Perler, Hama o Artkal: qué abalorios elegir

Fuse beads all look alike in photos, but the three big brands use different bead diameters. Mix them in one project and the plate will not melt flat. Rule one: pick a brand, then buy only that brand’s beads, pegboards and ironing paper.

1. Diameter: 5 mm or 2.6 mm

There are two mainstream sizes: midi (about 5 mm) and mini (about 2.6 mm). Midi is the beginner size — bigger beads are easier to pick up and far more forgiving under the iron, which is plenty for anything up to roughly 30 × 30 beads. Mini allows finer pixel art, but it demands patience in both placing and ironing. Do not buy mini first.

• Perler: US brand, both midi and mini, codes start with P, widely stocked and the best documented.
• Hama: European brand, mostly midi, numeric codes from 1 to 200, softer palette, slightly more shrink after ironing.
• Artkal: midi, mini and micro, the widest color range, aimed at large and highly detailed work.

2. Color count: enough beats complete

The classic beginner mistake is buying a set of several hundred colors. In practice 24 to 36 colors cover almost every pattern, and a wide palette actively hurts: neighboring shades are so close that the finished piece reads as mush from a distance. Start with a base box and top up as needed.

3. Melting behaviour: why the same pattern differs by brand

Softening points differ slightly between manufacturers. Mix two brands in one design and you can end up with one side flattened while the other still shows round holes. This is exactly why the matcher asks you to choose a brand first: color codes are internal to a brand and do not map one-to-one across brands.

4. A sensible first purchase

• One box of midi base colors (24 to 36), one medium square pegboard, one sheet of ironing paper.
• A pair of bent-tip tweezers — roughly three times faster than fingers, especially at 5 mm.
• Make three to five small pieces before buying more colors or boards.