Choose bead brands, colors, pegboards, and substitutions

A bead project gets easier when the beads, pegboards, and color choices all belong to the same physical system. This guide is not trying to prove that one brand is best. It helps you understand mini, midi, and maxi sizes, choose a brand or series, match pegboards, and make substitutions without pretending every “5 mm” bead behaves the same.

Choose one bead system before colors

Most brand trouble starts when the word compatible does too much work. A mini bead can be the wrong mini. A midi board can be close but not quite right. A color can match on screen and still fuse glossier, taller, softer, or faster than the rest of the piece.

If you use RetroBeads, this is where the app fits: choose the palette that matches the physical bead system you plan to build with. That one choice sets the color names, color codes, and bead counts the PDF will carry to the table. Source RetroBeads workflow RetroBeads palette model RetroBeads workflow: choose one active palette for the chart rather than mixing palette data behind the scenes. The app can help keep the chart honest, but it cannot make two different physical bead lines behave the same on the iron.

Read bead sizes as measurements, not slogans

The phrase 5 mm bead is useful, but it is not precise enough to plan every brand swap. Perler’s own product page states an actual bead size of 5.07 mm high x 4.77 mm wide. Source Official guidance Perler 1000-bead product page Official Perler product copy states: Actual bead size is 5.07 mm high x 4.77 mm wide. Read source Hama’s size guide describes Original/Midi Hama as 5 mm in length and diameter with a 2 mm inside diameter, which is a published brand size statement, not a caliper table for every lot. Source Official guidance Hama bead sizes Official Hama UK size guide: Original/Midi 5 mm length and diameter, 2 mm inside diameter, and different size ranges are not compatible. Read source

That small distinction is the whole point of this guide. Two brands can both sit in the midi family and still differ in height, outside diameter, hole size, softness, gloss, or melt speed.

Hama Mini deserves special care because public Hama pages disagree. The Hama UK size guide lists Mini as 2 mm, while a Hama Mini product page says Mini Beads have a 2.5 mm diameter. Source Official guidance Hama Mini product page Official Hama UK product page says Mini Beads have a 2.5 mm diameter; the Hama size guide separately lists Mini as 2 mm. Read source RetroBeads currently models Hama Mini as 2.5 mm, but the craft advice is simpler: keep Hama Mini on Hama Mini boards, and measure the beads and boards you own if mini-board fit matters.

Artkal is clearer for the main series it publishes: C is 2.6 mm mini hard, A is 2.6 mm mini soft, S is 5.0 mm midi hard, R is 5.0 mm midi soft, and X is 10 mm maxi. Source Official guidance Artkal bead size table Official Artkal table for size, series, hardness, and color counts. Read source RetroBeads also supports Artkal M at 2.6 mm from chart data, but this guide did not find a clean public manufacturer row for M, so do not use this page as proof of M-series hardware fit.

PhotoPearls refills are publicly listed at 5 mm diameter. Source Official guidance PhotoPearls products Official PhotoPearls products page lists refill colors as 5 mm diameter. Read source A PhotoPearls refill page is not the same as a full Nabbi spec sheet, so do not use it as proof for every Nabbi-family product. For Nabbi, Yant, IKEA Pyssla, and Generic CN, public measurements are weaker than the big brand pages. IKEA’s public PYSSLA page confirms material and ironing/cooling guidance, but not bead diameter. Source Official guidance IKEA Pyssla product page Official IKEA PYSSLA product page lists bead material as polyethylene and gives ironing/cooling guidance, but does not publish bead diameter. Read source If tolerance matters, measure the bag and board you will actually use.

This guide also names a few popular systems RetroBeads does not chart yet, because makers still run into them at stores and in shared patterns. Perler Biggie is one example: Perler describes Biggie Beads as larger than classic-size beads and designed for Biggie Beads pegboards only. Source Official guidance Perler Biggie Beads Bucket Official Perler product text says Biggie Beads are larger than classic-size beads and are designed for use with Biggie Beads pegboards only. Read source Artkal X is another large-bead context row because Artkal publishes X as 10 mm maxi. Mentioning those lines here is craft context, not a promise that the current app can generate those palettes.

Some popular pixel-craft systems are not heat-fuse pegboard beads at all. Aquabeads stick together with water, with no ironing needed. Source Official guidance Aquabeads how to play Official Aquabeads page says Aquabeads stick together with water and do not need ironing or needling. Read source Simbrix interlock without ironing, glue, water, or pegboards. Source Official guidance Simbrix official home Official Simbrix page says Simbrix interlock and do not require ironing, gluing, water, or pegboards. Read source They are useful to recognize, but they do not belong in Perler/Hama-style substitution or pegboard-fit advice.

