Boards

Fuse bead pegboard sizes

A common square fuse-bead pegboard is 29 pegs wide and 29 tall. That's 841 pegs if you fill every one. Pixelate Tools's bead tool opens at 29×29 for that reason. Larger patterns are multiples: 58 wide needs two boards across, 87 needs three.

Make plan on the fuse bead page prints boards across × boards tall using ceil(width÷29) and ceil(height÷29). A 40×40 chart needs 2×2 boards even though 40 is only a little over 29, because one board can't hold the overflow. You'll have empty pegs on each board's edge. That's normal when you join boards.

Filled vs empty

Shopping list counts filled beads only. Empty cells after a corner drop or a shaped crop are air. Don't buy 841 cream beads for a head silhouette that only uses 500. Add the legend counts. The longer shopping math is how many fuse beads.

Square lock keeps a photo inside a square footprint. Leave it on when your plastic is square. Turn it off when you own a rectangle board or you're joining boards into a wide banner and the photo's aspect should win.

Other sizes

Mini and maxi beads use different boards. European round boards and large interlocking sets aren't always 29. If your board is 50×50 or a circle, set the converter width to the peg count you can actually use, and ignore the 29 default. The shopping list still counts beads; the board line will overstate 29-boards if your plastic is different. Cross out that line and write your real board count by hand.

Perler, Hama, and Artkal are trademarks of their owners. Pixelate Tools isn't affiliated. The Palette menu offers community-measured brand codes (beadcolors MIT) plus a plain reference set. Match beads in your hand. Pattern setup is photo to fuse bead pattern. Brand honesty is Perler, Hama, Artkal palettes. Letter tracking is how to read a symbol chart.

When you join boards, iron or tape according to your brand's sheet. The chart doesn't model the plastic frame between boards. Place the pattern so a seam doesn't cut through an eye or a letter if you can help it. Shift the photo crop by a few cells and reconvert before you pour beads.

A quick check: if Make plan says 4 boards and your legend's largest color is over 1,000, look at the preview. You may be beading a wall. Crop and drop the background until the board count matches the evening you actually have.

Worked sizes people actually use:

Set width to 29, 58, or 87 when you can. Odd widths like 40 still work, but you waste pegs on the second board. If your goal is "use exactly one board," keep Square on and width at 29, then crop the photo until the subject fills the square without a huge empty background.

Copy shopping list after the last slider move. Paste it into a note titled with the board layout, for example cat-58x58-2x2boards.txt. If you reopen the tab tomorrow and change Colors, the letters reshuffle. The old note becomes wrong. The board count formula doesn't reshuffle (ceil(58/29) is still 2), but color A on Monday isn't color A on Tuesday.

For a sprite you already drew at 32×32, set width to 32, turn Square on, and accept that you'll only use the center of a 29 board plus a slim overflow, or bump to two boards. Some people prefer redrawing the sprite at 29 in an editor so it sits on one board cleanly. The converter won't pad a 32 grid into 29 without dropping columns; it will make a 32-wide chart and ask for two boards across if you keep that width.

When 29×29 is the wrong default

When your plastic is 15×15 mini, 50×50 large, or interlocking hex boards. When the pattern is a wide banner and Square forces wasted pegs. Measure once, set width to your peg span, and hand-edit the Make plan line on your shopping note if the auto board count assumes 29.

Board layout checklist

Width and height frozen. ceil(width÷29) and ceil(height÷29) written on printout. Seam shifted away from eyes if possible. Bead totals from legend, not from 841×boards unless every cell fills.

Width 87 is nine boards. Confirm shelf space and ironing surface before you pour. Make plan is honest math; your weekend is finite.

Questions

How many pegs on a 29 board?

29×29 = 841 pegs if every cell is filled. Empty cells in the chart aren't beads.

How many boards for a 58-wide pattern?

Ceil(58÷29) = 2 boards across. Height uses the same ceiling rule.

Is every brand 29×29?

Many square midi boards are. Mini and maxi boards differ. Measure your plastic before you trust the default.

Why ceil and not round for boards?

Partial boards still need another physical frame. 40 wide needs two 29 boards, not one.

Do circles change the 29 math?

Set width to the peg span you actually use. Make plan assumes square 29 tiles unless you override width.

Keep going

Updated 30 September 2026