Turn a photo or object into a brick model

Option 1: scan the object with your phone camera (recommended)

Open Brickalike on your phone and tap Scan it with your camera. It takes photos from many angles right in the browser, with no app to install and no account. You choose one of two ways:

• Spin it: keep the phone still, take one empty shot of the background, then turn the object slowly.
• Walk round: walk around the object with the phone.

A ring of 16 angles fills up as you go, and an optional pass from above makes the shape better. It takes about a minute. The photos never leave your phone: the shape is carved from the outlines in your browser, and the colours come from the same photos.

Option 2: one photo to 3D with AI, then to bricks

From one photo sends a single picture to an AI 3D service (Tripo or Meshy) using your own key; both have a free tier. This is the only route where a photo leaves your device. One photo only shows one side, so the back and underside are a guess, and the site says so on the result.

Option 3: a 3D file you already have

Import a GLB, glTF, OBJ, STL or zipped OBJ, for example a scan from Polycam or Scaniverse. See 3D scan to bricks.

What you get: brick model, STL and build instructions

1. A 3D brick model to preview free: spin it, set the detail from 8 to 72 studs wide, choose bricks or thinner plates, all 22 colours or easy-to-buy colours, and hollow it out to use fewer bricks.
2. A one-piece STL to 3D print at 100mm, 150mm or real brick size. More on the STL.
3. A printable brick kit (an STL of the separate bricks) and a print list.
4. A parts list, a BrickLink wanted-list file and a building manual to build it from real bricks. More on the manual.