Free photo to paint by numbers
Turn a photo into a numbered outline page, a coloured reference and a palette key, sized for the canvas you will paint. Every region is big enough for a brush. Free, no signup, and the photo never leaves this computer.
Faster with the free Chrome extension: right-click any picture on a website and send it straight to the paint by numbers maker. Add to Chrome · what it does
Extension installed. Right-click any picture on a website and choose Makerfern → Open this picture in… to bring it here.
A kit you can actually paint
Most photo-to-paint-by-numbers converters hand back hundreds of slivers: regions a millimetre wide with a number crammed in, or no number at all. The difference here is that every region is measured at the size you will print, and anything narrower than a brush is merged into its neighbour. The same rule the cut-file tools use for vinyl a blade can weed.
What you get
- The outline page, with a number in every region and the palette key underneath, as a 300 dpi PNG and a real-size SVG.
- A coloured reference, so you can see what it will look like finished.
- The palette: every colour numbered by how much of the canvas it covers, with a name, a hex code and the area, as a CSV.
Getting a good kit from a photo
- Start with one clear subject. A pet on a plain floor makes a calmer kit than a crowded room.
- Set the canvas width first. A 16-inch canvas can hold far more detail than an 8-inch one.
- Use Simplify for skin, sky and fur. It smooths texture away and keeps the edges of the face.
- Check the region count. A few hundred regions is an evening or two; a thousand is a long project.
The full walk-through is in how to turn a photo into a paint by numbers kit.
Questions
Can I turn my own photo into a paint by numbers?
Yes, that is what this does. Drop the photo in, choose how many paints and how big the canvas will be, and it makes the numbered outline page, a coloured reference and the palette key. It runs in your browser: the photo is not uploaded anywhere.
What is “narrowest region”?
The thinnest area it will ask you to paint, in millimetres at the size you print. Anything thinner is merged into its neighbour, because a brush cannot fill it and a number cannot fit in it. It is the reason a printed kit here stays paintable instead of turning into hundreds of slivers.
How many colours should I use?
Eight to twelve is a good start for a portrait or a pet; fewer for a first kit or a child, more for a detailed landscape. Every extra colour is another paint to buy or mix, so the palette key shows how much of the picture each one covers.
Which paints do the numbers mean?
The colours are the photo's own, averaged per region, with a hex code and a plain name. They are not brand paint names; mix to the swatch, or take the hex code to a shop that matches colours. The CSV download lists every colour with its share of the canvas.
Can I print it on canvas?
Download the SVG or the 300 dpi outline page and send it to a canvas printer at the width you set. The outlines are traced vector paths, so they print sharp at any size.