We have experimented with various ways to make counted cross-stitch charts from black
and white photographs and pictures, and have found that excellent results can be obtained
by using some of the techniques used many years ago in photography - Sepia Tones. And interesting
results can also be obtained from certain color pictures by converting them to Sepia Tones. One dictionary
description of the word sepia is "the brown coloring used in inks and watercolors". We have found
ten DMC colors which work well for sepia toned cross-stitch charts. Images can be converted to sepia tones
by first converting them to shades of gray and then substituting each gray shade found in the image with the
the brown shade in our list of 10 DMC colors which is closest in brightness to the gray shade. We are also
experimenting with the substitution of DMC gray shades to make real black and white charts, and also using DMC
Delft and blue shades to make Delft charts.
A short time ago we made a chart for a lady in Maryland who wanted to do a cross-stitch of a black and white
photograph taken from a 1951 magazine. At that time we used our normal technique for generating
cross-stitch color charts but we weren't really satisfied with the results and so began to experiment with various
ways to do charts in varying intensities of similar hues. We now feel that we can make satisfactory sepia charts and
by clicking below, you can view the results of several of our efforts.