How to photograph your bricks for a scan

Published October 13, 2026

A scan looks for each piece in one photo of your bricks. Spread them out, keep the whole layer in view, and you get a rough count by shape and color.

A scan looks at one photo of your bricks and gives you a rough count of what’s there, sorted by shape and color. You can fix anything it gets wrong, then see ideas for what to build.

Spread them out in one layer

A piece that sits under another is easy to miss. Spread your bricks out so each one is in view.

1. Tip the pile onto a table or the floor.
2. Spread it into one layer, with no heaps.
3. Leave a little space between pieces where you can.

Keep the whole layer in the photo

Step back until the whole layer fits in the photo. Don’t zoom in on a few pieces: the scan skips any single piece that takes up more than a tenth of the photo.

Use good light and a plain surface

Take the photo in good light, on a plain surface. If a scan can’t make out any pieces, those are the first two things to change.

What you get

• A rough count of your pieces by shape and color. It’s an estimate, so pieces under others may be missing.
• A way to fix any piece we got wrong.
• Builds by other creators to browse for ideas.

To get a build with step-by-step instructions, scan your pile in the app.

Try it

Scan your bricks in your browser.