Turn Your Favorite Photo into a Custom Needlepoint Pattern

Convert an image to a needlepoint pattern

Upload a photo, a scanned print or any picture in the pattern editor, choose Needlepoint, pick a mesh and a canvas size, and set how many colors you want. The converter maps every square of the canvas to a real thread color and gives you a counted chart with a color key. Because needlepoint covers the whole canvas, the finished piece reads like a woven picture, and a photo with clear light and a simple background converts best. It works the same as a picture to needlepoint pattern converter: a scanned print or an old family photo charts just like a phone picture. The preview is free, so you can try two or three before choosing one.

Choosing a mesh for a photo to needlepoint canvas

Mesh is the number of stitches per inch, so it decides how much of the photo survives. The editor offers 7 to 18 mesh. On a 13-mesh canvas an 8 × 10 inch piece is 104 × 130 stitches; on 18 mesh the same size is 144 × 180, which is enough for a face to look like that person.

• 13 mesh: the usual choice for pillows and larger pieces in wool or perle cotton.
• 18 mesh: finer detail for portraits, pets and framed work, stitched with stranded cotton or fine wool.
• 7 and 10 mesh: chunky, quick projects and beginners; keep the color count low.

Create a needlepoint pattern from a photo you can stitch

The chart works the same whether you stitch it in continental or basketweave. Basketweave pulls the canvas out of shape less on large areas such as a background, and continental is handy for single rows and outlines. Around 20 to 30 colors suits a portrait; a bold graphic subject looks better with 10 to 15. If you want to turn an image into a needlepoint pattern with a cleaner edge, remove the photo's background in the editor first, so every color goes to the subject.

A needlepoint pattern maker you can edit

Unlock the pattern and it opens on the Digital Canvas, where you can recolor areas, swap a thread across the whole chart, and clean up stray single stitches before you print. You get a printable chart, a color key and a list of the threads you need. For the full walkthrough, from choosing the photo to stitching, read the guide on how to turn a photo into a needlepoint pattern. In the UK the same craft is called tapestry, and the photo to tapestry converter is the same tool described in British terms.