Faq Sections
- Small size (30x30cm): ideal for beginners and simple patterns
- Medium size (40x50cm): good compromise for portraits and simple landscapes
- Large size (50x70cm and up): perfect for detailed landscapes and complex scenes
For optimal results:
- Rule of faces: minimum 30x40cm
- Rule of landscapes: minimum 40x50cm
- Rule of details: the more complex the pattern, the larger the canvas needs to be
Protection during the process:
- Use a protective film
- Work in a clean environment
- Avoid exposure to direct sunlight
Final conservation:
- Framing under glass
- Use of a special fixative
- Storage in a dry and temperate location
- Protection against dust
Your order is dispatched within 2 working days of payment. Delivery time then depends on the country: a few days in Europe, several weeks for distant destinations, 45 days at most. The estimated time is shown when you choose the delivery method.
Full details on our Delivery page.
As soon as your parcel ships, you receive an email with its tracking link. You can also see your orders and their status in your customer account, under “My orders”.
Delivery costs €2.90 per order. The amount is shown in your basket before payment, with no extra charge.
Group your items in a single order: two separate orders are shipped and charged separately.
First check the tracking link and your letterbox. If the parcel has not moved for several days, write to us with your order number and we will open an enquiry with the carrier.
If nothing has arrived 6 weeks after dispatch, we resend your order or refund you.
Diamond art, also called diamond painting, means sticking tiny resin drills onto a printed adhesive canvas. Every square carries a symbol that matches a colour: you place the right drill on the right symbol, one square after another, and the picture appears.
No paint and no needle, just patience and good light.
- Peel back a small part of the protective film on the canvas.
- Pour some drills of one colour into the tray and shake it gently so they turn face up.
- Dip the pen tip in the wax, pick up a drill and place it on the matching symbol.
- Work area by area, then lay the film back over the finished part.
The key printed on the side of the canvas tells you which symbol goes with which bag number.
No. There is nothing to draw or mix: you follow the symbols. For a first kit, pick round drills, which are quicker to place, and a medium size such as 30 × 30 cm.
Small sizes (15 × 15 or 20 × 30 cm) let you see a finished picture after a few evenings.
Our kits include everything you need:
- the printed adhesive canvas, protected by a film;
- the drills, in numbered bags sorted by colour;
- an applicator pen and its wax;
- a sorting tray.
Tweezers are included with some designs.
Mostly it depends on the canvas size and the number of colours. A small 15 × 15 cm piece takes a few hours. A 40 × 50 cm canvas takes several dozen hours, spread over weeks.
There is no rush: the canvas stays sticky as long as you put the film back.
No, they are two names for the same craft: you stick small resin drills onto an adhesive canvas by following symbols. "Diamond art" is the name most people use in the UK, "diamond painting" the international one, and some brands use their own names too.
Despite the name, there is no paint involved. The word comes from the finished look, which resembles a sparkling mosaic.
"5D" is a marketing name, not a standard. It describes drills cut with many facets that reflect light in several directions and give a sparkling, raised look. You will also see 3D or 6D, with no official difference.
What really matters is the drill shape (round or square), the canvas size and the quality of the facets. Our kits come with faceted round or square drills on a fully covered canvas.
Many people do it to unwind: the movement is repetitive, you focus on a small area and watch the picture grow, which helps you step away from screens and daily worries.
It also works finger dexterity and patience, and suits all ages from childhood up. It is a hobby, not a treatment, and does not replace medical advice.
Diamond art needs no brush and no drying time: you can stop at any moment and the result sparkles. Paint by numbers means handling a brush, covering areas properly and waiting for paint to dry, but you end up with a real painted picture.
For a mess-free start with no technique, diamond art is often easier. The full comparison is in our diamond painting vs paint by numbers article.
Round (2.8 mm): quick to place, no orientation to worry about, very sparkly. Small gaps show up close. Great for beginners.
Square (2.5 mm): they fit together and cover the whole canvas for a crisp picture, good for portraits. They need a little more care to keep rows straight.
Every design in our shop comes in both shapes.
