Easy and affordable bead pattern design software. If you sell your patterns, BeadTool 4 gives you more freedom to design your prints and PDFs as you want.

Beading Software For Everyone For the Hobbyist Beader Even if you've never used beading software before, you'll have no problem unleashing your creativity with BeadTool. Everything you need to design beautiful bead patterns is presented in an intuitive user interface. If you ever get stuck there are to walk you through various tasks.

For the Professional Designer So you've spent your fair share on expensive beading software that just isn't cutting it any more. You'll find this application a treat to work with. If you sell your patterns, BeadTool 4 gives you more freedom to design your prints and PDFs as you want your customers to see them. Compatibility BeadTool runs on Windows and Mac computers only. It is not compatible with Android or iPad tablets. Windows Versions Supported Both 32 and 64 bit are supported • Windows XP ( required) • Windows Vista • Windows 7 • Windows 8 • Windows 10 Mac OS X Versions Supported Available for the Intel architecture only • Mac OS X 10.10 (Yosemite) • Mac OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) • MacOS 10.12 (Siera) • macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) • macOS 10.14.0 (Mojave) Does NOT work on the following operating systems • Android • iOS (iPad/iPhone) • Linux • Chromebook • Windows 8 RT (ARM processor tablets).

BeadTool 4 for Windows and Mac is a beading programme for both hobbyists and professional beaders. It allows the user to create all sorts of amazing beading patterns, all with just a few clicks of the mouse. As you’ll know if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, beading is one of my favourite crafts! I’ve been using the BeadTool 4 software for a couple of years now and this is my review below. I originally wrote most of this review in August 2015 and have recently updated it (September 2017) based on my experience of using it over this period of time. See my updates in italic text throughout the article below. BeadTool 4 This is the main screen that loads when the BeadTool 4 application is launched.

The grid area is where you can create your beading pattern. Over on the right hand side, under the “ Pattern” tab, you can select which stitch you want to use for your beadwork, such as peyote, brick stitch or right angle weave and you can select how many rows and columns you want your pattern to be. Under the “ Palette” tab, you can select which type of beads you’d like to use e.g. Miyuki Delicas size 11/0 or size 15/0. The choice for bead types includes Miyuki, Toho and Pony beads and within each bead type, you’ll find all the available bead colours in that particular range. The bead colours are labelled by the manufacturer reference number, meaning that in theory you can easily order what you need for your beading pattern.

Update: I’ve found that sometimes the colour codes of the beads on the software don’t match the beads I can buy. I’m not sure why this is – I just know that some of the Miyuki Delicas I’ve used don’t seem to appear in the list that BeadTool generates! BeadTool 4 – creating a freeform beading pattern and shapes If you’ve ever used an application like “ Paint” for Windows, you’ll find BeadTool 4 incredibly easy to use for creating freeform beading patterns. All you need to do is click on the “ Pencil” icon at the top left, select the colour of the beads that you’d like and use your mouse to click and draw a freeform pattern over the grid.