How To Make A Pixel Graph

It’s no secret that I love C2C (Corner-to-Corner) crochet projects! And one question that  has been asked several times is “how do you make your graphs?” In this post I show you exactly how I create my graphs (short answer is Excel and Photoshop) and I also give you links to other tools you can use to create your own graphs as well!

I like to customize my own graphs and to do that I start with Microsoft Excel to create the numbered grid.

Highlight a section (I am using a small grid as an example) then go up to the “apply borders to the selection” button in your overhead menu and select “all borders.” This will give you the grid. Then you can click on the individual boxes to all sides (or just the right side and bottom) of the grid to number each box! Select the entire grid and the numbers and copy your selection.

Open Adobe Photoshop. Got to File > New > click OK. Then paste the grid into the blank file. Rasterize your layer in the layers pallet. At this point you can go ahead and fill in your squares with the paint bucket tool from your tool bar.

BUT if you need a little inspiration or help, you can use free clip art as your background image.

In this case I googled “Heart Clip Art” and chose a basic heart shape to copy and past into a new layer in photoshop. That serves as my outline in the background.

With my paint bucket tool,  I fill in the boxes to create a similar heart. Keep in mind that  you are creating a pixelated picture. So your heart won’t have smooth edges like a drawn heart. The trick is to work on the inside of your shape and not fill in every single box along the edge of your clip art.

When I am done filling in my boxes I flatten the layers and save my file! All done and ready to print out to crochet my next corner-to-corner project!

Don’t have Photoshop? Don’t worry!

Here are some other websites and applications that you can use to create your own graph:

1. Just use Excel! You can color the boxes in without having to switch over to Photoshop. Select the square you want to fill in and go to the paint bucket tool in your tool bar. You can choose a color from the paint bucket drop down menu.

2. Make your own graph with graph paper and colored pencils! I show you how to do this in THIS LIVE FACEBOOK video.
3. www.stitchfiddle.com
4. Pixel Art App for smart phones. See my post about this HERE.
5. MyPhotoStitch.com
6. www.C2CGraphs.com
7. Jordans Custom Crochet Graphs And The Hooker Next To Him
8. Bitchin graph
9. Crochet graph lobby
10. Teach Me Graphghan
11. For written instructions you can use www.CrochetWordCharts.com
12. Jilly’s Crochet Design
13. Pic2pat.com
14. Two Magic Pixels

In  addition to the list above, there are many more crochet graph groups on Facebook. Type “Crochet Graphs” in the search bar on Facebook and you will see many private and public groups that you can join!

Do you have a favorite place to create graphs that I didn’t mention? Or another technique you use? Would love to hear about it in the comments!