Press the pen tip into the wax so a little stays on the end. That is enough to lift a drill lying facet side up in the tray. Place it on the symbol and press lightly.
When the pen stops picking drills up, add a little more wax. Use only a small amount so it does not leave marks.
Yes, on the parts you are not working on. Peel the film back only over the area in progress, folding it or cutting it into strips. The rest of the canvas stays clean and sticky.
Put the film back between sessions to keep out dust and pet hair.
The glue loses grip when it stays uncovered for a long time or collects dust. Work in small areas and put the film back. If a patch sticks less, dab it gently with sticky tape to lift dust and hair.
If the canvas is faulty when you open the kit, write to us with a photo and your order number.
Lift it with the tweezers or the pen tip, then place it in the right square. The canvas glue stays active, so the drill will hold again.
With square drills, straighten the rows as you go using the edge of a ruler or the tweezers.
The bags hold a few more drills than needed, so you never run short. Keep the extras in a compartment storage box labelled by number: they are handy to replace a lost drill or to decorate cards, frames and small objects.
Set up at a flat, well-lit table and find the key along the edge of the canvas. Start in a corner or at the top and work in small blocks, so your hand does not drag over drills you have already placed.
Only peel the film back over the area you are working on. Many people do one colour at a time within a block; others use the checkerboard method (every other square). The full step-by-step is in our beginner's guide.
On our blog, the beginner's guide walks through every step: preparing the canvas, using the pen, wax and tray, placing drills and finishing the picture. Each product page also has a short placing video and an unboxing video.
For specific questions (alignment, storage, a warped canvas), browse the other questions in this FAQ or the how-to articles on the blog.
Place square drills in straight rows following the canvas grid, and check the alignment every few lines while the glue is fresh. A crooked drill can be nudged straight with the pen tip or tweezers.
To fix several rows at once, slide the edge of an alignment ruler along the line. Do not squeeze them too tightly: each drill should stay in its own square, or the shift builds up. See our alignment guide.
Pour a small amount of a single colour into the tray, then shake it gently back and forth: the grooves flip the drills facet side up and line them up. Then just pick them up with the pen.
Do not pour too many at once or they pile up. When you finish a colour, put the rest back in its bag or storage box before moving to the next, so colours do not get mixed.
Most often they were not pressed firmly enough into the glue, or the area picked up dust while left uncovered for a long time. Pictures that are rolled or folded after drilling also lose drills along the edges.
Press each finished area with a roller, put the film back between sessions and store the canvas flat. For a drill that popped off a spot with no tack left, a tiny dot of clear glue is enough. Once finished, a sealer or a glazed frame keeps them in place for good.
Use a table large enough to keep the canvas flat. Work one strip at a time starting from an edge, and leave the film on everything else. The finished part can hang over the table edge, covered with a sheet of paper, but never folded.
Between sessions, place something flat and light on the canvas so it does not curl. A light pad moved under the area you are working on helps with big canvases. Allow several weeks for 80 × 120 cm.
- Work under good light and only uncover the area you are on.
- One colour at a time in the tray, and not too many drills at once.
- Keep a sheet of paper handy: laid over finished parts, it stops finger marks.
- Run the roller over each finished area.
- Write the colour number on each box or bag.
- Store the canvas flat between sessions.
First run a roller over the whole canvas, pressing firmly, so every drill sits flat. If the picture goes behind glass in a frame, that is enough.
For a picture displayed without glass, brush or sponge on a thin coat of diamond painting sealer and let it dry flat.
Lay the canvas flat under heavy books for a few days, with a sheet of baking paper over the drills. The baking paper stops the drills snagging and keeps any exposed glue off the books.
To avoid creases, always roll the canvas with the drills facing outwards.
Measure the decorated part of the canvas and choose a standard frame of that size, with or without glass. A frame with a mount hides the white border.
You can also stretch the canvas over a wooden frame and staple it at the back, like an artist's canvas.
Best not. Direct sunlight fades the colours over time and damp weakens the glue. Choose an indoor wall out of direct sun, ideally in a frame behind glass.
