Diamonds & More

How to become a diamond painting geek

Understand small talk inside the diamond painting community

Every community has their own slang, dialog they create to name objects, things and processes, as well as understand each other without having to say full long sentences and descriptions regarding diamond painting.

How to become a diamond painting geek

Carat Art developed their own jargon, but before we dive into exploring our branded and unique lingo we would like you to become familiar with diamond painting related content, which is recognised and used worldwide.

Universal diamond painting dictionary

Let’s start with some common words used around the world inside the community:

  • DP – is a shortcut which stands for diamond painting
  • DP kit / kit – diamond painting kit including the canvas, pen, tray, tweezers, wax and diamonds for example like this Big city lights diamond painting kit!
  • Paint with diamonds / diamond cross stitch/ drilling – process of diamond painting
  • Drills/ rhinestones/diamonds – colorful and shiny resin stones used to cover the whole canva
  • Canva – is the name of the picture on which diamonds would be placed
  • Pen – tool used for placing diamonds on the canva. The pen can look simple, but in reality is a very ergonomic tool which sits in the hand very comfortably.
  • Tweezers – diamond painting tweezers have sharp ends to allow an easy pick up of a diamond placed in the wrong position
How to become a diamond painting geek
  • 3D/5D – a 5D Diamond Painting will create more shine and sparkle than a 3D Diamond Painting because the drills have more facets.
  • Drills storageDrill storage and labeling keeps your diamond drills organized so you can easily locate the color you need that corresponds with the symbol on the canvas. There are several options and preferences for diamond drill storage and organization.
  • Full Drill/Full – a Full Drill/Full Diamond Painting is a canvas that is covered entirely with drills like this beautiful picture of Happy elephants. From corner to corner, you will not find an empty space where you are not asked to place a drill. Fulls are the preference of most diamond painters, while partials are great for beginners and diamond painting projects for kids.
  • Partial Drill/Partial – this refers to a Diamond Painting where you place drills to illustrate the main part of an image while the rest of the canvas does not contain the pattern grid or adhesive. Partials are good for beginners, kids, or those looking for a quick project to work on.
  • Multi-placer – this is usually attached to the other end of a diamond painting pen. You fill it with wax and can pick up a straight line of several diamonds at a time. This speeds up the process of completing large blocks of color. The smallest multi-placer picks up 3 diamond drills and they go up from there. Check it here for the full Accessories set!
  • Round/Round Drill – this describes one of the two most common drill shapes used in Diamond Painting. These are circular shaped drills that are flat on the bottom and cut on the top into shining facets. Round drills are said to be easier to place and sparkle more than square drills.
How to become a diamond painting geek
  • Square/ Square Drill – one of the two most common shapes used for drills in a Diamond Painting. This describes the square shape. They are flat at the bottom and can contain a multitude of facets. Square drills are more challenging to place because they require much more effort and carefulness during the process of application to achieve the desired uniform. Squares also create a more detailed image due to there not being any space between each drill.
  • Tray – a tool that comes in your kit, or can be purchased separately, that holds the diamonds while you Diamond Paint. Gently shaking the tray from side to side will separate, straighten, and flip the drills to make them easier to pick up.
  • Checkerboard – this term is used by many to describe a pattern of placing drills on a large area of the same color. Experienced Diamond Painters enjoy making a checkerboard pattern with the drills where they skip every other space. Once the area has been covered with this pattern, they fill in the empty spaces. This seems to create straighter columns and rows.
  • Confetti – used to illustrate the area of a Diamond Painting with multiple different colors where it seems random and looks like confetti close up, yet when viewed at a distance creates a detailed image with shading and depth.

These are the most important terms to know when you start diamond painting. Do you start feeling like a dp geek? Not yet? – Let’s dive in deeper.

How to become a diamond painting geek

What happens when you start painting with diamonds in the Carat Art community?

It has been very clear from the beginning, that development of our own slang is super important, as this would be our unique way to describe what is going on, how to find us, be recognised, be catchy, on trend and super easy to follow. Hence the idea of developing our own jargon, which circulates around our community, in the social media and our website.

If you want to become, or already are a full time Carat Art supporter and fan or partner, these are the phrases you need to know:

  • Carat Art – name of our amazing, small German brand producing diamond paintings
  • #caratstories – real stories which are becoming blog posts, sent to us by our followers and published on our blog
  • #carattips – set of important diamond painting related tips and advices
  • #caratartists – regards to real artists which Carat Art is very proud to cooperate with. Explore our artist’s collection.
  • #carataffiliate – is a term used for every single of our partners signed up through the Affiliate program. If you would be interested in joining in click here
  • #caratgiveaways – is the global name of our giveaways, and we will make sure that you will hear all about them and will not miss them for sure!
  • #caratdeals – you don’t want to miss them! Deals appear periodically, and if they do, they’re magical and amazing, even for small budget shopping
How to become a diamond painting geek
  • #caratreviews – the clue is in the name, we wouldn’t grow without your reviews!
  • Carat Art-ist – this is a very first term which has been developed and it describes any person, who did, or do or will do Carat Art diamond painting.
  • #caratwip – globally known term as work in progress, adapted by Carat Art, which regards any video we post showing diamond painting in creation.


Do you feel like a diamond painting guru now?

Sure you do!

Carat Art dictionary will evolve with time, as this is only the beginning of our sparkling journey. This compact dictionary will help you understand our Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest posts and adverts!
Now you know the slang, so let’s put it into action. Become Carat Art-ist and show us your #wip!

How to become a diamond painting geek
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