Make a snowflake online: how it works, tips and the science of snow

How to make your snowflake step by step

When you tap Start making, a snowflake appears on a dark winter background. It is built from a single arm that is rotated six times around the centre and mirrored, so the whole picture is symmetrical even though each arm is drawn with its own small variations. Each new snowflake starts from a fresh random seed, which is a number that decides the details of the design.

Use the three sliders to shape the design. Arms per side sets how many branches grow out of each main arm. Detail controls how many smaller branches grow from those branches, from simple to detailed. Arm length makes the whole snowflake reach shorter or longer. Move a slider and the picture updates at once, so you can see the effect before you commit.

• Tap New snowflake for a completely new pattern with the same settings.
• Tap Change shape to switch between needles, plates, spikes and feathers.
• Tap Change colour to try the five palettes, from icy blue to midnight gold.
• Tap Save PNG to download a 1080 by 1080 picture.
• Tap I'm done when you are happy with the result to see the final snowflake.

Tips for a snowflake you will love

Start with the default settings and change only one slider at a time. This makes it easy to notice what each control does. For a delicate look, choose more arms per side and a higher detail level with a medium length, because many thin branches read as lace. For a bold, graphic snowflake, use fewer arms with a long arm length and the plate shape, which gives bigger, flatter shapes that look good on a card.

Pick colours to match the mood. Ice blue and frost white feel like a clear winter morning, lilac suggests a dreamy evening and midnight gold works well for a festive card. Mint is a fresh choice for spring-themed designs. If a design is nearly right, try a few random new seeds before you start again: small changes in the seed can produce a surprisingly different arrangement.

Keep the picture simple when you plan to print it small. Very fine detail can blur at small sizes, so a medium setting is often the most readable choice for a sticker, a label or a gift tag.

• Change one setting at a time to learn what it does.
• Lace-like snowflakes come from many arms with feathers or needles.
• Bold snowflakes look good with plates and fewer, longer arms.
• Try a few seeds before you settle on a design.

The science behind real snowflakes

A real snowflake is a single ice crystal. Water molecules line up in a hexagonal pattern as they freeze, and that is why most snow crystals have six-fold symmetry. The six arms of a real snowflake grow at the same rate when they share the same conditions, which is why the pattern looks so even. Snowflake Maker copies that idea: it draws one arm and repeats it so that the result follows the same rule as nature.

The shape of a snow crystal depends mostly on the temperature and the humidity where it forms. Scientists have collected these patterns in charts that show plates at some temperatures, needles at others and more complex branching when the air is very humid. The first detailed photographs of individual snowflakes were taken in the late nineteenth century by Wilson Bentley, a farmer who spent years photographing thousands of snow crystals through a microscope. His pictures showed how varied the designs could be, which is still a good reason to keep experimenting.

Ideas for using your snowflake

Your snowflake works well as a card image, a phone wallpaper or a small decoration for a winter party. Save it at full size and use it as a greeting for a friend who loves the cold season. Teachers can print a few designs to show how symmetry works, and families can make a set of different snowflakes and hang them in a window as a simple seasonal display.

A snowflake also makes a nice starting point for craft projects. Print it, trace the lines onto paper, and cut out a paper version. Each snowflake you save can be a small record of a moment, so give each design a name in your notes and keep the best ones together in one folder.

• Use a saved picture as a greeting card design.
• Print a set for a window display at home or in class.
• Trace a printed snowflake to make a paper cut-out.
• Keep your favourites in one folder so you can revisit them.

Share your snowflake with friends

Tap Share to copy a link that holds your settings. Whoever opens the link sees exactly the same snowflake, with the same arms, shape and colour. The link does not need an account, and it does not store anything on a server, because the whole design is written into the address itself.

Friends who receive a link can make their own snowflake with one tap. This makes the link a friendly way to start a small challenge: send a snowflake and ask the other person to build one in return, then compare the two designs and talk about which settings you liked best.