First run the roller over the whole canvas, then choose: a glazed frame (the simplest option, and it keeps dust off), a wooden stretcher for a canvas-art look, or a sealer if you display it without glass.
Many people also give their picture as a gift, or keep it rolled drills facing outwards until they find a frame. For framing, see our frame guide.
The neatest way is to mount the canvas on a rigid board (foam board or a light panel) with double-sided tape, then hang the board with removable wall strips or a small hook. You can also stretch it over a wooden stretcher.
Without glass, apply a sealer to keep dust off the drills, and avoid a wall in direct sunlight. Bulldog clips work as a quick fix, but the canvas may warp.
Take a wooden stretcher the size of the drilled area, or slightly smaller. Lay the canvas face down on a clean, soft surface, place the stretcher on top, fold the white border over the back and staple it, starting from the middle of each side and pulling gently.
Finish with the corners, folded into a triangle. The border must be wide enough; if it is narrow, pick a slightly smaller stretcher. More in our frame guide.
Measure the drilled area, not the whole canvas: the white border is hidden behind a mount or folded back. Standard frame sizes, such as 30 × 40 or 40 × 50 cm, often fit our common canvas sizes.
A glazed frame keeps dust off without a sealer. Choose a frame deep enough, as the drills add some thickness, so the glass does not press on the canvas. Every step is in our guide to choosing and fitting a frame.
Never iron the drill side: heat can dull the resin and soften the glue. For a creased canvas, the safest method is to leave it flat under books for a few days, protected by baking paper.
If a crease will not go, iron only the back, on a low setting without steam, with a cloth between the iron and the canvas, and test on an edge first. See also our article on warped canvases.
Dust it with a soft dry brush or a microfibre cloth, without pressing. If the picture is sealed, a barely damp cloth wiped gently is fine; dry it straight away.
Do not use lots of water or household cleaners: water weakens the glue and cleaners can dull the drills. The easiest way to avoid cleaning it at all is a glazed frame.
Yes for pictures made from your own photos or copyright-free designs. Designs with famous characters or brands (cartoons, films, superheroes) belong to their owners, so selling them can cause problems; it is better to keep or give them away.
If you sell, state the size, the drill shape and whether the picture is sealed or framed.
Yes. Small cards and keychains work on the same principle: a printed adhesive base, drills and a pen. They are quick, often one or two hours, and great for children or for trying the craft.
They are also a good use for leftover drills: a blank card, some double-sided tape and your spares are enough for a simple design. Keep the colours in a compartment box so you can find them.
Yes. Choose a custom diamond painting and upload your photo on the product page before adding it to your basket. Then select the drill shape and the size (from 15 × 15 to 80 × 120 cm).
For a good result, use the original photo, sharp and well lit, with the subject close up. Our photo guide has all the tips.
At Diamond Painting Central you will find over 2,000 designs (animals, landscapes, flowers, cartoons and more), each with round or square drills and in several sizes.
Kits are complete, orders are dispatched within 2 working days with tracking, and delivery costs €2.90. See all designs.
The price mainly depends on the canvas size: a small 15 × 15 cm canvas costs a few euros, a large wall piece a good deal more. Each product page shows the price of every size before you add it to the basket.
Delivery costs €2.90 per order, and with our buy 2, get 1 free offer, the cheapest of three kits is free, no code needed.
The best site is the one that clearly states what you will get. Check four things: a complete kit (canvas, drills, pen, wax, tray), a choice of drill shape, the exact canvas size, and delivery and returns terms written down.
At Diamond Painting Central: over 2,000 designs with round or square drills, dispatch within 2 working days with tracking, €2.90 delivery and 30 days to return a kit.
Use the original file, sharp and well lit, with the subject close up. Avoid screenshots and photos received through messaging apps or social media: they are heavily compressed and the result will be blurry.
Small details (eyes, text, busy backgrounds) come out better on a large canvas with square drills. All our tips are in the photo guide, and you upload your photo directly on the custom diamond painting page.
