On this page you will learn how to make a Lego picture on plates.

In this part, you will see how to load your image, what are the different possible settings, how to optimize the cost and finally how to obtain the patterns of your artwork.

We will also give you some realization advice.

Preliminary work on the image

We are going to work with the following image :



If your image has a solid color background, it is possible to choose one or more plates of the right color and not put unnecessary bricks on the background in order to save on the cost.

This is the case of the image in our example which has a white background, ideal for using white plates. This will also add a relief effect with the dog highlighted in relation to the plates. Our tool manages the transparency of PNG images and this is what we will use to not cover the background with bricks. This step remains optional but can be interesting for certain images.

To check if a PNG image already has transparency, it is possible to use a drawing editing software (like Photoshop or free alternatives like Gimp or Paint.net). You can use the “magic wand” tool to remove and make transparent the entire white background. For more details, you will surely find many tutorials on this manipulation on the internet.

You can see the result in the image with the appearance of a grid indicating the transparent parts on the drawing software.



You can also crop your image if you want to eliminate certain parts of the image. Finally, if your image has a resolution higher than 8192 pixels for the width and 8192 pixels for the height (4096 pixels for the width and height on iOS), you will have to reduce its resolution so that we can process it. Here too, many tutorials exist on the internet.

Once your image is sufficiently worked on or if the original image suits you, you can move on to the next step.

Loading and calculating the Lego image

To start, click on the “Create” menu, then on “Create 2D on plates”. This is where you can do everything : upload the image, adjust the settings, estimate the price and finally download the pattern.

Then click on “Select an image / jpeg, png”, and select the image on your computer or smartphone (as indicated, only jpeg and png are allowed). If your image is compatible, it should be displayed just below. If this is not the case, perhaps your image is too large and you should rework your image first (see previous section). If despite this your image still does not load, you can always send it to us via the contact form so that we can study your case.

Now, you should calculate the Lego version of your image: to do this, click on “Bricks image”. If everything went well, you should see your pixelated image, as well as a new part at the bottom : a detail of the necessary plates, a form that we will use to calculate the price and a button to download the pattern of the work to be made. The display may be different on a smartphone because of the lower resolution. Don't worry, we will see in more detail the different elements of this window.

Transparency management (optional)

As mentioned in the first part, it is possible to use the transparency of a PNG image to manage the plain background of an image. By default, the page fills the transparent parts with white. But it is possible to change this color to see the result with different plate colors. To do this, click on the icon on the right located under the colors and make your choice of colors. The result will be visible in real time. Below, an example of application. But we will stay in our case with the white color for the rest of the tutorial.



The number to the right of the transparency color selection button represents the number of bricks saved by not completely filling the plate(s) (35202 bricks in the image above).

Note: It is not possible to disable transparency management. If your image contained transparent areas and you wanted the entire plate to be covered, you will need to rework your image with a drawing software to replace the transparent areas with color or a pattern.

Image filter

Below the image is a selection button to choose between RGB and CIELAB. RGB is the classic color coding based on the red, green and blue components. CIELAB is a color coding that is supposed to be more representative of human perception. The CIELAB filter can improve some images. Try both and see.



Below are the two displays in the context of our example.

For the rest of the tutorial, we will stay in RGB filter.

By default, all available colors are selected and the size is at maximum. Not all images are suitable for a Lego image. If the image does not suit you at this stage, it is advisable to change the image (you will not find better on our site).

Selection of brick manufacturers, colors and shapes

It is possible to choose the brick manufacturers, the colors, as well as the different possible brick shapes. On the right, there are three panels:

• The topmost panel is for selecting brick manufacturers.
• The middle panel is for choosing the colors of each manufacturer.
• Finally, the bottom panel is for selecting the brick shapes for a given manufacturer or a given color.

Let's start with the brick manufacturers panel. It is possible to select a manufacturer by clicking on it. It will then be highlighted. Similarly, the colors panel will have been updated to display the colors of the selected manufacturer. Finally, the shapes panel will then indicate the shapes selected for the manufacturer. The selection of brick shapes will be seen after.

If we look at the columns available for the list of manufacturers :

• The first column is a checkbox that allows you to choose or not a manufacturer. If unchecked, no color from this manufacturer will be considered to calculate the Lego model. It is not possible to choose none : at least one manufacturer is required.
• The second column is an icon representing the option chosen for the selection of brick shapes for the manufacturer in question. The icon is clickable to switch from one option to another. By choosing an option for the manufacturer, this will automatically select the same option for all the colors of the manufacturer. The different options will be seen later.
• The third column is only visible if the brick image has been calculated and represents the total number of bricks needed for your work for the manufacturer concerned.
• The fourth column is the name of the brick manufacturer, whether Lego or other alternatives.
• The fifth column is the link to the manufacturer's website.
• Finally the sixth and last column is a direct link to the bricks on the manufacturer's website.

Regarding the color panel, it is also possible to select a color by clicking on it. Similarly, the row of the color in question will then be highlighted. Highlighting a color updates the brick shapes panel to display the shapes selected for the color.

