photo never leaves your device. The pattern and the PDF are made in your browser, and nothing is uploaded.
Frequently asked questions
How do I print a large pattern on several pages?
The PDF splits it for you. Print at Actual size on A4 or Letter, then lay the sheets together along the dashed lines. Each sheet repeats 3 rows and columns from its neighbour so nothing is lost at an edge.
Should I stitch from the colour chart or the symbol chart?
Use the symbol chart at the hoop, since close shades look identical in print. A photo pattern may have many near-twin colours. Keep the colour chart beside you to see where each area is heading.
How many skeins will my pattern need?
The thread list gives a rough figure for each colour. It assumes an 8 m skein of six strands, two strands in the needle and 20 % waste, which is about 2,935 crosses per skein on 18-count.
Does the printed chart have to be a certain size?
No. The chart is a map, so its size does not change your stitching. Actual size keeps the page joins in the right place, and it keeps the symbols big enough to read comfortably at the hoop.
Can I change a thread colour after the chart is made?
Not in the tool. Swap a number on the printed list by hand: every symbol then stands for your new thread. To rebuild the chart with different colours, change the colour limit or the crop and download again.
Related tools and guides
- Cross Stitch Pattern Maker with DMC Thread Colours: Turn a photo into a DMC cross stitch chart with a thread list, as a printable PDF.
- Cross Stitch Pattern Maker from a Photo: A photo needs a different crop from a chart design. Frame your subject here, watch it turn into stitches and keep the pattern as a PDF.
- Work out how large your photo can print: Convert pixels and print dimensions; change JPEG DPI tags.
- Make a contact sheet of your photos: Print a page of thumbnails with captions and EXIF lines as a PDF or page images.
- Make a passport photo at home: Passport and visa photos to official sizes, with a printable 10 x 15 cm sheet.
- Print a Poster on Multiple Pages: Split a large image into paper sheets for a poster, with overlap and a printable PDF.
- Metelkova Ljubljana: My Photos and Complete Visitor Guide: Bold, colourful walls of the kind that translate well into thread.
- I Built the Tools I Kept Looking For as a Photographer: Why this tool builds your chart on your device.