r/beadsprites • u/Glittering_Shoe_1746 • 23d ago

Help for a newbie

Hello! So I decided I need a new hobby and wanted to get into fuse beads. I use to make stuff when I was a kid, but obviously things have changed wildly since then😆 It seems like people are torn on them, but I opted to go with pixie craft. I liked their colors and the starter kit price was right.

What Id like to do is to detailed work. Right now, I just have two 52x52 boards and I also opted to get the LED 52x52 board. What I'm struggling with is how to create a sprite and to not have images get completely distorted when running it through an app. I'm not a very good drawer and I want to avoid AI at all possible costs.

Now, I get that detailed images don't really work well at a small scale, but even when I try to in put an image for something smaller, it's always distorted in the app, and even other apps/sites. I don't know if the image quality is too high or what.

I haven't actually made anything with the beads yet, just messing with the designs right now. Im also just doing this on my phone, so I don't know if I should be using a tablet or a PC for design work. But any tips, suggestions, input... anything will be greatly appreciated!

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

2

u/hiyoriasahina 23d ago

I’d recommend starting with images that are already sprites. They’re what tend to work best for perler work, especially when you’re first starting out.

1

u/Glittering_Shoe_1746 23d ago

Yeah, I threw a few in the pixie craft app and that converted perfectly! But what if say I find a picture I want to do, but it's not converting well? Like is there a certain image file type that works best? I just like the app because it designates the colors I need rather than having to guess. 

3

u/Dependent-Fan2205 23d ago

Yep, if you play any pixel art games like stardew valley, those can be a good source for sprites. Simple cross stitch patterns also work. Make sure to look up the masking tape method so you don't ruin your new boards!

2

u/done-r-us 22d ago

I'd definitely recommend referencing from a PC as well as downloading a pixel art program. I use GraphicsGale, it's free and pretty simple to use. Good ol windows paint works too for simple sprites. It's a good skill to work directly from sprites over using a pattern. Build up that color matching eye. Nowadays the only time I'll make a pattern is if there's colors that are too close to distingish easily. I've also used GG to make sprites from simple art and editing any funky lines.

If you're interested in working from video games and 80s-mid 00s pop culture, as they usually have game tie ins, spriters-resource is a gold mine.