Eyes you can count
An eye needs several stitches across to keep its catchlight. In practice that means cropping tight on the head and choosing a chart around 150 stitches wide or more.
pets are the most-stitched subject we see
Your pet, as a cross stitch portrait
Upload a photo of the dog who waits by the door or the cat on the windowsill, and get a printable chart with DMC thread colors and skein counts. Preview it free — you pay only if the pattern is worth stitching.
See your pet as a pattern before you spend anything.
Free preview, no account. The printable chart is $5.99.
- Free preview
- DMC colors matched
- Photo stays in your browser
- Stitches
- 20 × 18
- Thread colors
- 6
- On 14-count Aida
- 1.4 × 1.3 in
- Level
- Beginner friendly
DMC 922Copper LightDMC 720Orange Spice DarkDMC 3326Rose LightDMC 310BlackDMC 702Kelly GreenDMC 3865Winter White
Preview of the generator. Colors on screen are approximate; always check floss in daylight.
What a good pet portrait needs
Fur that stays fur
A coat should read as texture, not a smooth gradient. Twenty to thirty thread colors hold the highlights without burying you in confetti stitches.
A background that earns its stitches
Busy backgrounds become scattered confetti. Crop the photo tight, or drop the background and let a colored Aida be the backdrop.
The full method — choosing the photo, sizing the chart, handling fur — is in our pet portrait guide, and the black-coat guide covers the hardest subject of all. More guides live under pet & portrait patterns.
Guides by animal: cat portrait guide · dog portrait guide. Want a small chart to try first? Here is a free dog face pattern to try first.
The chart you get
- A symbol chart and a color chart of the same pattern
- A DMC thread key with stitch counts and skeins to buy
- Big charts split across pages with an overlap, plus a page map
- A tick-box shopping list sorted by DMC number
- Finished sizes on every fabric count, not just yours
One pet, one chart
$5.99
One photo, turned into the printable PDF. Change the size, colors or fabric afterwards and re-export free — you pay once per photo.
A whole litter of them
$7.99per month
The Stitcher’s Pass: unlimited patterns from unlimited photos. Worth it the moment you chart a second pet.
Pet portrait questions
Daylight, no flash, camera at the animal’s eye level, head and shoulders filling most of the frame, and a background that contrasts with the coat. Sharp eyes with a visible catchlight matter most — they carry the likeness.
Big enough that each eye is several stitches across — usually at least 150 stitches on the longer side for a head-and-shoulders portrait, about 10.7 inches on 14-count Aida. Smaller works for a silhouette or a simple outline.
Not if the photo is lit well. Black coats chart through reflected color and sheen rather than the coat itself, so the pattern needs enough thread colors to hold the highlights. Daylight near a window beats flash every time.
Usually not. A busy background becomes hundreds of scattered stitches that add hours and little beauty. Crop it out, or let the fabric color be the background — an Aida color that suits the coat is free.
Previewing is free. The printable PDF — symbol chart, color chart, DMC key and skein counts — is $5.99 once per photo, and re-exporting the same photo at a different size or color count is free. The $7.99 monthly Stitcher’s Pass covers unlimited patterns.
No. The photo is turned into a chart inside your own browser and never leaves your device. Only the finished chart — thread list and stitch numbers — is sent when you order the PDF.
Ready when your camera roll is
Preview your pet’s pattern in about a minute, free. The photo never leaves your browser.