The Complete Diamond Painting Size Guide

Diamond painting is such an easy, fun craft that pretty much anyone can do.  You don’t have to be some world renowned artist to create a beautiful work of art with diamond painting. The idea behind diamond painting is very similar to painting by numbers but rather than use paint you will use small gems to create a beautiful sparkling picture when finished.

You can purchase a variety of diamond painting kits with different images.  There are even some kits that can be customized to one of your own images or photographs.  Anything you want to diamond paint is possible.  Even if you don’t have an image in mind that you would like to diamond paint you can use a cross stitch pattern to create a diamond painting. The sky is the limit in the diamond painting world so let those creative juices flow!

There are many sizes that the kits are available in and it can be a bit challenging when you are first starting out to know which size works best for your image. This guide will dive into some of the key factors of how to pick the right size for your image so that you can create a gorgeous diamond painting that will be worth displaying in your home!  We hope you will find it useful.

Size Up the Sparkle: Is this size appropriate for my image?

Diamond paintings come in all sorts of sizes, from small (20x17cm) all the way up to Large (60x45cm). A rule of thumb when deciding on what size is suitable for your image is that smaller images have a lot less detail when they are complete.  If you are going to buy a diamond painting kit you will want to make sure that the finished size is appropriate for the type of image you want to create.

For example, if the image is detailed but it states the finished size is small, it is likely not going to turn out to look like it’s supposed to.

Small canvases are most suited for cartoon like or landscape type images that have very little detail when they are finished.  The larger the kit the more detail you are going to get.  If your image has some type of face in it or an animal you may want to go with a larger canvas so the image appears more lifelike.  Of course smaller kits are going to save you some money but you may not be totally happy with the end result depending on what you are creating.

Know Before You Buy

You should know what the image is supposed to look like when it is finished before you purchase the kit.  We do not recommend kits that do not display what the finished image will look like or what type of canvas and supplies comes with the kit.  If either of these are not displayed you will have no idea what the finish product will look like.  You could spend hours working on your painting and when it’s complete you may be completely surprised because it looks nothing like what you expect.  You also want to pay attention to whether it is a full or partial diamond painting.

The Go To Size For Cross Stitching

If you are using a kit to do cross stitching you won’t need to worry about the canvas size needed to complete the picture because the kit will provide everything you need but if you want to use a cross stitch pattern instead of buying a kit there are simple ways to figure out what size canvas you will need.

First, you will need to count how many stitches there are both vertically and horizontally in the cross-stitch pattern.  This is usually written on the pattern but if it’s not remain calm.  All you will need to do is count the squares up and across.

For example: We will pretend the pattern we are using is 200×270.

Next, you need to know the size of the beads you will be using. Very often, most are 0.25 x 0.25 cm. The, to figure out what size fabric you need, simply multiply the figures;

200 x 0.25 = 50 cm

270 x 0.25 = 67.5 cm

You’ll then want to add on an extra 3cms all around for framing.

So, for this example pattern, we will need our canvas to be 53 x 70.5 cm. It’s pretty simple to calculate and now, you’re not limiting yourself to the kits you can find.

Let’s Get Diamond Painting!

Diamond painting is a wonderful activity regardless of age or artistic ability.  It has also been proven to help with stress relief and hand eye coordination. Once you start learning more and more about diamond painting it can be really fun to create your own cross stitching but we recommend that if you are just starting out to start with a kit. This way you’ll know you have all of the tools you need to make a stunning work of art!

We hope this guide has been helpful!  Enjoy getting creative with diamond painting!

IMPORTANT SIZING NOTE:

If you are in the U.S., most diamond painting kits are manufactured overseas and will display the canvas size in Centimeters.

*1 inch = 2.54 centimeters

Once you have your size picked, check out the difference between 3D and 5D Diamond Painting HERE.