How to make a perler bead pattern from a photo
A pet, a game character, a logo: fuse beads turn a picture into chunky pixel art. The trick is choosing a design that survives being squeezed onto a pegboard, and matching colours to beads you can actually buy.
Short answer
Crop the photo tightly around one bold subject, then decide the size in pegboards: a standard large square board is 29 × 29 pegs (about 5.7″ / 14.5 cm with 5 mm beads). Faces and pets need at least 2 × 2 boards (58 × 58) to be recognisable. Convert the photo to that grid using about 8–15 bead colours matched to your brand’s palette, clear away single stray beads, and place the beads from the chart. Iron through ironing paper on medium heat.
Try it on your photo Gingham shows the whole pattern before you pay anything.
1. Pick a picture that works as beads
A fuse bead design is low resolution: a whole face might be 30 beads across. Pictures that convert well have:
- One subject with a strong outline, cropped tight: a pet’s head, not the pet on the sofa.
- Big areas of flat colour. Cartoons, logos, emoji and game sprites are ideal. Photos need more beads and fewer colours to work.
- Strong contrast between the subject and the background, so the edge survives.
Pixel art is already a grid. If it’s smaller than your board, you can often use it one pixel per bead with no conversion at all.
2. Choose the size in pegboards
The size of your pegboard is the size of your pattern. With 5 mm “midi” beads:
| Boards | Beads | Finished size | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 large square | 29 × 29 (841) | about 5.7″ / 14.5 cm | Icons, simple characters, coasters |
| 2 × 2 boards | 58 × 58 (3,364) | about 11.4″ / 29 cm | Pet portraits, detailed characters |
| 3 × 3 boards | 87 × 87 (7,569) | about 17″ / 43.5 cm | Wall pieces with real detail |
Sizes are approximate; beads fuse slightly smaller than their nominal 5 mm. Interlocking square boards clip together for bigger pieces.
3. Match colours to real beads
This is where most free converters fall down. A pattern in 200 on-screen colours is useless if your bead brand makes 60. Convert straight to your brand’s palette, so every colour on the key is a bead you can buy.
- How many colours: 8–15 works for most designs. Simple icons need 4–6; realistic portraits can use 30+, at the cost of many single beads.
- Brands: Perler, Hama midi and Artkal S are all 5 mm beads and fit the same pegboards, but their colour ranges and names differ. Pick one brand per project so the key matches your tubs.
- Colours on screen are approximate. Check against real beads, especially skin tones and greys.
4. Clean up stray beads
Single beads of one colour surrounded by another make a design look noisy, and they’re fiddly to place. Merge them into their neighbours unless they carry detail such as an eye highlight. It’s the same problem as confetti in cross stitch.
5. Place the beads
- Work row by row from the chart, or colour by colour for large blocks.
- Tweezers or a bead pen make small spaces easier, and a tray with sections for each colour saves time.
- On multi-board designs, clip the boards together first so the rows line up.
6. Iron without warping
- Cover the beads with ironing paper (parchment paper works too).
- Set a dry iron (no steam) to medium. Move it in slow circles for 10–20 seconds, until the beads fuse and the holes start to close.
- Let it cool slightly, lift the design off the board, flip it, and iron the back the same way.
- While still warm, put it under a heavy book to cool completely flat.
Adults should do the ironing with young children. Brand instructions vary a little: Artkal and Hama beads can need slightly different heat than Perler, so test on a small piece first.
Your photo as a bead pattern
Gingham converts a photo to a fuse bead pattern on one, four or nine pegboards, matched to Perler, Hama midi or Artkal S colors (up to 40), with a bead count for every color. See the whole pattern free before you pay anything.
