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• Original Photograph
• Importing the Photo
• Editing the Chart
• Stitching

I was recently in New Zealand and saw a wonderful poster for the All Blacks (the national rugby team). So I took a picture and turned it into a chart.  I'll use this to take you step-by-step through the process.

This is the original photograph.  As you can see it's not a great shot. It was taken in a small bakery with terrible lighting and at an angle. There are reflections of the stores lighting fixtures at the top and some glare at the left middle edge and lower right corner.  All of which is just to say that this photo, like most others, needs some editing before it is charted.

I scanned the photo and, using the photo editing software that came with the scanner, I cropped the photo to remove the background and  logos. I lightened it slightly to emphasize the contrast between the skin and the facial markings. Next I played with it until I found the portion of the photo I wanted to chart.  Finally I saved it.

By doing this editing in advance of charting, I can import and chart the photo multiple times fairly quickly with out re-editing each time.

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Using PCStitch, I imported the photo choosing a height (the larger of the dimensions) of 150 stitches and 20 for the maximum number of colours. Here is the chart that was produced.  It contains several greens, blues, and pinks and has an overall tone of brown.  I save the chart.

As I see this piece, it should be stitched in black and grays. So now I start editing the chart.

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As requested, the chart contains 20 colours.  I always choose 20 or 30 colours when importing.  This is because a chart with too few colours can look truly bizarre and it is easy to eliminate extraneous colours.

Next I print the Colour Key.  This tells me the number of stitches of each colour. The chart contains 150 by 123 (18,450) stitches.  Eleven of the colours have less than 100 stitches (one half of one percent).  I will eliminate these colours one at a time, viewing the chart as each is removed.  PCStitch allows you to undo only the last colour change so viewing the chart is essential.  Often, changing or eliminating a colour makes a drastic difference to the chart so constantly view the chart while editing and save often.

Editing colours is done using the Floss Palette. This icon looks like 3 crayons. What I do to eliminate colours, is to replace them with  another colour already in the chart. I use a colour with a similar intensity or an adjoining colour.

Mechanically speaking, to replace a colour you click on the colour to be replaced (on the left half of the screen) then click on the colour you want it to be (on the left half of the screen) and then use the replace button in the centre. It warns you of the number of stitches that will be replaced. Then click OK and it completes the operation and returns you to the chart. At this point you can still undo the colour change using Edit Undo.

ASIDE: If you're unsure where the stitches in any given colour are, try replacing them with a glaring colour i.e. fuchsia, then use Edit Undo to undo the change.

Here is the revised chart (reduced to nine colours.) This is where you need to be a little creative.  Notice there are two black colours. I replaced both with black.  Then I painted out the areas of lighter colour in the lower right and the left centre.  Through trial and error, I eliminated another colour which appeared to be superfluous. I did a little random editing of things that struck me as unnecessary i.e. eliminating the lighter colour in his lower lip.  Again using Floss Palette, I changed the symbols for each colour to clearly distinctive ones. Finally, I saved and printed the chart using Black Symbols instead of the Colour Blocks I'm showing to you.

Here is the final chart that I'm using for stitching.
 

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Now I have the chart, I need to choose the colours.  The chart uses DMC floss colours.  I can either try and convert from the floss to yarn or I can choose the colours myself.  I've gotten into the habit of making my own colour choices.

I usually work in Paternayan Persian Yarn but unfortunately I don't like the range of grays available.  So I'll use Anchor tapestry yarns in the 9782 to 9800 range. My colour choices are based primarily on depth of colour.  It has been my experience that most adjoining colours in a colour chart are indistinguishable when stitched.

Next I stitch a small, critical portion of the chart to make sure that the colours are working.  In this case it was the right eye and nose area. Here is a photo taken in an early stage of stitching the piece and this is the completed canvas.