Yes. Our custom diamond painting with a name adds a name to your photo, made in drills like the rest of the picture. Follow the instructions on the product page to send the photo and the text.
For a name that reads clearly, pick a medium or large size: on a small canvas, the letters only have a few squares to form.
The pen supplied with the kit is enough to get started: press the tip into the wax, pick up a drill and place it. For long sessions, a thicker pen is easier on the fingers.
Our ergonomic dual-tip pen has a fine tip for details and a wide head that places 3 to 6 drills at once on large areas of one colour.
The wide head has several small tips side by side. After pressing it into the wax, run it along a row of drills lined up in the tray: it picks up 3 to 6 at once, and you place them together on a line of identical symbols.
Use it for large single-colour areas such as sky or background, and switch back to the fine tip for outlines. With square drills, straighten the row in the tray before picking it up.
The wax makes the pen tip slightly tacky, so it can lift a drill and place it on the canvas. A tiny amount is enough; top up when the pen stops picking drills up.
If you run out, a small ball of reusable adhesive putty does the same job. Avoid liquid glue, which marks the drills. Replace the wax once it is worn or full of dust.
It is not essential, but it helps a lot. Placed under the canvas, it lights it from behind, so dark or tiny symbols become easy to read and you stop mixing up 8 and B.
Our A4 LED light pad is 4 mm thick, has 3 brightness levels and runs on USB. On a large canvas, slide it under the area you are working on. Read our light pad guide for more tips.
A neutral white light on an adjustable arm, positioned above the canvas so your hand does not cast a shadow. Light that is too yellow makes similar colours hard to tell apart; light that is too cold tires your eyes in the evening.
A magnifying lamp helps with tiny symbols. To light the canvas from underneath, a light pad works well alongside the lamp.
The roller presses every drill firmly into the glue in one pass. Use it after finishing an area and once more on the completed canvas: drills hold better, the surface becomes flat and the facets reflect light evenly.
Lay a clean sheet of paper over the canvas and roll with firm pressure in several directions. Our smoothing roller is 10 cm wide and works with round and square drills.
It straightens rows of drills. Slide its edge along a line to push stray drills back into place and close small gaps, which matters most with square drills that sit edge to edge.
Do it as you go, while the glue is still fresh. Our alignment ruler and tray measures 14 × 10 cm and does not stick to the canvas. See our alignment guide for the full method.
They are not essential, but handy. Tweezers let you lift a misplaced drill, straighten a crooked square drill or put back one that popped off, without touching the glue with your fingers.
Precision tweezers come with some of our kits. Otherwise, a clean pair of fine tweezers does the job.
The easiest way is a box with clear compartments: one colour per slot, with the bag number written on the lid. You see every colour at a glance and nothing spills.
Our storage box comes with 28 or 56 slots, in rows of 4 that lift out so only the colours you are using sit on the table. More ideas in our storage article.
Write the colour number (DMC code) and the symbol from the key on each box or bag. When two blacks or two blues look alike, the label prevents mistakes.
Our sticker labels measure 20 × 10 mm, the size of a compartment lid, and peel off cleanly when you start a new canvas. They come in packs of 500 to 5,000.
While you work, none: the canvas already has its own glue. If an area has lost its tack, clean it gently with sticky tape, then if needed brush a thin layer of clear craft glue on that spot only.
For a single drill that has popped off, a tiny dot of clear glue on the tip of a cocktail stick is enough. Once the picture is finished, what you want is a sealer (see the sealer question).
A clear sealer made for diamond painting, in a gloss finish so the drills keep their sparkle. It comes as a liquid you apply with a brush or sponge, or as a spray, which is quicker but covers less evenly.
Roll the canvas first to press the drills in, test the sealer in a corner, then apply one thin coat and let it dry flat. If the picture goes behind glass, you do not need a sealer.
Gloss Mod Podge is the most common alternative: it dries clear. A clear gloss acrylic craft varnish also works.
Hairspray is often mentioned, but it holds less well and can turn yellow. Whatever you use, test it on a corner first and apply a thin coat, as a thick layer dulls the facets. If the picture is framed behind glass, you do not need any of these.
