Perler Bead Color Chart

How to make it

1. Pick a brand tabChoose Perler, Perler Mini, Hama Midi, Hama Mini, Artkal S, Artkal C or Nabbi. The page remembers your last tab in this browser.
2. Search the gridType part of a name such as mint, or a code fragment such as H43 or S05, to narrow the swatches shown.
3. Compare brandsTap a bead to copy its code and see the closest color from every other brand that makes beads of the same size.

Ranges included and how many colors each lists

Colors here come from a community-measured open data set of fuse bead colors. The counts below are what that set contains, which is not always the same as a brand's current catalog: manufacturers add new shades, retire old ones and sometimes rename them. If a color you own is missing, it may be new, discontinued or a specialty bead such as glitter, glow or striped.

Codes are shown the way each brand prints them. Perler entries use long product-style codes beginning with 80-, Hama and Nabbi use plain color numbers such as 01, and Artkal codes start with the series letter, S or C. Hama 01 and Nabbi 01 are different colors, so write the brand next to the number on a shopping list.

Closest colors across brands

Opening a bead shows one suggestion from each other brand of the same size: a Perler midi color is compared with Hama Midi, Artkal S and Nabbi, while a mini is compared only with other minis. Each suggestion carries a Delta E figure and a word, very close, close, noticeable or far, so you can see when brands simply do not share a shade.

This is useful when a pattern was written for one brand and your stash is another, or when a shop is out of a color. Matches are made by measured appearance, not by name. Two beads called light green in different brands can be quite different, while an exact twin may carry an unrelated name.

On-screen colors versus real beads

Swatches are approximate. Measured colors were taken from real beads, but your screen adds its own shift, and beads change once ironed: they flatten, gain a slight sheen and can darken. Pastels and translucent colors are the most affected, since a translucent bead lets the ironing surface or backing show through.

Before committing several hundred beads to one shade, melt a small test strip of the candidates side by side. It takes five minutes and saves a background that turns out greener than planned.

A neutral room light is the fairest place to judge a test strip. Look at it once under daylight and once under the lamp where the finished piece will live, since warm bulbs flatter reds and oranges but can turn pale blues gray.

Midi, mini and the boards

Midi beads, about 5 mm across, are what most people mean by perler or hama beads and fit the standard square pegboard of 29 by 29 pegs, roughly 14.5 cm a side when filled. Mini beads are about half the width and need their own fine-pitch boards. Midi and mini cannot share a board, which is why the cross-brand matching never mixes the two sizes.

For a deeper look at how the brands differ in feel, melt and compatibility, read Perler vs Hama vs Artkal compared.

Picking colors for a design

A good bead palette is built around contrast more than variety. Start with one dark outline color, usually black or a deep brown, then a light highlight, then the main fills. Five to eight colors handle most single-board designs. For shading, choose two or three steps of the same hue rather than unrelated shades, so the eye reads them as one surface in light and shadow.

Skin tones, grays and greens are where ranges differ most. If your design needs subtle steps in those families, compare tabs before buying: Artkal S lists 199 colors in our data against 103 for Perler and 92 for Hama Midi, so it often has the in-between shade that the others lack. Nabbi's 30-color list covers the basics only.

Turning colors into a pattern

Once you know which range you own, the perler bead pattern maker can build a design using only those colors and count how many of each you need, with a spare allowance of about ten percent. Ready-made designs in the free perler bead patterns open in the same maker, where you can switch them to your brand.

Keeping track of what you own

Copying codes is the easiest way to keep a stash list honest. Tap a bead, use Copy code, and paste it into your notes along with how many bags you have. Codes stay stable when names are shortened on labels, and they make reordering the exact shade straightforward.

When a favorite color is discontinued, open its detail panel and look at the closest matches in other brands. A very close result is usually safe for a background; a noticeable one is better used where it does not sit right next to the original beads.