Pixel art into bead patterns. Fast.
Drop in a sprite or a whole sprite sheet. Pick the one you want, choose your beads, then build on screen or from a printable chart. Prefer to design from scratch? Start with a blank canvas. RetroBeads runs in your browser.
The flow
From sprite to bead chart in seconds.
The same little kart, three views: source pixels, the matching bead chart, and a printable plan with every bead count.
A single sprite or a whole sheet: bring the file as-is, no cropping required.
Real bead geometry, real counts. Swap palettes and watch the chart update live.
372 beads across 9 colors. Follow it on your screen or export the PDF and tape it up.
Bring whole sheets
Upload the sprite sheet. Pick the sprite.
Drop in a full sprite sheet, a screenshot of a tileset, or a single sprite. Select the frame or feature you want, crop right inside the editor, and resize to the board size you have on the table.
No round trip through another app to chop, scale, or recolor before you can begin. Palette matching, editing, and export all happen here.
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Sprite picker
Click the sprite you want out of dozens on the sheet. No manual export from another tool.
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Crop and resize
Frame your subject and scale to the board size, all inside the editor.
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Palette matching
Match your inventory automatically, then nudge any color by hand.
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Edit, export, build
Paint over cells, export a PDF, or build straight from the chart on screen.
Import wizard
A guided import, then straight to the chart.
When you bring an image, the wizard walks through source, sprite or crop selection, board size, and palette. When you start with a blank canvas, it steps right out of the way.
The editor
A focused workspace for the chart, the palette, and the counts.
The chart sits in the middle, the tools live on the rail, and a per-color count strip runs along the bottom. Side panels collapse out of the way when you want to read the chart at arm's length.
Why this exists
Less setup. More beads.
Pattern making is a craft community with lots of great tools. RetroBeads picks a narrow slice and tries to make it effortless: take any image, even a whole sprite sheet, and get to a chart you can actually build from, fast.
No exporting a sprite from another app, no manual cropping or resizing, no separate palette mapper. Bring the file as-is, pick what you want, and start placing beads, on screen or from a printed plan.
Three steps
01
Drop in your image
A sprite, a sprite sheet, a sketch, a screenshot, or a photo. Crop, pick a sprite, and choose a board size.
02
Pick your beads
Choose a palette preset, match your inventory, swap colors, and watch the bead counts update in real time.
03
Build from screen or paper
Follow the chart live on screen, or export a clean PDF with grid, palette key, and per-color counts.
Stays in your browser
Your image stays on your device.
Image conversion, palette matching, and PDF export all run in the browser. The app collects no analytics. Open your dev tools and check the network tab any time.
Tutorials
Real maker workflows, not button tours.
Practical fuse-bead guides with clear safety notes, sources labeled as official manufacturer guidance or community practice, and links to RetroBeads where it actually helps.