Charts for fingers that count threads, not paper that lies about them.
Cross-stitch designers reach Grid Maker Pro for two jobs: matching the grid to fabric count — 14-count Aida means fourteen cells per inch, 18-count for fine work, 11-count for beginner pieces — and converting reference photographs into stitch charts via the grid-method transfer. One cell on screen, one cross on the cloth.
Pick the count, set the grid, that's the calibration.
Aida cloth is woven with discrete holes at fixed density, and the count is simply the number of stitches per inch. Eleven for beginner work and oversize designs; fourteen as the workhorse default; sixteen for portraits and fine line work; eighteen when you want detail closer to the thread. The grid cell-per-inch count is the only setting that matters: match it to the fabric count, print your cross stitch graph paper at 1:1 print scale, stitch.
Beginner & wall-hangings
Largest holes, easiest to count. A 100×100 chart finishes at 9.1×9.1″. Good for kids' first samplers and large statement pieces.
The default — 70% of designs
The category default. Most patterns assume 14ct unless they say otherwise. 100×100 chart = 7.1×7.1″ finished.
Portraits & finer detail
Tighter weave. Same chart in 16ct is 6.3×6.3″. Good for portrait work where small features (eyes, lips) need a finer grain.
Heirloom work
Finest standard count. 5.6×5.6″ for a 100×100 chart. Approaches the visual density of evenweave linen at over-2 stitching.
One photograph becomes one chart in four moves.
The grid-transfer method has been used by chart designers for two centuries. What changed is the granularity available to the home stitcher — a 200-cell-square chart that took weeks to plot by hand drops in three clicks.
Drop the reference
Drag any JPG or PNG onto the canvas. The image stays on your device — there is no upload.
Lay the grid
14×14 cells per inch for the most common chart. Snap, scale, or stretch — the cells stay countable.
Assign DMC colours
One floss number per cell. Export the gridded reference, then map cells to a DMC palette by hand or in chart software.
Stitch from the printout
The grid count on paper equals the stitch count on cloth. No further calculation needed.
Six DMC colours carry an extraordinary number of designs.
A sampler doesn't need a hundred-thread palette. Six well-chosen DMC numbers — a warm red, a deep navy, an antique gold, a leaf green, a rose pink, a near-black — render most traditional motifs honestly. Build out from here.
The cross-stitcher's overlay set.
Square Grid
Aida-cloth charts at 11/14/16/18 cells per inch. The workhorse.
→Rectangular Grid
Evenweave linen where horizontal and vertical thread counts differ.
→Custom Grid
Irregular borders, partial designs, focal-point density planning.
→Diamond Grid
Argyle-pattern stitch designs and Quaker-revival borders.
→Dot Grid
Aida-style dot reference without the lines getting in the way.
What stitchers actually use it for.
My commission work all starts with a printout at 14ct. Clients can hold it up to their wall and know exactly how big the finished sampler will be — before I've threaded a needle.
For 18ct portrait work I drop the photo, lay a 180×180 chart over it, and use the custom-grid bands to bias detail toward the eyes. The cloth gets exactly the resolution it deserves.
The diamond overlay is what unlocked my Quaker-revival series. Argyle, rosettes, four-leaf medallions — the chart's geometry now matches the geometry the eye reads on the cloth.
Four motifs to copy by counting cells.
Filled heart
20 stitches · DMC 666Alphabet · letter A
24 stitches · DMC 336Quaker flower
15 stitches · multi-flossGeometric border
Repeating · 10-cell unitThe four questions everyone asks.
What count Aida cloth should my grid match?
Match the grid cells to your fabric count. 14-count Aida (the most common) means fourteen cells per inch — set your grid to fourteen cells per inch and the printed chart will be the actual stitched size at 1:1. 11ct = eleven cells per inch (chunkier, for beginners or large work). 16ct and 18ct = finer cells for higher-detail work. The grid count is the stitch count.
How do I convert a photo to a stitch chart?
Open the photo in Grid Maker Pro, drop a square grid over it at your target count — 100×100 for a small project, 200×200 for a larger piece — then determine each cell's dominant DMC floss colour. The grid acts as the proportional transfer and the cell-count specification simultaneously. For complex photos, the custom grid lets you concentrate cells where detail matters and skip the empty background.
Does the tool generate symbols for each colour?
The grid itself doesn't auto-assign symbols — that's typically done in dedicated chart-design software like PCStitch, MacStitch, or KG-Chart. Grid Maker Pro produces the underlying grid scaffolding; you can add symbols by hand or import the grid into a chart-design tool that handles the colour-to-symbol mapping.
How does evenweave linen differ from Aida?
Linen counts (28ct, 32ct, 36ct) are stitched two threads per cross — so a 28ct linen has effectively fourteen stitches per inch (two threads each). Set the square grid count to the over-2 stitch count rather than the linen thread count, and the grid still maps one cell to one cross.
What grid size do I need for a 100x100 cross stitch pattern?
Set the square grid to 100 cells wide by 100 cells tall — that is the stitch count, not an inch measurement. The finished size then depends on fabric count: at 14ct a 100x100 chart finishes at 7.1×7.1″, at 11ct it is 9.1×9.1″, and at 18ct it is 5.6×5.6″. Printed at 1:1 print scale, the cross stitch graph paper you hold is the real size the piece will be.
A square grid is still the simplest tool in chart design.
The browser never uploads your photograph. The cells never leave your screen. The printout finishes the size the grid says it will. Free, forever, by structural promise — there is no server to charge you.
Open the square grid →References
- Albers, Anni. On Weaving. Wesleyan University Press (1965). ISBN 978-0-8195-6037-9. On thread-count structure and the grid logic of woven and counted-thread work.
- Albers, Josef. Interaction of Color. Yale University Press (1963). On colour relationships for chart and floss selection.
- Müller-Brockmann, Josef. Grid Systems in Graphic Design. Niggli (1981). ISBN 978-3-7212-0145-1. The grid as a modular planning system.