There is plenty of software to build virtual Lego models with your Mac or PC. These applications use properly defined Lego parts data in the form of 3d objects to help you create a lego scene or instruction booklet of a Lego model. Just for fun, I decided to render some of those bricks and turn them into Photoshop brushes.
These are the programs I used : LDraw (not exactly a program but it is long to explain), MLCad (to distribute a group of bricks all over a virtual floor), L3P and L3PAO (to translate MLCad file into a POVRay file) and POVRay (to render the scene). These applications are free, but they are somewhat difficult to use if you are technically challenged.
After rendering the scene, I opened it with Adobe Photoshop and started to create each brush.
This is a low resolution version of the original image. Download the high resolution Lego bricks image here.
Using the marquee tool, select a brick
Go to: EDIT > DEFINE BRUSH PRESET…, type in the brush name and press OK
Select the brush tool from the tool palette. Then go to the brushes pulldown menu at the top of the screen and check at the bottom of the brushes list to see the newly added brush tip.
Following the steps mentioned above, I created two high resolution versions of the Lego bricks brushes: A normal set and a negative set. Download the Lego bricks Photoshop brushes here.
There are many ways to install a set of brushes in Photoshop. I will show you only one. This method will append the brushes to the current list, instead of replacing them.
Go to EDIT > PRESETS MANAGER and choose Brushes in the Presets pulldown menu. After that, the current set of brushes will show. Then, click on the LOAD button and select the set of brushes you want to install. As mentioned before, the new set will be added to the current set.
The difference between the two sets of brushes is how they paint according to the background. The process of creating the negative version although easy at first sight is a bit more tricky. Since it involves the usage of the rendering program, it is beyond the scope of this tutorial to teach you that process.
Just download the already built sets and concentrate on how you can use them to create different effects.
The normal set will paint a washed out brick like some sort of “Andy Warhol” illustration. The negative set, when used on a dark background, will paint a near exact version of the rendered brick.
Due to the transparent nature of Photoshop brushes, in the image on the left I intentionally superimposed the bricks to create an interesting effect, while on the right image, I took care of leaving enough space between bricks to create a more realistic composition.
Now the fun part begins. Using the presets control palette (see image below) you can customize the way the brush tool paints.
The following chart will show you how to achieve interesting effects just by tweaking a couple of basic settings. Play with these settings and explore new ones to make the most from this powerful tool
Diameter: 65px
Since we are using a high resolution brush, we lower the original size for this example.
Spacing: 71%
This setting controls the brush tip spacing within a single stroke.
Size Jitter: 100%
The brick changes its size randomly within the same stroke.
Angle Jitter: 100%
Flip X Jitter & Flip Y Jitter: Checked
We rotate and flip the brick to give a more natural look (lighting is incorrect, but that’s not much of a problem).
Scatter: 300%
This setting gives a chaotic look to the stroke
Hue Jitter: 100%
Purity: 100%
Now the best part. Using Color Dynamics controls you can have random colors without changing the foreground color in the tool palette.
Brightness Jitter : 100%
Randomly changing the brightness can give you more depth. Try different combinations to avoid a "dirty" or "unsaturated" look to your bricks.
Although this may seem somewhat geeky, besides using brushes based on real Lego bricks, you can also paint with official Lego colors. Just check this color table from Peeron and start painting
If you liked this article please leave a comment below. I will probably soon be building more brushes with Lego minifigs or other themes like Lego Technic or Lego Bionicle.
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[…] Building a Lego Bricks Photoshop Brushes set ist eine kleine Anleitung zum Bau eines Pinselsets in Photoshop. Autor Enrique Flouret stellt dazu eine hochauflösende Basisdatei zur Verfügung und zeigt, wie man Pinsel erstellt und mit ihnen malt. Auch ein fertiges Brush-Set hält der Autor zum Download bereit. […]
Posted by Screenz on June 27th, 2006 at 2:47 am
[…] Es gibt genügend Software für die Kinder in uns, um auch am Computer mit Lego spielen zu können. Das Werkzeugspitzen-Set Lego Bricks verbindet jetzt unser aktuelles Hobby – Photoshop – mit einem alten, aber immer noch geliebten Hobby – Lego. Schreibe einen Kommentar! […]
Posted by Photoshop Weblog » Mit Lego spielen on June 27th, 2006 at 8:03 am
wery helpfull& clear, thanks
Posted by Danko on June 28th, 2006 at 12:14 pm
[…] Building a Lego Bricks Photoshop Brushes set […]
Posted by » Lego Photoshop on June 29th, 2006 at 6:45 am
how to per creare e installare i propri brush su photoshop, facile e chiaro, molto utile, grazie mille
Posted by arums on July 1st, 2006 at 5:29 am
Great work!