Regarding the columns :

• The first column is a checkbox to exclude or authorize a color for the creation of the artwork. It is not possible to have less than two colors selected in total, all manufacturers combined.
• The second column displays the option to select brick shapes and also allows you to change the option by clicking on it.
• The third column indicates the number of bricks of this color required for your artwork, all shapes combined.
• The fourth column is a preview of the color.
• The fifth column indicates the internal reference of the color. This is the reference that will be used in the downloadable pattern of your artwork.
• Finally, the sixth column is the name of the color from the manufacturer.

Finally, the brick shape selection panel has check-boxes to allow or disallow certain brick shapes. Two cases are possible:

• A manufacturer is highlighted but no color : checking or unchecking a shape will have a direct impact on all the manufacturer's colors.
• A particular color is highlighted : checking or unchecking a shape will only have an impact on the color in question.

If the brick image has been calculated, a number will indicate next to the checked boxes, the number of bricks of this shape used for your artwork. This panel also has a clickable icon to choose between the different brick shape options.

The possible options are :

This option is the default and indicates that only 1x1 shaped bricks will be used. It is not possible to prohibit the 1x1 shape.

With this option all shapes will be used if needed.

If this icon is displayed, it means that several but not all shapes have been authorized for the selected manufacturer or the selected color.

Suggested strategy

The strategy proposed in this tutorial is to set the maximum size and keep all the colors. Then, we fill out the cost estimation form. The final cost displayed is updated in real time as the parameters are modified. You will initially have a very high price that should drop as you adjust your settings. This allows you to have a compromise between the cost you want to put and the quality of the artwork.

To fill out the cost form, you will need to fill in the price information for each selected manufacturer and each selected shape. You must therefore decide between an artwork composed only of 1x1 bricks or a more complex and therefore more expensive artwork with more brick shapes. For this tutorial, we will stick to 1x1 bricks for all manufacturers and all colors (default value).

Cost estimates

For each brick manufacturer and each shape, you must enter the minimum number of bricks to buy per batch and the price per batch. You must also indicate how many additional bricks you want to add per color and shape. You can put zero but it is advisable to put a few spare bricks in case of defects in one or more bricks.

Once the various information is entered, simply click on "Cost calculation". As you can see at the bottom, the price is quite high. But in this configuration, the size of the artwork is 212.8cm by 160cm! In the next step, we will adjust the parameters.

Adjust size, colors and shapes

We will play on the size, colors (and shapes) to reduce costs. By playing on these parameters, the cost display will be automatically updated. If you change the input parameters of the spreadsheet, you must click on "Cost calculation" to save the new parameters.

There is no magic recipe for this step: you can change the settings while looking at the brick image to see if the result still suits you. For this example, the choice was made to have a final size of 106.4 cm by 80 cm and to use only bricks from "APAN SAPIO". In addition, we eliminated the colors with very few bricks and kept only 16 colors in total.



We have seen how to eliminate colors and shapes. To change the size, below the image there is a selection bar. To the left, the final artwork will be reduced and to the right, the artwork will be enlarged. Below this selection bar, there is a panel updated in real time and indicating the resolution in bricks, as well as the physical size of the artwork.

The option "Use original size" allows you to have a pixel of your image that is equivalent to a brick but is reserved for images less than 250 pixels in height and width.

If you are satisfied with the final appearance of your artwork and if the cost suits you, the next step is to estimate the cost of the plates. To do this, find among the merchants the plates that suit you and complete the corresponding part of the cost sheet. To the left of the cost window, there is the detail of the plates needed, allowing you to know the number of plates to buy.

Using canvas

All you have to do is buy the bricks and plates and download the canvases for your artwork. To do this, click on "Download patterns". You will then have access to an archive containing several folders and files:

• The « ReadMe.txt » file explains the architecture of the archive and the role of each folder and file
• The « INFORMATION.html » file contains all the data for your artwork such as the details of the plates, the resolutions and sizes of the artwork, the shapes of the bricks, as well as the legend of the colors.
• The « Black_and_white_pattern » folder contains the files of the patterns in black and white.
• The « Colored_pattern » folder contains the files of the patterns but in color

Below, the « INFORMATION.html » file that we generated.



The files “HyWx.pdf” and “HyWx.svg” represent the canvases of each Lego plate in PDF and SVG format. They all contain a grid with a color number to match the legend in the “INFORMATION.html” file. An empty box represents a transparent color and there is no need for a brick in this case. Above is an example of the H2W1 canvas (color version and black and white version) which corresponds to the third row (H for Height starting from 0) and the second column (W for Width starting from 0).







Below is an example of the same portion of the pattern but with all possible brick shapes. This is more complex to achieve because bricks can be common to several plates. Except for the 1x1 brick, the brick shape is written in addition to the color reference.

The substrate

You can use any surface you like to stick your Lego plates to (wood, for example). You should allow a few millimetres for this. To stick the plates, you can use epoxy glue or super glue for example.

And here's the result of our work below.

Conclusion

Now you've finished your artwork, ready to hang on a wall or not. Don't hesitate to take a photo of your artwork and send it to us using the contact page to have it included in our gallery section. Just let us know the number of bricks and the physical size of the work.