Bags usually hold a few more drills than you need. If you run short, check the colour number on the canvas key: it is a DMC code.
You can order replacement drill bags in that code, round (2.8 mm) or square (2.5 mm), with about 200 to 400 drills per bag. If a lot is missing when you open the kit, contact us with a photo and your order number.
DMC is a colour chart first used for embroidery thread. In diamond art, each drill colour carries a number from that chart, for example 310 for black.
The canvas key links each symbol to a DMC code, and the bags carry the same number. It is also the code you need to order replacement drills in the right colour.
Each symbol (a letter, number or sign) stands for one colour. The key printed along the edge of the canvas shows, for every symbol, the DMC colour code and the bag number to use.
When symbols look alike, such as 8 and B or 6 and G, check the key before placing. A light pad makes small symbols easier to read.
AB stands for aurora borealis. These drills have an iridescent coating that reflects several colours depending on the angle of the light.
They are used to make some areas shine: bubbles, water, wings, stars. You place them exactly like the others. In the key they have their own symbol, and their code is often followed by "AB".
It is a picture in which some of the drills glow in the dark. These drills charge up in daylight or lamplight, then give off a soft glow for a while once the room is dark.
You place them like ordinary drills. The effect shows best on a dark background, such as a starry sky, and is stronger after a good dose of light.
In our kits, round drills measure 2.8 mm and square drills 2.5 mm. They are small faceted resin pieces with a flat back so they grip the glue.
Each square on the canvas takes one drill, so a 30 × 40 cm canvas needs about 15,000 (round) to 19,000 (square), supplied in bags sorted by colour. To choose between the two shapes, see our round or square comparison.
On a full drill canvas, the whole picture is covered with drills, background included. On a partial drill canvas, only the main subject is drilled and the background stays printed, so it is quicker.
All our kits are full drill: 100% of the picture is covered, so the whole surface sparkles. For a shorter project, pick a smaller size instead.
Start with a design you really like, since you will look at it for hours. Then the size: 30 × 40 cm or 40 × 50 cm gives good detail without dragging on, while anything larger is a project of several weeks.
Square drills give a sharper result for portraits and landscapes; round drills are quicker. Our guide to diamond art for adults helps you choose.
Drills are very small parts, so they are not suitable for children under 3, who could swallow them. In practice, children usually start around 6 to 8, with an adult nearby.
For a child, pick a small size (15 × 15 or 20 × 30 cm), round drills, which are easier to place, and a simple design with few colours. Short sessions work better than long ones.
Our canvases go up to 80 × 120 cm depending on the design, big enough for a real wall piece. The available sizes and their prices are shown on each product page.
A very large canvas takes several weeks and needs space to work flat. Larger canvases also show fine detail, such as faces or busy landscapes, much better.
No. Our kits include the adhesive canvas, drills, pen, wax and tray, but no frame or stretcher. That keeps the canvas easy to ship and lets you pick a frame that suits your room afterwards.
Once finished, the canvas can go into a standard frame or be stretched over a wooden stretcher. See our guide to choosing a frame.
Start from what the person loves: an animal, a place, a character. For a beginner, a medium size (30 × 30 or 30 × 40 cm) with round drills is a safe choice. For a more personal present, a custom diamond painting from their own photo stands out.
The kit includes everything needed, so there is nothing else to buy to get started. More ideas in our gift guide.
Look at the canvas first: sharp printing, readable symbols and a thick, even layer of glue under the film. Then the drills: consistent size, crisp facets, colours that match the key and a few spares in each bag.
Also check that the kit is complete (pen, wax, tray) and that the seller clearly states the canvas size, drill shape and returns policy. With us, you have 30 days to return a kit.
Square drills (2.5 mm) sit edge to edge and cover the whole canvas with no visible gaps. The result looks like a dense mosaic, sharper on faces, eyes and colour gradients.
They need a little more care to keep the rows straight, and an alignment ruler helps a lot. All our designs come with square or round drills: see our comparison.