Thanks
Posted by mm on July 2nd, 2006 at 6:14 am
I was just wondering what version of Photoshop you need? (I currently have 7 installed)
Posted by N.Kendell on July 11th, 2006 at 4:02 pm
Sorry, this set was created in Photoshop CS2, and won’t work in a version below CS. But you can go to the brushes download page and download both negative and normal images and construct the brushes the way I explained in this tutorial.
This is the download page:
http://www.photoshoproadmap.com/Photoshop-downloads/info/Brushes/Download-Lego-bricks-Photoshop-brushes
Hope this helps.
Posted by Enrique Flouret on July 11th, 2006 at 6:47 pm
hey i really want to create my own brushes. I have Photoshop CS2, But i just don’t know how to create a brush. I select an area, then go to the drop down menu in the brushes tool box, but the only options are:
New brush preset
Rename brush
Delete brush
Text only
Small Thumbs’
Large Thumbs’
Small list
Large list
Stroke thumb’
Preset manager
reset brushes
load brushes
save brushes
replace brushes
(and then a list of all the brush sub-cats’)
where is this “DEFINE BRUSH PRESET” option suppose to be!?
please help me.
Thnx.
Posted by aiden on July 19th, 2006 at 5:27 am
Aiden: The DEFINE BRUSH PRESET is located at the EDIT menu. The EDIT menu is the second menu (right after FILE menu) in the main Photoshop menu bar.
If you still have troubles, leave another message, or email me using this site contact page (you can find the link at the end of this page).
Hope this helps.
Enrique
Posted by Enrique Flouret on July 19th, 2006 at 7:03 am
Enrique: hiya, thnx alot for that. It’s exactly what i needed to know. So now i can make my own brushes!!!
Thank you.
Posted by aiden on July 19th, 2006 at 5:27 pm
You are welcome! If you create something with these brushes, post a link to the image here.
Best regards,
Enrique
Posted by Enrique Flouret on July 19th, 2006 at 7:58 pm
Simple, fast and clear explanation.
Only thanks for this.
Posted by jose Villablanca on July 21st, 2006 at 12:53 pm
This helped me so much, thanks!
Posted by kevyman on July 30th, 2006 at 9:23 pm
Thanks for the knowledge!! it will help alot in future designs!! now you’ve got me addicted to making and editing all my brushes!!
Posted by Leimaile on August 4th, 2006 at 5:26 am
This is the best brush I’ve ever used. I’m having so much fun playing with this. Now, to come up with something useful! LOL!
Posted by nalts on August 13th, 2006 at 8:50 pm
Hi! Great tutorial, thanks.
I was wondering how to, like in your colour dynamics lego set, how can I do that with another brush set so I don’t have to change to colour with every click? Thanks. 
Posted by PhotoshopGirl on August 21st, 2006 at 5:12 pm
It’s very easy, PhotoshopGirl!, just do as this article explains but using your own brushes this time.
The Brushes Presets Palette is available for all currently installed brushes. You can find it at the top right of your screen. If for some reason you can’t find it, just press F5 on a PC (I don’t have a Mac here now), or go to the menubar and select WINDOW > BRUSHES and the palette will show. A list of your installed brushes will show on the right pane of the palette. Select the one you want to work with and start tweaking the settings, in this case, select Color Dynamics and play with it.
Hope this helps, and if you need further information, leave a comment or email me using the contact form at the bottom of this page.
Good luck!
Posted by Enrique Flouret on August 21st, 2006 at 6:01 pm
Hello!
Ummm… what do you mean by ‘tweaking’ to find colour dynamics? I try and try, but I cant find that option! … Im confused.
Posted by PhotoshopGirl on September 9th, 2006 at 10:57 pm
Actually… nevermind! I JUST figured it out! THANKS!!!!
