What this is
Word Grain builds a picture out of your own words. Each word becomes a small coloured tag; the tags run in rows like set type, each as wide as its word, and every tag takes its colour from the picture underneath, cut to a few flat tones like a screen print. From far away you see the picture; up close you read the words. Any picture works and the colours are found in it automatically. It is free, needs no sign-in, and saves a 4000 px PNG, an SVG for print, or the build as an MP4.
How to use it
- Press Your picture, drop one on the page or paste one; or press Try a sample. The levels, the sharpness and the palette are set from the picture for you.
- Type your words (commas or lines split them, any language), or pick a set. Shape the grain with a tag shape (Block, Slant, Arrow, Hex, Curve: each fits into the next with no gap), Rows, Smallest tag and Gap, and the colour with a palette, Tones and Ground.
- Add a title if you like (it is off until you choose Top or Bottom), then press Picture (E), SVG or Take. Reset grain and Reset colour return a section to how the picture opened; Reset (R) starts over.
Make a wedding poster from every guest's name, a portrait of a grandparent from the words the family calls them, an album cover from its lyrics, a thank-you in every language your team speaks, or a mantra written into a form.
Keys: Space build again · ← → the samples · E picture · R reset · ? this guide. Hover the picture to read it through the loupe.
Read the guide
Words: word mosaic · word tag · tone boundary · k-means clustering · Oklab · screen print
Common questions
Can I use any picture?
Yes: a photo, a painting, a logo or a drawing, as PNG, JPG, WebP, AVIF or SVG. It stays in your browser. Pictures with a clear subject and strong light read best.
Can I write in my own language?
Yes. Type words in any script; Tamil, Hindi, Japanese and the rest use the best font your device has, Latin words use the font you pick.
Why do the tags line up with the picture's edges?
Each row is cut where the tone changes, and the tags in each piece are stretched to fill it exactly, so every edge of the picture falls between two tags.
Can I print it?
Yes. The SVG keeps every tag and word as vector, at any size; the PNG is 4000 pixels on its long side.