Graphgan Pattern Maker
From photo to blanket plan: a graphgan chart with stitch counts, sized for afghans — graphgan or graphghan, same blanket.
A graphgan — graph plus afghan, also spelled graphghan — is a blanket crocheted from a pixel chart: each square one stitch, each color one yarn, a photo rebuilt in single crochet or C2C blocks. The chart is the whole project, and this graphgan pattern maker builds it straight from your picture: sized to blanket scale, reduced to a palette you can actually buy, with every color's stitch count totaled for yarn planning.
Because a blanket is a commitment, the details around the chart matter too. The per-color stitch counts feed directly into a yarn estimate, and the same graph works corner-to-corner if you'd rather crochet diagonally. Generate a few sizes, compare, and only then start chaining.
What you get
Blanket-scale grids
20–120 stitches wide, from baby blankets to full throws. The height follows your photo, so the blanket keeps the picture's proportions.
Stitch counts = yarn list
Each color's exact stitch count is printed in the legend — the raw material for a real yarn estimate instead of a guess.
C2C-ready
Prefer corner-to-corner? The c2c preset adjusts for the rectangular C2C block, so your blanket doesn't come out short and wide.
Palette control
Cap 2–16 colors. Fewer colors means fewer ends to weave in across a whole blanket — the slider is your sanity check.
Quality score
Faces and text need enough stitches to survive. The score warns you before you've crocheted forty rows of mush.
Free printable PNG
Download the chart, print it across pages, or keep it on a tablet. Free with a small watermark.
How to make a graphgan pattern
Upload the photo
Bold subjects with clear outlines make the best blankets — portraits, pets, logos. Simple backgrounds keep the palette honest.
Size it for a blanket
Set the stitch width to match your plan: around 90–120 single crochet for a throw, less for a baby blanket. Your gauge swatch converts stitches to centimeters.
Generate, count yarn, crochet
Download the chart, feed the per-color stitch counts into the yarn calculator, buy once, then work the graph row by row.
Graphgan maker vs. generic pixel-art converters
| CrochetPatternGen | Generic image pixelizers | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for blankets | Grid sized in stitches, across blanket-typical ranges | Arbitrary pixel sizes with no stitch meaning |
| Yarn planning | Exact stitch count per color in the legend | A picture and a shrug |
| Crochet proportions | Square grid for single crochet, corrected block ratio for C2C | Square pixels only — C2C blankets come out distorted |
| A palette you can buy | 2–16 colors, capped by you | Hundreds of near-identical shades |
| Cost to experiment | Free and instant — audition five photos in five minutes | Rarely built for crochet at all |
Frequently asked questions
What is a graphgan?
A graphgan is a blanket (afghan) crocheted from a graph: a grid chart where each square is one stitch and each color is one yarn. Worked row by row in single crochet or diagonally in C2C blocks, the grid builds a picture into the fabric — portraits, pets, logos, game art.
Is it spelled graphgan or graphghan?
Both spellings mean the same thing: graph plus afghan. Graphgan is the more common spelling in crochet communities; graphghan shows up constantly in searches and shops. Whichever you typed, this is the same tool — a graphghan pattern maker and a graphgan pattern maker in one.
How do I size a graphgan chart for a blanket?
Work backward from your gauge. Swatch single crochet, measure stitches per 10 cm, and divide your target blanket width by that. At a typical worsted gauge of about 14 sc per 10 cm, a 120-stitch-wide chart lands near 86 cm; 100 stitches near 71 cm. The slider sets the stitches — your swatch sets the centimeters.
How much yarn do I need for a graphgan?
Estimate from the chart, not from vibes. The legend gives each color's exact stitch count; weigh a swatch to get grams per stitch and multiply. The yarn calculator on this site does that math for you — and buy one extra skein per color in the same dye lot.
Can I make a graphgan in C2C instead of rows?
Yes — many graphgans are worked corner-to-corner. Switch to the c2c preset (or the C2C generator page) and each grid cell becomes one C2C block, with the block's rectangular proportions corrected so the blanket keeps the photo's shape.
Is this graphgan pattern maker free?
Yes. Generating and downloading charts is free with a small watermark — no account, no install, everything in the browser. Test five photos before you commit to one blanket.