Create Cross Stitch Pattern From Picture
Darnell Rempe
Creating cross stitch patterns from your own pictures is very easy with Pic2Pat. In three simple steps you will transform a picture into a beautiful cross stitch chart. The chart can be downloaded to yourcomputer where you can print and store it. If you want to print the pattern again at a later date, there is no need to go to the website again, because the design is stored on locally on your computer.
Pic2Pat makes life very easy by calculating which colors embroidery floss are needed and how many skeins you need of each color. Therefore you can start immediately creating your artwork.
Select a picture file on your computer and press the Next button to upload the picture to the Pic2Pat server. By pressing the Browse button, you can browse through your pictures to find the correct file.
Pic2Pat can process almost all image formats. The maximum file size is 18 MB. Keep in mind that large images take some seconds to be sent to the Pic2Pat server. It may therefore take a few moments after pressing the Next button before the next step is shown where you can select the size of the artwork, and the number of stitches perinch.
Did you ever had a picture or photo in your hand and thought: it would be nice if I could transfer this into a cross stitch embroidery pattern.With a few clicks in your image editing programm you can easily pixelate images but you quickly come to your limit. For example when it comes tomap the colors in the image in order to find the corresponding embroidery threads. And after that telling the printer that you want him to print out a handy, well-recognizable pattern ...
Just upload your favorite picture, determine the number of stitches as well as the number of embroidery colors and let pixel stitch do the work for you.In no time the pattern in PDF format will be provided to you so you can easily download and print it. In the PDF you will find all the infos to get started with your project like informations to the different color numbers and the legend of the embroidery pattern.
Turn your photos into cross stitch patterns. Simply upload a photo, select your preferences: size, filter, stitch count and number of colors. A detailed color cross stitch chart, complete with thread color codes and quantities will be emailed to your inbox, as well as being available to download from your DMC account.
The charts are PDF files that can be printed on A4 paper at home. Click to see an example.
Stitch charts can be customized to stitch on 14, 16 or 18 count Aida or 28 or 32 count linen, in a range of sizes.
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The first thing to do here is to define a grid pattern. I used 5px squares, and I want every five lines to be heavier, so I made a new document with 25x25px, and drew four gray lines and one black in both planes. Remember to use a transparent background. Then define it as a pattern.
Now make a new layer above the original and fill it with your new grid pattern. Choose the Paint Bucket Fill Tool and select "Pattern" in the drop down, and use your new pattern. Then just click in the new empty layer to fill it with the pattern!
Next, you want to merge the grid layer and the original image layer.
Nice huh?
You could be satisfied here, but I am not. I once wanted to make a pattern out of a grayscale image using black, white and two shades of grey, but the greys were to hard to tell apart, so next I will explain how to replace colors with representing symbols. (also I have no color printer)
Here is a good place to make a copy of your result. You will need it to identify the colors after they are replaced!
The first thing to do now is to define a few patterns to replace the colors with. They should be 5x5px and use only the top left 4x4 pixels, if you made the grid pattern the same as mine.
Next, make a new layer and place it behind the original image.
Fill this layer with one of your patterns.
Now, using the magic wand, select the color you want to replace (without Anti-alias, and with Tolerance 0 and non-Contiguous).
Clear the contents of the selection (delete/backspace) to let the pattern shine through.
Now, repeat this with all the colors you need to replace and you are set!
If you want it to look better you could easily use bigger squares from start, and make a wider grid and symbols, but this is good enough for me.
That's all for now! Post your home made patterns in the comments so we can se what you do!
Check out my instagram Restitch where I cross-stitch pixel characters on second-hand tapestries.
I can remember this being asked on this forum before, but I can't find that thread now. There are lots of references to using Photoshop to create cross stitch and lots of videos, but I wouldn't like to judge how effective they are.
