LEGO Mosaics are fairly easy to build – depending of course on the size and complexity of the picture, image or pattern you have in mind. (You might want to read the Introduction to Mosaic Building section.) If you are trying to build something more complex, like a portray from a photograph, you might find the information here useful.
LEGO MOSAIC SOFTWARE:
One of the best resources I found for LEGO mosaic building is Pictobrick. Pictobrick was crated by two university students as part of their studies in computer science. It is a software to generate mosaics from digital pictures. And it is available as a free download! (Download here: DOWNLOAD) The software is very easy to use. Trust me on that! If I can use it, you can too! 
I recommend following the tutorial when you first use the program. (See tutorial here: TUTORIAL) It will walk you through all the features. You will get the hang of it in no time! 
To be honest, I was a bit lost at the download page at first (the only part I got stuck), as I didn’t understand all the tech-jargon and what I needed to download exactly. Finally I decided to try as I was really curious about the software, as I heard only good things about it.
I use Windows, so I downloaded the zip file under the section called “Download practicable EXE-file (only Windows)”. I opened the “exe” file and voila! The software was there and it worked like a charm!
Pictobrick is optimized for LEGO; meaning all the LEGO brick and plate sizes and colors are already uploaded. By default all bricks and/or plates are used to generate a mosaic in all LEGO colors, and the software will use the best combinations. But you can change this according to your preferences and available pieces. (For example to create a black & white LEGO mosaic, eliminate some colors, or to use certain size bricks and/or plates.)
You can use the Pictobrick software to build both studs-on-top (with elements stacked on each other) and studs facing out (attached to a baseplate) type LEGO mosaics. You can even optimize your mosaic according to the cost of parts! Just playing with this software is a lot of fun!
Once you are done, the software will generate a part-count and instructions that you can save and print out.
WHERE TO SHOP FOR LEGO MOSAIC PARTS:
You will probably need lots of bricks and/or plates to create your LEGO mosaic (depending on the size you have chosen). One of the best places to get a good quantity is LEGO’s own Pick-A-Brick selection. If you have a LEGO store near you, you can use their Pick-A-Brick wall, or you can also order online: Shop for specific LEGO bricks and elements using Pick A Brick at The Official LEGO Shop!
Your other best option is BrickLink. Make sure you generate a BrickLink Wanted List for all the bricks and/or plates needed according to the Pictobrick parts-list generated for your LEGO mosaic. This way you can find the sellers who have all, or most of the parts you will need. You can save on shipping.
I have found for basic bricks LEGO’s own store is cheaper. BrickLink however tends to have a greater variety and selection, also it is a great resource for the large, discontinued baseplates.
LEARN FROM OTHER MOSAIC BUILDERS:
You can check out the websites and blogs of other LEGO mosaic builders. They often share pictures and how-tos of the mosaic-building process. LEGO-fans are friendly folks, and I’m sure they would respond if you need a little help.
If you go to the Mosaic Gallery, you can click on any of the pictures and it will take you to the LEGO mosaic artist’s own site. You will see more of their work, and you might contact them with questions. In addition, here are some websites you may find useful:
- LEGO Mosaic Group on Flickr: Lots of pictures!
- The Red Brick Road: Janey Gunning’s website. Lots of mosaics!
- MosaicBricks: The only blog dedicated to mosaic building!
- Brickworkz: No time to build a mosaic but you still want one? Maybe as a gift? You can order custom mosaics here built by LEGO artists!
If you know of any other websites or blogs that are a great resource for LEGO mosaic builders please let me know and I will update the above list. Thank you! 
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Casey M. has a MosaicBricks blog. I was thinking he should ask you to guest write for him.
http://mosaicbricks.blogspot.com/2011/01/official-lego-mosaic-sets-part-2.html
Oh, thanks, Katie! I was hoping you will comment!
I’m going to ad that mosaic blog to the list! It is perfect! Also, you have an excellent article/interview there! I really enjoyed it!
By the way; I worked out a method that may help with your cheese-slope building! I just have to take pictures of it!
Hello
I am looking to create a mosaic but have some questions with regards to the baseplates. Any e-mail address I can use to direct my questions about what type to get (round corners or not) and how to secure them together to create a large building platform for a top-view mosaic?