Posted by PhotoshopGirl on September 9th, 2006 at 11:23 pm
[…] Es gibt genügend Software für die Kinder in uns, um auch am Computer mit Lego spielen zu können. Das Werkzeugspitzen-Set Lego Bricks verbindet jetzt unser aktuelles Hobby – Photoshop – mit einem alten, aber immer noch geliebten Hobby – Lego. […]
Posted by Photoshop Weblog » Blog Archiv » Mit Lego spielen on September 28th, 2006 at 2:59 am
i love lego LOTS!
Posted by Willy on November 1st, 2006 at 8:55 am
[…] Link: Photoshop Lego style brush tutorial Share and Enjoy:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. […]
Posted by webwards » Blog Archive » Photoshop Lego style brush on January 3rd, 2007 at 7:26 am
I want a chart for editing the brush of the photoshop for fade in or fade out
if you know the plugin that can do this please tell me elnaz13661027@yahoo.com
Posted by elena on February 23rd, 2007 at 4:09 am
cheer’s that was cool keep it up (:
Posted by marcel on March 18th, 2007 at 12:53 am
I love the lego brushes…… Thank you
Posted by Donna on March 18th, 2007 at 6:58 pm
great work mate !!
do more!!!
Posted by ux on March 27th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
My friend, you are awesome. I appreciate someone who can build such an imaginative and useful brush!
Posted by FireFox on April 7th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
fabulas easy steps thanx
Posted by Bella on June 27th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
I created a brush and it is working but when I use it, the brush is more transparent than the original object I used to create my brush. Can I fix this problem ?
Posted by kathleen Leduc on June 28th, 2007 at 11:01 am
this was great except i have photoshop 7…so i couldnt use the legos
but other than that thanks for the tutorial expierience
Posted by cieramist on July 1st, 2007 at 9:46 am
[..]
nice post…[..]
Posted by wociyuqusejaqecicn on July 29th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
coool,,, i love it
Thank you
great work realyy
Posted by Remal on August 25th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
[…] Credits: Lego brush set from http://www.photoshoproadmap.com/Photoshop-blog/200… ; Brick board from Cen’s loft […]
Posted by The Tan Family » My First LEGO Set! on September 16th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
VERY helpful little tutorial, thanks a lot! The LEGO brushes are real cooool..
Posted by Coma on November 21st, 2007 at 2:51 pm
Soy constructor de ciudades con Lego,gracias y admiro mucho sus productos
Posted by enrique tenorio on December 15th, 2007 at 11:00 am
Awesome! Major props to ya, mate!
Posted by TNT on December 15th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
Hey ES,
Was wondering if this tutorial will work with 6.0? I know it’s not the latest version, but it’s all I can afford right now. I want to make new brushes for a project and needed a quick tutorial. If this won’t work with my older version, can you suggest a tutorial I can use with 6.0?
Thanks,
Janie
Posted by Janie McCord on February 26th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
very cool
Posted by rama on March 7th, 2008 at 6:44 am
[…] Visit Site […]
Posted by PSDTuts - Photoshop Tutorials and Links - Tools & Tips: Photoshop Brushes on April 9th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Photoshop Tutorial…
Thanks. What a great informative resource….
Posted by Photoshop Tutorial on April 28th, 2008 at 1:11 am
[…] know more about how these brushes were created, read this article: How to create Lego bricks Photoshop brushes or simply download the brushes and start painting. This Photoshop Brushes are not compatible with […]
Posted by Download Lego Bricks Photoshop Brushes · Photoshop Brushes - Free Photoshop Brush - PS Brush - Download Brush on May 28th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Can i use these brushes in Adobe Photoshop CS3.
Posted by Dubai Web Design, Development on June 17th, 2008 at 8:32 am
[…] Building a Lego Bricks Photoshop Brushes Set […]
Posted by 35 Tutorials for Mastering Photoshop Brushes | Vandelay Website Design on September 17th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
[…] Building a Lego Bricks Photoshop Brushes Set […]
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[…] Building a Lego Bricks Photoshop Brushes Set […]
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[…] Building a Lego Bricks Photoshop Brushes Set […]
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[…] Building a Lego Bricks Photoshop Brushes Set […]
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