Fuse beads are small plastic beads you arrange on a pegboard and then fuse together with heat from an iron so they hold their shape. You will also see them called melty beads, and the same craft is sold under brand names like Perler, Hama and Artkal — the words are used interchangeably. The fastest way to pattern them is to turn a photo, or a short word, into an editable chart with the pattern maker: it snaps every cell to a real bead color, counts how many of each you need, and prints a grid you can build from. It runs in your browser and is free.
What fuse beads are
A fuse bead is a short, hollow plastic cylinder. You place beads one per peg on a pegboard to build an image, cover them with ironing paper, and press with a warm iron until the beads soften and bond at their edges. Once cooled the piece is a single solid panel. Because the beads sit on a fixed grid, any fuse-bead project is really a piece of low-resolution pixel art — which is why a photo or a word converts into a bead chart so cleanly.
“Fuse beads,” “melty beads” and “Perler beads” usually mean the same thing in everyday use. Perler is simply the best-known brand in North America, the way people say Hama beads in Europe; both are fuse beads.
Brands and sizes
The main brands are Perler, Hama, Artkal and Nabbi. They are broadly compatible when the bead size matches, so a pattern works across brands as long as you keep to one size. The common size is midi (5 mm), used for most patterns; there is also mini (2.6 mm) for fine detail and maxi (10 mm) for young children. Colors differ a little between brands, so match to whatever palette you actually own before you buy. For how the brands compare in practice, see Perler vs Hama vs Artkal.
How to pattern them
You do not need to design on graph paper. Use the pattern maker to create a pattern in three steps:
- Upload a photo or type a short word, and set the grid width in beads.
- The tool maps every cell to the nearest real bead shade and limits the palette to the number of colors you choose, so the result is buildable.
- Read the exact count of each color and print or export the chart (PNG, CSV, PDF or JSON).
Two settings decide how a pattern turns out: the grid size (how many beads wide) and how many colors you allow. Fewer, larger cells are easier to build; more cells hold more detail but cost more beads. Because the design is yours, you are not copying someone else’s chart.
Patterns and ideas
If you want a starting point rather than your own photo, browse bead designs made from photos, easy fuse bead patterns for quick builds, or cute fuse bead patterns for small, giftable pieces. Each one opens in the maker so you can change the size, swap colors, and print your own version.
How to fuse them
Once your beads are placed, lay ironing paper over them and press with a medium, dry iron in slow circles for a few seconds, checking often — you want the beads joined but still round, not flattened. Let the piece cool fully before lifting it, and iron the back briefly for a stronger bond if needed. Exact heat and time vary by brand and bead size, so test on a small corner first rather than trusting a fixed number.