Anyone ever create their own cross stitch patterns?

[frannn]

I'm thinking of creating my own pattern, possibly using some of the pictures of my DD1 at WDW. I used to have software that created patterns from pictures and gave you the DMC floss colors, etc. to use. This was a long time ago, so I am sure there are better and relatively inexpensive programs available now. Has anyone ever done this, and do you have any tips for me? TIA!

 

[Chrissi Pooh]

I was looking into this a while back and found that you could send your picture to a place like MaryMaxim and they would give you the pattern with the DMC floss colors for about $20 but I would love to find out more about any computer programs to do this.

 

[Rajah]

My favorite is PatternMaker by Hobbyware. (Do a google search to find their website). Their basic program is about $60, I've got their Pro and am very happy with it. What I do is more complex than "just" running a photo through and tweaking the output, but I think the standard version would be pleanty if that's all you wanted.