Bead codes
Perler, Hama, and Artkal palettes
The fuse bead tool can snap your photo to Perler Midi, Hama Midi, or Artkal S 5mm color lists, or to a plain 32-color reference set with everyday names and no product codes. The brand lists aren't scans of a bag under your kitchen light. They're community measurements published in the beadcolors project under the MIT license. Full notice lives on the site notices page.
Perler, Hama, and Artkal are trademarks of their owners. Pixelate Tools isn't affiliated, sponsored, or endorsed by those companies. The codes appear so you can talk about a color the way a shopping list talks about a color. They're not a promise that bag 80-15200 on your shelf matches hex #0065b1 on your laptop.
How matching works
You set Colors to 8 (or 12, or 16). The converter reduces the photo to that many regions, then picks the closest entries from the brand list you chose. Two photo colors can collapse to one code. The legend count is the merged total. Raising Colors adds bowls. It doesn't invent beads that don't exist in the list.
Switching from Perler to Hama rebuilds the chart. Letters reshuffle because A means "most used on this export," not a fixed SKU. Copy shopping list again after you switch. An old Perler list won't match a new Hama printout.
Perler Midi on this site is about 100 colors. Hama Midi is a little under 100. Artkal S 5mm is larger, near 200. A bigger list doesn't mean a better photo. It means the nearest match can be tighter. Your Colors slider still caps how many bowls land on the table.
What to do with a mismatch
Hold the bead you own next to the on-screen swatch. If it's close enough at arm's length, use it and keep the printed code as a shopping hint. If it's obviously different, either paint those cells to a neighbor color you do own, or buy the bag whose bead matches the swatch in real light. Don't order blind from a phone under a yellow bulb.
Transparent and glitter beads are uneven in community charts. If a legend row looks wrong, treat it as a warning to verify, not as a defect report against the manufacturer. Clear beads on a white desk will look different from clear beads on a black mat. The hex can't encode that.
When to use the reference set
Use Fuse beads (reference) when you mix brands, when your drawer has no codes left on the bags, or when you only need plain names for a class handout. Write your own codes on the paper. The converter still counts pegs and boards the same way.
Board math stays at 29×29 by default. That's plastic size, not brand loyalty. Details: pegboard sizes. How many beads to pour: how many fuse beads. Photo setup: photo to fuse bead pattern.
Download PDF still works with brand palettes. Page one is the shopping list with codes. Later pages are chart tiles. Print at 100%. If you share the PDF, include the note that colors are approximate community measurements. That sentence saves an argument in a craft group chat.
A quick check before you spend money: pick the darkest outline color in the legend, pour ten beads, place one short row, and compare to the paper under daylight or a daylight bulb. If row 1 is already wrong, stop. You either printed an old export or the monitor lied. Fix the chart before you open twenty bags.
Mini and maxi lines aren't in the Palette menu yet. If your board is mini pegs, measure the peg count and set width yourself. Don't assume a Midi code chart sits on a mini board without redrawing. Brand lists here are Midi-style 5mm references only.
When to ignore brand menus entirely
When beads are unlabeled leftovers, when you teach kids with a mixed bucket, or when trademark codes would confuse a free handout. Use Fuse beads (reference), write bag numbers by hand, and match by eye under daylight.
Brand palette checklist
Palette matches drawer brand. Colors slider set. Ten-bead row test before big pours. Shopping list copied after last palette switch. PDF shared with the approximate-color disclaimer for group builds. Pattern flow: photo to fuse bead pattern.
When you outgrow Midi beads, redraw at the new peg count instead of trusting width 29 with mini plastic. Palette names won't shrink your art for you.
Questions
Are these official manufacturer charts?
No. RGB values come from community measurements in the beadcolors project (MIT). Brands are trademarks of their owners. Pixelate Tools isn't affiliated.
Which palette should I pick?
Pick the brand of beads in your drawer. If you mix brands, pick one and accept nearest matches, or use the plain reference set and write your own codes.
Why does a code look wrong on my screen?
Monitors lie. Hold a physical bead next to the swatch. Dye lots differ too.
Will switching brands reuse letter A?
No. Rebuild the chart and copy shopping list again after any palette menu change.
Is the plain reference set legal-safe?
It uses generic color names, not trademarked codes, for mixed-brand drawers and classrooms.
Keep going
Updated 30 September 2026