Mosaic generator

Turn a photo into a brick mosaic: how it works

The mosaic generator converts your photo into a grid of 1 × 1 pieces. Every stud gets exactly one piece, in the colour that comes closest to that part of the picture. You don’t need an account or any software, just your browser.

1. Choose a photo: drop a JPG, PNG or WebP onto the page or pick one from your gallery. It has to be at least 200 pixels wide.
2. Size and crop: pick a standard size or type in your own width and height. Zoom and position decide which part of the photo ends up in the mosaic.
3. Colours and parts: choose the part type and the colour palette. Brightness, contrast, saturation, smoothing and dithering update the preview straight away.
4. Result: slide between mosaic and original to compare them, check the parts list and download what you need.

Colours are matched in the Lab colour space using the ΔE2000 formula, which judges colour differences much like the human eye does. Skin tones and greys come out closer than with a plain comparison of RGB values.

Mosaic sizes and their dimensions in centimetres

One stud is 8 mm wide, which gives you a simple formula: studs × 0.8 = centimetres. Each side can be set anywhere between 8 and 256 studs, and the mosaic doesn’t have to be square. The standard sizes are multiples of 16, so they fit 16 × 16 baseplates with nothing left over.

Portraits need at least 64 × 64 studs, or eyes and mouth turn to mush. Logos and pixel art already work at 32 × 32. To work out what suits your wall, use the size calculator in Which mosaic size fits your wall?.

Part type and colour palette

Round tiles, square tiles, plates or bricks

The generator works with four 1 × 1 parts: the round tile (98138), the square tile (3070b), the plate (3024) and the brick (3005). Round tiles create a dotted look with the baseplate showing in the corners, and they never need lining up. Square tiles sit almost seamlessly side by side, much like pixel art. Plates keep their studs on top, which gives the picture texture.

The guide Round or square tiles for your mosaic? compares them in detail.

Colour palettes

You can choose “All colours”, “Currently available” (colours found in sets from the last three years), “Greyscale” or your own selection. Transparent colours are left out because they look grey on a wall. “Limit the number of colours” gets the job done with fewer colours, which makes buying the pieces easier.

How many colours you get depends on the part. According to the catalogue, the round tile comes in 47 solid colours, the square tile in 57, the plate in 65 and the brick in 62.

What you get

Below the preview you’ll see the finished size in centimetres, the number of baseplates and how many colours the mosaic uses. Three files are ready to download:

• Parts list as CSV: every colour with part number, colour number and quantity (columns Part, Color, Quantity). It opens in any spreadsheet app.
• Picture as PNG: the finished mosaic as an image file to keep, share or use as a reference while building.
• BrickLink XML: the parts list as a wanted list. Upload it on BrickLink under Wanted → Upload to see which sellers stock the pieces. If a colour has no BrickLink number, the generator tells you.

Your photo stays on your device

Your photo is never uploaded. Your browser does the cropping, colour matching and parts list itself, and creates the download files too. We never see your picture and don’t store it anywhere. Only your settings, such as size and palette, are remembered by the browser for next time.

Tips for a good photo

• One clear subject, a calm background: anything small in the photo shrinks to a handful of studs.
• Even light: harsh shadows turn into dark blotches. The “Smoothing” slider evens them out a little.
• Get close: crop generously in step 2 until the face or subject fills the frame.
• Strong colours: washed-out photos improve with a small boost to contrast and saturation.
• Use dithering with care: it mixes colours into dot patterns. That helps with skies and soft gradients but makes logos look busy.

Mosaic generator FAQ