Pixel Art Generator - Turn Photos into Pixel Art and Bead Patterns
Resample a photo onto a fixed pixel grid to get pixel art, then map every pixel to a real bead code and use it as a bead pattern.
- cell canvas
- 300
- cell canvas
- bead brands
- 9
- bead brands
- colour values
- 291
- colour values
What the converter actually produces
Pixel art is an image with deliberately reduced resolution: the picture is cut into a limited grid of squares, each square holds a single color, and edges therefore become hard blocks. The generator resamples the photo and quantizes its colors; it does not add a blur, grain or outline filter, so the result has no intermediate tones when enlarged. That distinction matters when you compare tools: a filter keeps the original resolution and hides it behind noise, while quantization throws the extra pixels away and keeps the grid honest.
The same result works as a bead pattern without redoing anything. Each pixel is matched to the palette of the brand you select: cells become bead positions and the color list becomes a shopping list. Conversion runs in your browser, and the source image is not uploaded to a server.
Three kinds of output
One conversion can be exported in different shapes depending on what you need it for:
Pixel art image
Keeps only the pixel grid, without color codes or a color chart. Useful for avatars, sprites and game assets, and ready to enlarge in the upscaler.
Bead pattern
Every cell carries the selected brand's color code, with a color chart and usage counts per color. Use it to place beads, and read the chart before buying bags so you order enough of the colors that dominate the design. Patterns exported this way can be reopened in the editor later without reconverting the photo.
Printable pattern
Laid out on A4 pages with row and column coordinates, a color legend and page numbers. Anything beyond one page is cut on cell boundaries.
Inputs, outputs and size limits
These three items decide which source files work and what comes out:
| Input formats | JPEG, PNG and WebP; transparent PNG areas stay as empty cells, and transparent borders are trimmed automatically. |
|---|---|
| Output | Pixel art PNG, bead pattern with color codes, and an A4 tiled print version with coordinates and legend. |
| Canvas limit | Free 300×300 cells, Pro 500×500 cells. |
The limit counts cells, not pixels: a 4000-pixel-wide photo can still be reduced to 52×52 cells, because downsampling happens before quantization and leaves the original file untouched.
Brand palettes you can convert to
The site shares one palette of 291 color values, and every brand maps its own numbering onto those colors. The number of codes each brand can supply:
| Brand | Available codes |
|---|---|
| MARD | 291 |
| COCO | 291 |
| 漫漫 | 283 |
| 盼盼 | 291 |
| 咪小窝 | 283 |
| Perler | 90 |
| Hama | 77 |
| Artkal | 118 |
| Nabbi | 30 |
Brands with fewer entries cover only part of the palette, so set the color limit against the target brand's real color count; otherwise quantization keeps collapsing onto the same few neighbors.
Five steps for one conversion
- 1
Upload an image
JPEG, PNG and WebP are supported. Photos with a clear subject and a clean background work best; portraits, pets, logos and game screenshots are all fine, while blurry or backlit shots reduce to flat patches once the cell count drops.
- 2
Choose the cell count
The cell count is the finished grid. A full 29×29 board holds 841 cells, enough for icons and simple silhouettes; 52×52 gives 2704 cells and can carry facial features and folds; anything larger needs boards joined together. Fewer cells always means less detail.
- 3
Cap the number of colors
For photos, start at 8 to 16 colors and check whether the outline still reads, then raise it. Fewer colors concentrate usage into a handful of bags and cut your shopping list; more colors smooth gradients but add isolated single beads that take longer to place.
- 4
Pick a brand and verify codes
Switch the chart to the brand you own and confirm each code exists there. At low color counts, neighboring tones tend to merge, so widen the contrast before export and fix individual cells with the brush when you need to.
- 5
Export or keep editing
Export a PNG when you want an image; export the version with color chart and legend when you plan to bead it, or print it tiled on A4. To refine colors or details, open the pattern in the editor, edit cell by cell, then export again.
Four settings that decide the result
The same photo can produce very different patterns. These four settings are worth adjusting first:
Cell count and physical size
Standard beads are about 5 mm across and mini beads about 2.6 mm. A 29×29 pattern is roughly 14.5 cm square in standard beads but only about 7.5 cm in mini beads, so sketch the size on paper before you commit to a grid.
Color cap
The cap forces similar colors to merge. Set it too low and faces blend into the background; set it too high and the chart grows along with the cost of buying beads. Start low, then raise one step at a time.
Dithering
Dithering fakes in-between tones by interleaving different colors. It preserves shading when the color count is small, but it produces many isolated beads, which lengthens placement time and raises the chance of a misplaced piece. Leave it off for small patterns, and if you do enable it, work section by section and tick off finished areas as you go.
Background handling
A flat background consumes a large share of one color. Making the background transparent before conversion removes a whole region of beads and keeps attention on the subject; keeping the background suits a full rectangular decorative panel instead.
What you can do after converting
Quantized to real codes
Each pixel is matched to the closest color in the selected brand's palette, so the output lists codes you can buy rather than theoretical values.
Cell-aligned sampling
The image is divided on whole-cell boundaries before sampling, so no half cell lands on the edge. The offset can be nudged by hand to center the subject.
Preview before export
See the pixelated result on the canvas and recompute instantly after changing the cell count, color count or brand, with no export-and-compare loop.
Related pages
Frequently asked questions
Does the pixel art come out blurry?
No. Pixel art fills whole cells, and enlarging it copies squares instead of interpolating, so edges stay sharp. When you need a larger display version, scale it with nearest-neighbor sampling, which is exactly what the upscaler page does; smooth interpolation reintroduces the intermediate tones that the conversion removed and makes the grid look soft.
What is the maximum canvas size?
The free plan allows 300×300 cells and Pro allows 500×500. The limit counts cells rather than photo pixels: very large photos are downsampled before quantization, so you do not need to crop the original first.
Why did the number of colors drop?
Quantization snaps each cell to the nearest palette entry, so close tones collapse into a single code. The lower the color cap, the more aggressive the merging. To keep more shading, raise the cap or turn dithering on.
How many cells does a photo need?
29×29 works only for icons and flat silhouettes; 52×52 can hold the position of facial features; real detail starts around 64×64 and above. A quick test: shrink the photo to the target cell count and look at it. If the subject is unreadable, add cells rather than colors, because extra colors cannot recover shape that the grid no longer has room for.
Are transparent PNG backgrounds preserved?
Yes. Transparent areas become empty cells, and fully transparent rows and columns around the edge are trimmed, so the pattern does not carry a blank border. If you want the background beaded, fill the transparent region with a solid color before importing.
Is my image uploaded to a server?
Conversion happens in the browser: decoding, grid division, color sampling and merging all run on your device, so the source image is not uploaded for conversion. Grid data is written to your account only when you explicitly save or publish the pattern, and the photo itself is not kept by the converter afterwards.
Can the generated pattern be printed?
Yes, as A4 pages that keep row and column coordinates, the color legend and page numbers, so a large design can be beaded section by section without guessing where a sheet continues. The A4 layout uses the real hole pitch of 2.6 mm for mini beads and 5 mm for standard beads. Tiled export is a Pro feature, and free accounts can preview the first two pages.
Can I edit the pattern afterwards?
Yes. Use the brush, fill and color picker in the editor to change individual cells, swap one color code across the pattern, or reduce the color count, then export again. Edits work on the grid, so the original photo does not need to be converted a second time, and every change recalculates the color chart and bead totals for you.
Start converting
Resample a photo into pixel art in the browser, quantize it to bead codes from nine brands, and export an image or an A4 tiled pattern.
Continue in the editor