Match the pegboard family, not just the bead label

Pegboards are part of the bead system. A 5 mm bead needs a 5 mm pegboard family that fits that bead, and mini or maxi beads need their own boards. Hama states that beads and pegboards from different Hama size ranges are not compatible with each other. Source Official guidance Hama bead sizes Official Hama UK size guide says Hama beads and pegboards from different size ranges are not compatible. Read source

A common maker planning unit is the square midi board. One public Hama large-square board listing gives 841 pins and 14.5 cm by 14.5 cm dimensions, which matches the familiar 29x29-board idea. Source Maker guide Hama large square board listing Public retailer listing gives 841 pins and 14.5 cm by 14.5 cm dimensions. Used as a planning example, not a universal peg-pitch spec. Read source A smaller Hama square board product lists 196 pegs and 8 x 8 x 1 cm product dimensions, which is a good reminder that public board dimensions usually include the full product, not just the peg centers. Source Official guidance Hama square pegboard product Official Hama UK product page lists 196 pegs and product dimensions of 8 x 8 x 1 cm. Read source

So the practical rule is simple: plan with the boards on your table. If a project spans seams, use one pegboard family across the whole piece. If boards have bowed from old heat, do not try to rescue a clean seam by pressing harder. Use the tape method and fuse off the board.

Handle unavailable colors without pretending they match

When a bead color is missing, solve the picture first. The cleanest fixes usually stay inside the same brand or series:

1. Try the nearest in-brand color. Replace a missing shadow, highlight, or background color with the closest bead from the same brand and series.
2. Change the chart if the swap hurts the image. In RetroBeads, lower the color count, try a different matching algorithm, or choose the palette for the bead line you actually have before you buy more beads.
3. Move risky swaps out of attention zones. Protect faces, text, eyes, high-contrast outlines, smooth gradients, and pegboard seams. A slight height or finish change is much louder there.
4. Substitute groups, not confetti. If three close shadow colors are unavailable, choose a small new shadow group. One random bead at a time tends to make the image sparkle in the wrong places.

Cross-brand substitution is a physical table decision. Makers do it, especially for tiny accents or background shortages, but it needs a test patch because brand, series, lot, paper, iron, and finish style can all change the result. One public maker guide shows visible finish differences between Perler, Pyssla, Nabbi/PhotoPearls, Hama, and cheaper generic melty beads. Source Maker guide Maker brand comparison One public maker guide comparing visible finish, shape, and melt behavior across several brands. Treated as maker context, not a universal spec table. Read source

There is one important kind of exception: a manufacturer can make a mixing statement inside its own line. Hama says its Bio beads can be mixed with existing Hama beads and are suitable for Hama pegboards. Source Official guidance Hama official home Official Hama page says Bio beads can be mixed with existing Hama beads and are suitable for Hama pegboards. Read source That is not proof that every brand can mix with every other brand. It is Hama speaking for Hama.

Practical checklist

Print this beside the chart and the iron.

• One bead size family selected for the whole project.
• One brand or series chosen before the chart is locked.
• One brand or series across faces, text, outlines, smooth fields, and seams when possible.
• One pegboard family across the piece, especially across board seams.
• Public size claims read correctly: actual, nominal, chart data, or unverified.
• Missing colors fixed inside the same brand or series first, before cross-brand swaps.
• Cross-brand or cross-series swaps tested on a small patch before the real piece.
• Adult-handled iron, with kids and pets clear of the work area.
• Warped boards retired from heat work; use the tape method when a flat board is no longer flat.

Terms used in this guide

• Bead system: The physical combination of bead size family, brand or series, pegboard family, and fusing behavior.
• Nominal size: A brand or family label such as 5 mm midi. Useful for choosing the right family, but not the same as a measured height, outside diameter, or hole size for every bead.
• Bead size family: A bead-and-pegboard system grouped by size. Classic/Midi 5 mm, Mini, and Maxi/Biggie are separate families.
• Brand series: A specific bead line within a brand, such as Hama Midi, Hama Mini, Artkal S hard midi, or Artkal R soft midi.
• Pegboard family: A pegboard system that matches one bead size and physical fit, usually from one brand or one known-compatible board line.
• Substitution: A deliberate swap for a missing chart color. Start inside the same brand or series; if you physically cross brands, test first.
• Test patch: A small fused sample using the same beads, paper, iron, and surface as the real project.
• Unsupported craft context: A bead, pegboard, water-fuse, or interlocking system mentioned here because makers run into it, even though RetroBeads does not currently chart it.
• Water-fuse or interlocking system: Pixel-craft systems such as Aquabeads or Simbrix that do not use Perler/Hama-style heat-fuse pegboards.

Where this guide stops

This is the planning guide. The execution guides take it from here:

• For the front-finish choice and the actual iron motion, see Ironing styles and troubleshooting.
• For large or multi-board projects, see Tape method for large fuse-bead projects.
• For locking the chart, board layout, palette, and bead counts in the app, see Create your first RetroBeads pattern.
• For the printed packet that carries the brand, palette, and substitution decisions to the table, see Export, print, and use your bead pattern PDF.