Upload a photo, get a symbol grid plus a legend: floss numbers, names, reference hex, stitch counts. Opens at 40 cells wide, 12 colors, dither off, contrast 12. Twelve colors is a pile of skeins you can actually sort. Forty stitches on 14-count Aida is about 2.9 inches.
The matcher uses a 454-color list compiled by Sharla Gelfand, MIT license (site notices). It median-cuts your grid, keeps as many colors as the slider allows, snaps to the nearest list entries. Two photo colors can collapse to one number; legend count is the merged total. Hex values are a published reference. Dye lot, lighting, and your monitor will disagree. Hold a real card next to the screen before you buy a stack of skeins. DMC is a trademark of its owner. Pixelate Tools is not affiliated. You'll still want a physical card; the screen isn't thread.
Thread shopping
Stitchers turning a personal photo into a counted pattern, gift makers sizing a first portrait, designers who want floss numbers before regraphing by hand. You should be fine buying skeins from a legend, not expecting a kit bag in the mail from this site. It's a chart tool, not a thread shop.
Melt beads on a square pegboard? fuse bead pattern. Screen PNG without symbols? pixel converter.
40 stitches wide
Forty cells keeps a face readable on 14-count without committing to a wall hanging. Twelve colors balances skin tones and clothing folds against bowl fatigue at the table. Dither off avoids alternating symbols that slow stitching. Contrast at 12 lifts flat phone photos before matching runs.
DMC palette mode snaps to the reference list. Source colors here wouldn't give you shopping numbers. Fabric count lives in Make plan, not on the upload line. If you're shopping tonight, copy the list after sliders stop moving.
Before you buy skeins
Crop tight around the subject elsewhere if needed. Upload under 15 MB. Adjust contrast until eyes or the main edge separate from background. Change width in sensible steps and watch stitch counts jump in the legend. Merge crumbs ≤8 when the legend lists many ×3 colors you won't separate in real life.
Open Make plan, pick 11–22 count fabric, read inches before you commit. Copy shopping list while the tab is open. Download PDF for tiled A4 charts with overlap, or Print chart for the browser dialog. One row shift ruins the nose; read symbols with a ruler mindset. Letters explained in how to read a symbol chart.
Setup photos: photo to cross-stitch. Fabric math: cross-stitch fabric size. Skein guesses: how many floss skeins.
Speckle cheeks
Dither left on from a photo study gives speckled cheeks that become two floss symbols per row. Turn dither off here. Uncropped landscape at width 40 spends thousands of stitches on sky you could crop out.
Shopping from an old screenshot after moving sliders gives wrong counts. Copy shopping list again after each change. Monitor hex isn't dyed thread; verify with a physical card. Expect merged neighbors when two photo greens both map to 699-style entries.
Chart feels impossible? Lower width to the 30–50 range for a first piece instead of jumping to 120 cells. Color strategy: how many colors. Muddy photos: fix a muddy conversion. Don't stitch from an old screenshot; counts won't match.
PDF vs on-screen
Copy shopping list is pasteable text with a rough skein guess, not a store SKU. Download PDF puts the list on page one and chart tiles after; large grids get two-cell overlap so tiles align when taped. Chart PNG is one raster of symbols for tablets. Print chart opens the system print dialog; check scale before you mark fabric.
On-screen table stops at 64 cells per side so the tab stays responsive. Past that, use PDF or PNG. Letters restart every export: A means most used on that file only. Don't shop from an old export; you'll get wrong counts.
What we won't do
We won't tell you needle size, hoop choice, or how to end a thread. We won't certify a color match. We won't clear copyright on someone else's artwork. Picture's yours? The chart is a tool for your project. Empty cells are unstitched, not white, unless white is in the legend with its own symbol. Hold a card; your monitor isn't a skein.
Beads instead?
Bead pegs use a different palette and 29-wide default: fuse bead pattern. Diamond drills reuse the same floss-code list: diamond painting. Raise width and dither on the pixel converter for photo studies. Silhouette clues: image to Nonogram. Why dither stays off: dithering. Nothing uploads; you'll keep the photo on your machine.
Questions
Are these official DMC colors?
No. They're nearest entries in a published 454-color reference list. Hex isn't a scan of your skein. DMC is a trademark of its owner. Pixelate Tools isn't affiliated; this chart isn't a licensed pattern.
How big is 40 stitches?
On 14-count Aida, about 2.9 inches (40÷14). On 18-count, about 2.2 inches.
What does the letter A mean?
A is the most common color on this chart only. The floss id is the number in the legend, not the letter.
Why did two photo colors become one floss number?
The matcher snaps to the nearest reference entry. Similar greens merge. Lower colors or paint cells apart before you shop. That's normal, not a bug.
Can I stitch from the on-screen table only?
Not if the grid is wider than 64 cells per side. Use Download PDF or Chart PNG. The live table is capped for browser speed.
Updated 30 September 2026