Full drill vs. partial drill designs: What’s the difference? 

Diamond Dotz® on 28th Oct 2021

One of the questions we get asked most is what’s the difference between a full drill and a partial drill design.  

A full drill design simply means that the entire printed area of the canvas or fabric is covered with diamond dotz, whereas with a partial drill design, only part of the printed area is covered with diamond dotz. 

Full drill design by DIAMOND DOTZ, Serengeti Magic

Partial drill design by DIAMOND DOTZ®, Love Prickles

Which should I choose?  

You may be wondering at this point as to why you would even bother with a partial canvas if the basic premise of diamond painting is to create a sparkly piece of art covered in shiny stones..  

  Truth is, some designs actually look more striking with only partial coverage!  

To decide whether an image should be turned into a full drill or partial drill design, we look at understanding its composition.. i.e., is or are the focal areas best complemented with a background with no diamond dotz or one with diamond dotz?

For example, for an image of a beautiful forest and a charm of majestic hummingbirds, we would make that into a partial drill design as having diamond dotz only on the hummingbirds would create clearer focal points and make them pop even more.

However, if you’re looking for a design that’ll achieve a full mosaic look, then a full drill design using square diamond dotz would be the way to go.

You may also wish to factor in the amount of time you can spend on this project as a full drill design will take longer than a partial drill one.   

Regardless of whether you opt for a full or partial drill design, the end result is sure to be exquisite!  

 You can check out all our full drill designs here.