Free Online Custom Paint by Number Generator
Convert your photos into paint by numbers and turn them into printable masterpieces. Upload your image, customize your settings, and create your own unique paint by numbers.
No sign-up required. No watermarks. Unlimited use.
Balanced detail and complexity
Get it as a complete kit instead
Same photo, delivered as a ready-to-paint kit: pre-printed canvas, numbered acrylic paints and brushes.
What is a paint by numbers generator?
A paint by numbers generator turns an ordinary photograph into a paintable template. It reduces the millions of colours in your picture down to a small, workable palette, traces a clean outline around every block of colour, and prints a number inside each region so you know exactly which paint belongs where. What comes back is the same picture you started with, rebuilt as something you can solve with a brush.
This one builds the template on your own device, right in the browser — no render queue, no waiting for an email. Choose anywhere from 16 to 80 colours, set how much fine detail the outlines should keep, and download a print-ready PDF containing a colour reference page, the numbered template, a clean outline-only version, and the full palette with hex codes. It is free, unlimited, and needs no account and adds no watermark.
Generating the template is the easy half. If you would rather skip the printing, the paint matching and the framing, you can shop our paint by numbers kits for adults and have everything arrive in one box instead. Comparing tools first? Here is how this generator stacks up against PBNify.
How It Works
Our advanced algorithm analyzes your image and creates a detailed paint by numbers template with the perfect balance of complexity and paintability.
Upload Image
Choose any photo from your device
Customize
Adjust colors and difficulty level
Generate
Our AI creates your template
Download & Paint
Get your PDF and start creating
Printable PDF or complete kit — which should you choose?
Both paths start from the same photo. The only difference is how much of the work you want to do yourself.
Free printable PDF
Best if you already own acrylics and want to start painting today. Download the four-page PDF, print the numbered template at A5, A4, A3 or A2, then mix or match your own paints against the hex codes on the palette page. Nothing to buy, nothing to wait for.
- Ready in seconds, free forever
- Four pages: colour reference, numbered template, clean outlines, palette
- Print at home or at a copy shop, A5 through A2
- You supply the paper, paints and brushes
Complete custom kit
Best if you want the finished piece to look like the ones on our shelves. We print your photo onto a pre-stretched artist canvas, pre-mix every colour into numbered pots, and ship it with brushes and a colour guide. Upload the same photo you just used and we take it from there.
- Pre-printed artist canvas, sized to your photo
- Numbered acrylic pots pre-mixed to your palette
- Three professional brushes included
- Printed reference sheet and colour guide included
How to choose a photo that turns out well
The generator is only as good as the picture you feed it. A photo that looks fine on a phone screen can lose its subject entirely once it has been reduced to twenty flat colours. These are the things that matter, roughly in order of how much difference they make.
Get close to your subject
Fill the frame. A face that occupies a third of the picture becomes a handful of tiny numbered regions; a face that fills the frame becomes the painting.
Light it from the front
Even, soft light — a window on an overcast day is ideal — keeps skin tones and fur readable. Harsh backlight collapses your subject into a single dark silhouette.
Keep the background simple
Busy backgrounds eat colours your subject needs. A plain wall, open sky or a shallow depth of field lets the palette spend its budget where it counts.
Favour contrast over sharpness
Clear separation between light and dark areas matters more than megapixels. A slightly soft photo with strong contrast beats a razor-sharp, flat one every time.
Start with fewer colours
16 to 24 colours are easier to paint and read better from across a room. Push past 40 only when the picture carries a lot of fine texture, like landscapes or fur.
Match the difficulty to your patience
Easy merges small regions into larger shapes; Hard preserves fine detail and leaves you many more areas to fill. Medium suits most photos.
Paint by numbers generator FAQ
- What is a paint by numbers generator?
- It is a tool that converts a photograph into a numbered painting template. It reduces the photo to a limited palette, outlines every area of colour, and labels each area with the number of the paint that belongs in it — so anyone can reproduce the image without drawing a single line by hand.
- Is this paint by numbers generator really free?
- Yes. Generate as many templates as you like, at any size from A5 to A2, with no account, no subscription and no watermark on the output. Ordering a physical kit is entirely optional and completely separate.
- How do I turn a photo into a paint by number?
- Upload the photo, crop it to portrait or landscape, choose how many colours you want (16 to 80) and how much detail the outlines should keep, then press Generate. The template appears in a few seconds and downloads as a printable PDF.
- Is a colour by number generator the same thing?
- Yes. Colour by number, color by numbers and paint by numbers all describe the same output: an outlined image with a number in every region and a key mapping numbers to colours. Use pencils, markers or acrylics — the template is identical.
- How many colours should I use?
- Between 16 and 24 works well for portraits and simple subjects; 30 to 48 suits landscapes and photos with fine texture. More colours mean a closer likeness, but also many more small regions to fill.
- What size can I print the template?
- The PDF exports at A5, A4, A3 or A2, in portrait or landscape depending on how you cropped the photo. A3 is the usual sweet spot — large enough to hold detail, small enough to print on one sheet at most copy shops.
- Can I order my generated design as a real kit?
- Yes. Choose the complete kit instead of the PDF and we print your photo onto a stretched canvas and pre-mix the matching numbered acrylics. The kit ships with three brushes and a printed colour guide, and the photo you uploaded carries straight over to the product page.
- Do I need any painting experience?
- None at all. Every region tells you which paint to use, so the skill is in the brushwork rather than the drawing. If it is your first one, start on Easy with 16 to 24 colours.
Get a Complete Paint by Numbers Kit
Premium canvas, acrylic paints, and brushes — everything you need, delivered to your door.
Or browse all paint by numbers kits to start from one of our designs.