Upload a photo, get a symbol chart with drill-style codes and counts. Starts at 50 cells wide, 16 colors, dither off. Sixteen colors is a kit you can still sort on a light pad. Fifty across keeps a face readable without a warehouse of partial bags. It's not an official kit chart; you'll verify codes yourself.
Matching uses the same published 454-color floss list as cross-stitch (MIT-licensed reference; site notices). Many diamond kits print similar numbers. That isn't an official kit chart. Hex is a monitor reference. Hold your kit legend or a card next to the screen before you order. DMC is a trademark of its owner. Pixelate Tools is not affiliated. You'll compare to the supplier chart; we're not that chart.
Custom kit sizing
Diamond painters custom-sizing a portrait, crafters who already read DMC-style codes on drill bags, gift makers who want a printable grid with ten-cell guides. You need patience for symbol placement, not just a pretty PNG.
Stitch on Aida? cross-stitch. Melt beads? fuse beads. Screen PNG only? pixel converter. It's drill counts, not fabric inches.
50 across, 16 bags
Fifty cells wide targets a face with readable features without hundreds of dollars in bag SKUs. Sixteen colors matches many kit assortments while staying sortable. Dither off keeps each cell one drill color. Contrast at 12 lifts phone snapshots before matching.
Square lock stays off so portraits can be taller than wide. Turn it on only when the source art is already square. If you're kit-sizing a tall face, that's what you want.
Light pad rhythm
Crop to one subject. Upload and read total drill counts in the legend. Nudge contrast until hair separates from background. Adjust width in steps of five or ten so size jumps are obvious. Copy shopping list when counts look stable.
Download PDF for offline marking; page one holds the list, following pages tile the chart with overlap on large grids. Print chart adds bold lines every ten cells for counting across canvas. Same row discipline as stitch charts in how to read a symbol chart.
Paint low-count colors into neighbors when ×8 isn't worth opening a bag. Empty backdrop cells stay empty unless your kit expects filler drills.
Full photo walkthrough: photo to diamond painting. Color-count overlap: how many colors. If you're ordering tonight, copy the shopping list here; don't trust an old screenshot.
Dither stays off
Dither carried over from a photo study leaves speckled regions that become two drill codes in one area. Kill dither here. Ordering from monitor hex alone skips kit-specific renames; compare to the supplier chart.
Width 80 with sixteen colors on a group photo means thousands of drills on background faces you didn't want. Crop first. A one-column shift still ruins symmetry; use the printed ten-cell lines.
Muddy faces want contrast and crop, not automatic width max. See fix a muddy conversion.
Store the PDF
Copy shopping list is plain text: symbol, code, reference hex, count. Download PDF is the best handoff for large charts and store shopping. Print chart uses the browser print dialog; confirm fit-to-page so cells stay square enough to read.
Chart PNG is a raster backup for tablets. Live grid caps at 64 cells per side like other craft modes; export early on bigger designs.
Limits
We don't sell drills, set canvas pitch, or promise a brand's exact bag codes. We don't clear someone else's photo copyright. We don't iron beads or thread fabric. Compare codes to your kit; that's on you.
Fabric charts?
Thread on fabric: cross-stitch. Pegboards: fuse beads. Screen PNG only: pixel converter. Puzzle row/column numbers without color: Nonogram clues. Why dither stays off: dithering.
Round and square drills share the same symbol chart in practice; this tool won't encode drill shape. Canvas vendors sell different pitches; treat width as drill count, not centimeters. Supplier renames a code? Annotate your printed legend instead of assuming the MIT list matches this year's bag sticker.
Merge crumbs and manual paint work like other craft modes: fold negligible counts before you buy, repaint stray symbols while the preview still matches the photo you intended.
Light pad workers often do one ten-cell band at a time; the printed grid matches that rhythm. Cross-stitch skein math won't translate to drill bags, but shopping list format is similar: symbol, code, count. Store the PDF with the canvas roll so bag codes stay paired months later. Conversion never uploads the portrait; only you see the chart in this tab. It's local, like every Pixelate Tools tool. Don't order from monitor hex alone.
Questions
Are these official diamond kit codes?
No. Nearest matches from a published floss list many kits also print. Confirm against your kit chart or supplier before you buy bags. DMC is a trademark of its owner. Pixelate Tools isn't affiliated.
How big is 50 drills?
Fifty drills across equals 50 cells. Physical size depends on canvas drill pitch, which this tool doesn't set. Use the count to order bags, not to guess centimeters.
Should I dither?
Leave dither off. A speckled cheek is two drill colors alternating, slow to place and easy to mis-count.
Why sixteen colors on this page?
Balance for faces and skies without dozens of partial bags. Drop to 12 for simpler kits; raise only if features vanish. You'll know when eyes disappear.
Can I use the cross-stitch PDF on fabric instead?
Different craft. Stitch charts count floss on fabric; this chart counts drills on adhesive canvas. Export from the matching tool.
Updated 30 September 2026