Turn any photo into a printable crochet graph pattern — graphghan (also spelled grafghan), C2C blanket, tapestry crochet, and word or name charts.
This tool works best on desktop for detailed chart editing. You can still use it on mobile, but a larger screen is recommended.
1 Upload
2 Grid
3 Colors
4 Palette
5 Chart
6 Summary
1
Upload Your Image
Drop your image here
or click to browse — JPG, PNG, GIF, WEBP
2
Configure Grid
50
Lock aspect ratio
50
Single Crochet Graphghan: Work row by row, switching colors per stitch. Each colored square = 1 single crochet. Great for beginners.
3
Color Reduction
8
Original
Crochet Chart Preview
4
Palette Editor
Color
Hex
Stitches
%
Symbol
Yarn Match
Actions
5
Chart View
Grid lines
100%
6
Project Summary
Color
Symbol
Yarn Match
Stitches
Est. Yardage
How a photo becomes a crochet chart
Three things happen when you press Generate, and it helps to know all three
because each one is a choice you can change.
First, the photo is resampled down to your stitch grid. If you ask
for 60 stitches wide, the image is averaged down to 60 columns — every square of the
chart is the average color of the patch of photo behind it. This is why small detail
disappears: a face that is 8 pixels wide in the resampled image cannot come back in
yarn. If your subject is getting lost, go wider rather than adding colors.
Second, the colors are reduced by median cut. The tool builds a box
around every color in the image, splits it along its longest axis at the median, and
repeats until it has as many boxes as you asked for colors. The average of each box
becomes one yarn color. Median cut is used instead of picking the most common colors
because it keeps rare-but-important colors — an eye, a highlight — instead of throwing
them away for another shade of background.
Third, the grid is corrected for stitch shape. Crochet stitches are
not square. In worsted yarn a single crochet is roughly 0.333 inches wide and 0.308
inches tall, so a chart drawn on square cells and worked in single crochet comes out
squashed. The row count is multiplied by that ratio — about 1.08 — so the finished
fabric keeps your photo's proportions. C2C blocks are square, so choosing C2C changes
the row count. That is the reason the number moves when you switch technique.
Every color then gets a symbol and its nearest match from a standard worsted yarn
card, and the summary estimates yardage per color from the stitch count.
Graphghan, tapestry or C2C — which mode do you want?
The same chart works for all three; what changes is how you read it and how much
yarn it takes.
Mode
One square is
Best for
Yarn per 100 squares
Single crochet graphghan
one single crochet
Photos, portraits, anything with fine detail. Worked in rows, bottom to top.
~8.5 yds
Tapestry crochet
one single crochet, carrying colors
Bags, baskets, anything worked in the round where you want a tidy back and no floats.
~10.2 yds
C2C (corner to corner)
one block of 3 double crochet
Blankets you want finished this month. Bigger, faster, less detail per square.
~51 yds
A crochet grid maker like this one is only half the job — pick the mode before you
buy yarn, because the same picture at the same width needs about six times the yardage
in C2C as it does in single crochet, and the row count is different too.
A worked example
Say you want a 40 inch wide graphghan of a photo of your dog, in worsted, at a
gauge of 12 single crochet per 4 inches.
Gauge per inch: 12 ÷ 4 = 3 stitches per inch
Width: 40 × 3 = 120 stitches — set the width slider to 120
The photo is 4:5 portrait, so rows = 120 × 1.25 × 1.08 (stitch aspect) =
162 rows, which the tool fills in for you
Total: 120 × 162 = 19,440 stitches
Yarn: 19,440 × 8.5 ÷ 100 ≈ 1,652 yards, so buy about 1,800 with
the border and the weaving-in
Eight colors is usually the sweet spot for a photo. Below six you lose the face;
above ten you spend the whole project weaving in ends.
Questions people ask
How do I turn a photo into a crochet pattern?
Upload the photo, choose how many stitches wide you want the finished piece, then pick how many yarn colors you are willing to buy. The tool downsizes the image to that stitch grid, reduces it to your color count with a median-cut algorithm, and draws a numbered chart with a symbol and a yarn match for every color. Nothing is uploaded to a server — the whole thing runs in your browser.
How many stitches wide should a graphghan be?
Work backwards from the finished size and your gauge. At a worsted single crochet gauge of about 12 stitches per 4 inches, a 40 inch wide blanket is roughly 120 stitches. More stitches means more detail and more work: a 100 x 130 chart is 13,000 stitches, which is a real blanket, while 50 x 65 is a cushion cover. Faces and text need at least 60 stitches across to stay readable.
What is the difference between a graphghan, tapestry crochet and C2C?
A graphghan is worked in rows of single crochet, one colored square per stitch, changing color as you go. Tapestry crochet is the same grid but you carry the unused colors along the row and crochet over them, which gives a denser, tidier fabric and uses about 20 percent more yarn. C2C is worked on the diagonal from one corner in blocks of double crochet, so each square is a block rather than a stitch and the grid is square rather than slightly tall. This tool builds the chart for all three and adjusts the row count for you.
Why does my chart look taller or shorter than my photo?
Because crochet stitches are not square. A worsted single crochet is about 0.333 inches wide and 0.308 inches tall, so a chart drawn on square cells comes out squashed in the finished fabric. This tool corrects for that: it multiplies the row count by the stitch aspect ratio so the finished blanket keeps your photo's proportions. C2C blocks are treated as square, which is why switching to C2C changes the row count.
How much yarn will my chart use?
The summary table estimates it per color from the stitch count. The model is about 8.5 yards per 100 single crochet stitches in worsted, 10.2 for tapestry because of the carried strands, and 51 yards per 100 C2C blocks since each block is three double crochets plus a chain-3. Add about 10 percent on top for the border, weaving in and colors you run short on.
Is this free, and do I have to sign up?
It is free and there is no account. Your image is processed in the browser and never leaves your device. Printing offers you a newsletter sign-up first; decline it and the chart still prints.
Generating Chart...
Analyzing colors...
Merge Into Which Color?
Select the target color to absorb this color's stitches: