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Knit Effect

The knit effect rebuilds any picture as a wool sweater, with V-shaped stitches, fuzzy fibers and shadows between the loops.

Knitted version of a portrait: blue wool background, black hair, red glasses and a red scarf band rendered as rows of V-shaped stitches.
Close-up portrait of a person with curly black hair, orange glasses, gold piercings and a fuzzy striped collar on a pale blue background.
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Made with Knitwear

Works in

The knit effect turns any image into knitted fabric. Each stitch is a plump wool V with twisted plies and fuzz, and colors snap to a small set of yarns taken from wool shades, your source or a gradient. You can change stitch size, lighting, yarn count and how hand-made the rows look.

Same effect, different settings

12 photos, each with its own settings. Try it on yours

  • Knit Effect on a photo of a woman with a black bob and red earrings
  • Knit Effect on a photo of a man with a buzz cut
  • Knit Effect on a photo of a black horse
  • Knit Effect on a photo of a man in a white shirt
  • Knit Effect on a photo of a woman in white cat-eye sunglasses
  • Knit Effect on a photo of a man in white sunglasses
  • Knit Effect on a photo of a young man in black
  • Knit Effect on a photo of a woman in black sunglasses
  • Knit Effect on a photo of a woman in blue glasses
  • Knit Effect on a photo of a man with pink hair and black sunglasses
  • Knit Effect on a photo of a man with slicked blond hair and sunglasses
  • Knit Effect on a photo of a woman with a red bob

Use Knit Effect in Photoshop, After Effects, Illustrator, Affinity or Figma

The plugins are free with an account. Paid plans add bigger renders and your own filters. See pricing

Settings worth touching

Stitch Size
Sets how big each stitch is. Smaller stitches keep more detail, larger ones give a chunky, coarse sweater.
Yarn Colors
Sets how many yarns the picture snaps to, from 2 to 8. The look starts at three for a bold, limited palette.
Hand Knit
Adds the unevenness of hand-⁠made rows. The look starts near full, so stitches wobble. Lower it for a tidy machine knit.

Frequently asked questions

How do I add a knit effect in Photoshop?

Install Nexus for Photoshop, convert your layer to a Smart Object and apply the look as a Smart Filter. Double-⁠click the filter any time to change stitch size, yarn colors or lighting.

Can I get a knitted texture in Illustrator as vectors?

No. The knit effect is pixels only. In Illustrator you store a selection as the source and the result comes back as an embedded image, not vector paths.

Can I animate the knit effect?

Yes. Keyframe the Knit slider from 0 to 1 and the sweater grows row by row. In After Effects every control can be keyframed on the timeline.

How do I keep my original colors in a knitted effect?

Set Yarn Palette to Source so the yarns come from your picture. Raise Yarn Colors for more shades, or switch to Wool shades for real wool tones or Gradient for your own colors.

Can I try the knit effect for free?

Yes. Open the look in the Nexus web editor and try it on your own image without an account. Exporting needs a free account, which exports images up to 720px and video up to 720px with the Nexus mark.

Related effects

Try Knit Effect in your browser

Free to try. Exporting needs a free account.

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