Brick Mosaic Maker
Plan a LEGO mosaic, or one in any brick system with 1 × 1 plates, from your own photo. Not affiliated with the LEGO Group. Add a picture and choose a base plate of 16, 32 or 48 studs, up to 3 plates across and down. The page crops the photo, averages each stud and matches it to our own palette of 26 plain solid colours (or greys, warm tones or a bright set, and as few colours as you like), with optional dithering for smoother shading. You get a stud view, the number of pieces in every colour with a 5% spare, and a PDF with a colour key and one build page per 16 × 16 section at real size, 8 mm per stud, so you can lay pieces right on the paper. Your photo never leaves your device.
100% private — everything runs in your browser. Everything runs in your browser; your photo is never uploaded.
Print at 100% (Actual size): build pages are real size, 8 mm per stud, so you can lay pieces on the paper.
Picture
Faces work best cropped close, on a plain background. The picture is cropped from the centre to the mosaic shape.
Size
Colours
Runs in your browser with our own code: your photo is never uploaded or saved. The palette names are our own words, not any maker’s colour names. You may use what you make here, including commercially, with no credit needed.
How to make a brick mosaic from a photo
- Add your photo (or try our sample picture first).
- Choose the base plate and how many plates across and down.
- Pick a palette and how many colours, and try dithering, brightness and contrast.
- Check the piece counts under the preview and download the CSV piece list.
- Download the PDF, print at 100% and build one 16 × 16 section at a time from the numbered pages.
What you can use it for
- A portrait of a family member or a pet as a wall mosaic
- A greyscale photo mosaic in 5 shades
- A class or team project split into sections for several builders
- Planning which pieces to buy before you order
- A logo-free pixel picture for a desk or a shelf
- A gift with the build pages and a piece list
Mosaic sizes
| Base plate | Studs | Pieces | Finished size | Build pages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 × 16 | 16 × 16 | 256 | 12.8 × 12.8 cm | 1 |
| 32 × 32 | 32 × 32 | 1024 | 25.6 × 25.6 cm | 4 |
| 48 × 48 | 48 × 48 | 2304 | 38.4 × 38.4 cm | 9 |
| 32 × 32, 2 × 2 plates | 64 × 64 | 4096 | 51.2 × 51.2 cm | 16 |
| 48 × 48, 2 × 2 plates | 96 × 96 | 9216 | 76.8 × 76.8 cm | 36 |
| 48 × 48, 3 × 3 plates | 144 × 144 | 20736 | 115.2 × 115.2 cm | 81 |
One stud = 8 mm. Each build page covers 16 × 16 studs, so every plate size splits into whole pages, plus a cover with the colour key.
Our 26-colour palette and smaller sets
| Palette | Colours |
|---|---|
| All 26 colours | Chalk, Ash, Smoke, Slate, Ink, Tomato, Cherry, Tangerine, Sunflower, Lemon, Leaf, Forest, Mint, Moss, Sky, Ocean, Midnight, Teal, Lilac, Plum, Bubblegum, Blush, Caramel, Cocoa, Oat, Peach |
| Greys (5) | Chalk, Ash, Smoke, Slate, Ink |
| Warm tones (7) | Chalk, Slate, Ink, Blush, Caramel, Cocoa, Oat |
| Bright (10) | Chalk, Ink, Tomato, Tangerine, Sunflower, Leaf, Sky, Ocean, Plum, Bubblegum |
The names and colour values are our own picks for plain solid colours. Match them to the nearest pieces you own.
Example: piece counts for our sample picture on one 32 × 32 plate
| Code | Colour | Pieces | With 5% spare |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Sky | 435 | 457 |
| B | Forest | 257 | 270 |
| C | Leaf | 152 | 160 |
| D | Sunflower | 75 | 79 |
| E | Tomato | 53 | 56 |
| F | Ash | 13 | 14 |
| G | Mint | 11 | 12 |
| H | Oat | 8 | 9 |
| J | Cherry | 7 | 8 |
| K | Smoke | 5 | 6 |
| L | Bubblegum | 5 | 6 |
| M | Lemon | 3 | 4 |
1024 pieces in 12 colours. Our tests check that the counts add up to the stud count and match the build pages.
What prints
| Page | What is on it |
|---|---|
| Cover | Your mosaic in colour with numbered sections, the size in studs and cm, the colour key with piece counts and spares |
| Build pages | One 16 × 16 section per page at real size (8 mm per stud) with a code letter in every square, row and column numbers, a map showing where the section sits and the pieces in that section |
| Check bar | An 80 mm bar on every build page to confirm the print is at 100% |
For a ceramic-style tile mosaic with grout, try the Mosaic Maker; for retro pixel art from a picture, the Pixel Art Converter.
Which tool to use
| You want | Use |
|---|---|
| A stud mosaic with piece counts and build pages | Brick Mosaic Maker (this page) |
| A tile or photo mosaic picture | Mosaic Maker |
| Pixel art from a photo | Pixel Art Converter |
| A cross stitch chart from a photo | Cross Stitch Pattern Maker |
Also handy: the Pixel Art Maker to draw a design square by square, and Crop Image to frame a face before you start.
More free tools
Pixels, tiles and picture crafts?
Picture tools that run privately in your browser, with no sign-up and no watermark.
Frequently asked questions
How big will my mosaic be?
One stud is 8 mm, so a 32 × 32 plate is 25.6 cm square and a 48 × 48 plate is 38.4 cm square. Three by three 48-stud plates make a 144 × 144 stud mosaic, 115.2 cm square. The size table above lists each option.
How many pieces do I need?
One 1 × 1 piece per stud: 1,024 for a 32 × 32 plate and 2,304 for a 48 × 48 plate. The table under the preview gives the count for every colour, with 5% spare rounded up for pieces that go missing.
Which pieces should I use?
Any 1 × 1 piece that sits on one stud: square plates for a classic studded look, flat tiles for a smooth finish, or round pieces for a dotted look. The pattern is the same for all three.
Why are the colour names different from the ones I buy?
Our palette names (Chalk, Ash, Tomato, Sunflower…) are our own words for plain solid colours, not any maker’s names or numbers. Match each colour to the nearest piece you have; the CSV gives the hex value of each colour to help.
What photo works best?
A close crop with a plain background and good light. Faces need at least 32 × 32 studs to read well; 48 × 48 or more shows much more detail. Try Contrast a little higher for photos taken in soft light.
What does dithering do?
It mixes neighbouring studs of two colours to suggest a shade in between, which smooths skies and skin with few colours. Leave it off for a cleaner, poster-like look and for pictures with flat colours.
How do I follow the build pages?
Each page is one 16 × 16 section, numbered on the cover preview and placed by the red square in the small map. Every square shows a code letter (A, B, C…) from the colour key and is printed at real size, so you can lay pieces on the page and then move them onto the plate row by row.
Can I use fewer colours?
Yes. Choose a smaller palette (greys or warm tones) or set Colours to use: the page keeps the most used colours and matches every stud again, so the mosaic only needs the pieces you have.
Is it free?
Yes. There is no sign-up, no watermark and no limit.
Is my photo uploaded?
No. The photo is read and turned into a mosaic by JavaScript in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere or saved when you close the page.