Trey, I would recommend the sharp-corner baseplates. This is especially true if you need to use more than one baseplate and attach them together. Actually, as far as I know all of the really large baseplates made by LEGO have sharp corners. Like the 32×32, 40×40, 48×48 and 50×50. (If you click on the blue link it will take you to BrickLink’s Catalog, listing all of the large LEGO baseplates).
The best and most permanent construction is to attach the baseplates on a wood frame with screws or glue that is not harmful to plastic. And of course you can use a combination of these methods if your mosaic is very large.
(It is a good idea to attach the front of the plates with some LEGO bricks or plates before gluing because there supposed to be a little gap between the baseplates for corrent spacing – they shouldn’t be tightly pushed together.)
Then, you may want to ad a few larger plates (like 1×2, 2×2, 2×3 and 2×4) here and there to connet the plates on the front – as part of the design – to strengthen the connections.
An other thing you could do is to ad a frame around the parameter of the mosaic, using larger plates (like 2×8, 2×10, or 2×12).
Here is a good example of the process (with pictures): LEGO Mosaic Building by Brickworkz. Actually, you may want to talk to the Brickworkz guys for further insights. You may also consider contacting some of the mosaic builders featured in the Mosaic Gallery section. (If you click on any of the pictures you will be taken to the artist’s own gallery and you can contact them from there.)
Hope this helps some!
http://www.Photobricksapp.com hope you all can take a look at it, it will be free in few weeks.
Andres
Andres, this looks awesome! But is it only for Apple products? Thanks for sharing!
Guys im having the hardest time with this program (cause im an idiot) im wanting to do a mosaic as a christmas gift, a pretty good size one, all im wanting is the grid and number of each lego i need. can someone please help asap maceokina@hotmail.com
JLee, let me know what is your question and I will try to help you. The program is very simple to use if you follow the directions. Anyhow, let me know what you don’t understand.
I know everyones telling me it’s so easy lol but I have no idea how to do it. Any chance someone can help me out ASAP? Can’t seem to get it done at all
What part of the software do you need help with?
Just the whole thing is confusing me and not doing my pic correctly any way someone can email me or I send a pic and they can help? Maceokina@hotmail.com
I’m sending you a PM. I can’t promise I can help today as I’m working on a post for tomorrow, but if you write your questions down I can go over them tomorrow morning.
Hello,
I’d like to try this. I’ve downloaded the software but am having some tech issues (i.e. I click file>working directory>choose working directory and nothing happens. Additionally, I didn’t get the option to choose a working directory upon start up. Without being able to do that, I can’t even get started). Do you know of anyone who can provide tech support for this software. Thanks!
Rebekah, I’m not a tech-person, but I just open the software buy running the pictobrick_1_0.exe file. It opens it right up.
After the software loads it asks me to choose a working directory. My Documents is the default, so I just leave it as that and click Open. Nothing supposed to happen after that. You just see the blank gray default screen.
Then under File (in the upper left corner), you need to choose “Load Image” from the drop-down menu and load the picture you want to turn into a mosaic. Instructions for how to work with the image are under the Tutorial section (linked in the post above).
Hope this helps some!
Thanks. It does load right up…easy-peasy. But, I don’t get the option/pop-up to choose a working directory and manually going to File doesn’t do anything either. I click…and nothing…black grey default screen and all options greyed out. Without choosing a directory, I can’t load a picture.
I’ve read all the tutorials and I’m diligent about following directions so I’ll be good once I can figure out how to get a working directory set up. I’ll keep working at it. When all else fails, Ctrl-Alt-Delete or try a different computer.
Rebekah, I’m just wondering if the file somehow got corrupted in the download or unzipping process? For me the “Choose a working directory” notification comes up every time I load the sofware. Maybe it would be worth downloading it again? Personally I just downloaded the zip-file and never unpacked it. I just run the exe file. Let me know how it goes.
I emailed the PicToBrick guys and got some very useful information. PicToBrick asks you to pick a working directory for your LOCAL machine. The computer I was using doesn’t store anything locally…it all runs through a server for my job. Therefore, I have no way to pick a local working directory because I don’t have one.
Tried it on my home computer and it worked flawlessly. And, the moral of this story is…I should do work stuff at work and not try to make mosaics
Rebekah, I’m glad you were able to solve this!
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