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From photo to finished piece

The whole process runs on two ideas: the app decides where each colour goes, and the board shows you the answer one colour at a time.

The core loop

Every project, whatever its size, is the same short cycle repeated until the pattern is filled. This is what replaces the paper chart.

  1. Select a colour in the app

    Pick one shade from your palette. PIXDOU highlights only that shade across the whole pattern.

  2. Watch the board isolate it

    The LED matrix lights the positions that take that colour. Everything else stays dark, so there is nothing to misread.

  3. Place the beads

    Drop a bead on each lit peg with the bead pen or tweezers. The pegboard holds each one in place while you work.

  4. Move to the next colour

    Repeat for each shade. The board is fully pegged when every colour has been filled in.

Why one colour at a time matters. On a 78 × 78 grid a full-colour preview would mean over 6,000 lit points at once. Isolating a single shade turns an intimidating pattern into a series of small, obvious tasks.
Placing beads on the lit pegboard with the bead pen

Four ways to get a pattern

Start from the library, from a photograph, from a picture you found, or from a blank canvas.

Material library

Thousands of free patterns across animals, characters, flowers, games and seasonal designs — updated regularly. Download what you like and it stays on your device.

Photo album import

Choose any JPEG or PNG from your phone. The app maps the colours and optimises the pixels to produce a board-ready pattern in one tap — pet photos work especially well.

Live camera

Point the camera at a person, a pet, a plant or a view and convert the shot there and then. The app identifies the colours and builds the pattern immediately.

Custom canvas

Draw your own pixel art from scratch with single-point colouring, region erase, colour sampling and one-click fill. Canvas size is up to you.

Already have a bead pattern? PIXDOU can import existing charts too. Ones that carry colour codes are read automatically; pixel images without codes are analysed and converted into a followable pattern.
Board alongside bead trays and placement tools

Colour matching that respects your bead tray

Patterns are designed in a much larger colour space than any home bead set. PIXDOU closes that gap automatically.

  1. Set up the Bean Warehouse

    Tell the app which colours you own — the included 72-colour set is one tap away. This is what it matches against.

  2. Let it substitute

    The app replaces every colour in the pattern with the nearest shade in your tray, so nothing is ever unmatchable.

  3. Adjust by hand if you want

    Not happy with a substitution? Open the colour scheme, edit individual shades, and save your own version.

No bead is wasted. Because matching happens against what you own, a pattern will not ask for a shade that is not in front of you.

Fusing the piece

Fuse beads are joined with heat, so the last step happens away from the board. It takes under a minute of actual ironing.

  1. Cover the artwork

    Lay the included ironing paper over the finished piece, or use a baking mat if you prefer.

  2. Iron with steady, circular motion

    With baking paper, 3–5 seconds is usually enough. With a baking mat, allow 30–50 seconds. Set the iron to a low-to-medium setting with no steam.

  3. Watch the holes close

    Stop when the bead openings begin to seal. Over-ironing flattens the pixel texture that makes the artwork distinctive.

  4. Cool for 3–5 minutes

    Let the piece cool naturally, then lift it. It is now a permanent object — a keychain, a magnet, a coaster or a framed picture.

Iron safety. Ironing is the one step that involves heat and an electrical appliance and must always be carried out by an adult.
Finished fuse bead pieces including a dog, a dinosaur and a mushroom

Small habits that make a difference

Work large patterns by colour, not by area

Finish one colour across the entire board before switching. It keeps the app, the tray and your attention aligned, and it avoids swapping bead boxes constantly.

Keep the board on its stand

An angled board is easier on your neck and keeps beads seated under gravity. Leave the board in place between sessions — the pattern is stored in the app, not on the pegs.

Enable eye protection mode for long evenings

Brightness is adjustable in the app. Turning it down extends comfortable working time when a 10,000-peg project takes several nights.

Start with the step-by-step guide

Download the app, pair the board, and the first pattern is minutes away. Full setup instructions for every model are one page over.

Open setup instructions Shop on Amazon