As a child, I remember my mom cross-stitching, sitting for hours as she stitched string onto her canvas, creating beautiful pictures. In fact, she still has an unfinished cross-stitch of a garden scene in the bottom drawer of her nightstand, her vision not being of much aid to her past hobby now (she turned to crochet instead). Years later, my freshman-year roommate, Vivienne, similarly would sit down in the evenings, cross-stitching beautiful pictures of plants, frogs, and mushrooms. It seemed like such a beautiful art form, and I felt nudged towards it, growing more and more interested in cross-stitching.
Cross-stitching's history is a long and culture-crossing one. The art form dates all the way back to the Middle Ages, originating in China during the Tang dynasty (618-906 AD) and having spread to the Western world through trade routes. It was used mostly to embellish items like household linens, tablecloths, dishcloths, and doilies. Today, most cross-stitchers create these beautiful designs on Aida cloth to hang them up as decorations.
To be honest, I was hesitant to pursue cross-stitching at first. In what concerned art, I usually liked having full liberty to do as I wished, to go in whatever order and direction I wanted. But cross-stitching was different; there was a pattern to be followed and, often, specific colors to use. Part of me felt restricted by this, but I later learned to love the sense of order. It was relaxing to ground yourself and follow a pattern that was already carved out for you, to sit back and watch the art create itself stitch by stitch.
Cross-stitching quickly became to me a new way to understand and interact with art. My first finished project was dedicated to my dad for his birthday, barely a few weeks after my initiation to the art form. I remember hurrying to finish it on the plane, the lady next to me watching as I worked. Later on, as I became more and more comfortable with cross-stitching and gaining experience with every finished piece, I would find myself relaxing in the evenings after long days of classes, stitching away at a cute cat cross-stitch. I now have a few cross-stitches hanging up at home and in the dorms. It became a way for me to relax from the bustling life around me, to center myself and focus on something specific that would let my mind stray as my hands worked. I quickly learned to recognize it as an art form that highlights the simple pleasures in life as it allows one to stop for a moment in time and engage in an activity that targets patience and determination. I also see it fitting in art through its embellishment of things that may seem common, such as tablecloths or curtains, or through the touch it brings to an empty wall when hung up. No cross-stitch is ever the same, even if the pattern is the same, and the beauty of it lies in the creativity it adds to the mundane.
If you search "Cross Stitch Picture" on Google, a ton of results will pop up. If there is something specific that you want to crochet like Disney or Anime, be sure to include that in your search.
*For a beginner I would suggest doing something simpler with a large background and not a lot of small details, as you will need to switch colors a lot and you don't want the yarn tails to get tangled up while you are working.
**Also keep in mind what you want this project for ((ie: a baby blanket, a rug, or a blanket for yourself, etc.))
Take note of how the picture is set up. It's like a grid.
So consider each one of those squares as a stitch. If you want an adult/teen sized blanket or a long rug, you will need to add to the pattern. I did not take pictures of my process but I had decided to make a blanket for myself, so I tripled the gauge of the picture ((which was 50x50)) and added 25 rows vertically. It all depends on how it measures against you. I would only do this for one with a large background and little to no small details. Large backgrounds give you a lot of space to play with. Just make sure that if you choose to take that path, you enlarge somewhere that it won't affect the main picture. Sketch it out on a piece of graphing paper first to get an idea of how it will look
When you enlarge, it should be by 2x, 3x, 4x, etc. Don't do it by 2/3, 2 1/2, etc.
And when you enlarge make sure to write it down!!! That way you don't forget how you enlarged it if you take a break, which I suggest you do so as to avoid cramps and severe boredom and repetition.
*also if you are using a rectangular picture, chain the length of the longest side and measure it to make sure that it will lay for its intended use, then do the same with the shorter side as well. DO THIS ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE ENLARGING!!!
Remember in the last step how I said every square was a stitch? When you're enlarging each one of those square would be multiplied by however you're enlarging it. For example, I enlarged mine by 3x so each little square was equal to three. each one up the side was three rows and each one horizontally was three stitches.
Now, these will require quite a bit of color changing so the next step will explain the best way to to that.