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Brick Mosaic Effect

Rebuilds any picture as a grid of plastic bricks, with studs, beveled edges and raised tiles casting soft shadows.

The same pears rebuilt as a grid of studded plastic bricks in olive green, gray, pink and red on a dark gray baseplate.
Photo of two green pears resting on a folded cream linen cloth on a dark wooden table against a slate gray wall.
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Made with Brick Mosaic

Works in

The brick mosaic effect rebuilds your picture as a grid of plastic bricks, built from the source image. Tiles can be studded or flat, rounded and beveled, and some sit higher to show a side face and a shadow. You set tile size, keep source colors, posterize or snap to a brick palette.

Same effect, different settings

12 photos, each with its own settings. Try it on yours

  • Brick Mosaic Effect on a photo of a woman in an orange turtleneck
  • Brick Mosaic Effect on a photo of a man with slicked blond hair and sunglasses
  • Brick Mosaic Effect on a photo of a man reaching into a blue sky
  • Brick Mosaic Effect on a photo of a man with pink hair and black sunglasses
  • Brick Mosaic Effect on a photo of a woman in black sunglasses
  • Brick Mosaic Effect on a photo of a basketball player mid-jump
  • Brick Mosaic Effect on a photo of a man with a buzz cut
  • Brick Mosaic Effect on a photo of a woman with a black bob and red earrings
  • Brick Mosaic Effect on a photo of a woman in orange glasses and a knit collar
  • Brick Mosaic Effect on a photo of a man in a white shirt
  • Brick Mosaic Effect on a photo of a woman in white cat-eye sunglasses
  • Brick Mosaic Effect on a photo of a black horse

Use Brick Mosaic Effect in Photoshop, After Effects, Illustrator, Affinity or Figma

The plugins are free with an account. Paid plans add bigger renders and your own filters. See pricing

Settings worth touching

Tile size
Sets how large each brick is. Small tiles keep more detail, large tiles give a chunkier, more abstract mosaic.
Colors
Keep the source colors, posterize them to a set number of levels, or snap every tile to real brick colors.
Raise tiles by
Chooses which tiles sit higher: none, random ones, the brightest or the darkest. Raised tiles show a side face and cast shadows.

Frequently asked questions

How do I add the brick mosaic effect in Photoshop?

Open Nexus for Photoshop, pick the look and render it as a new layer, or apply it to a Smart Object as a live Smart Filter you can reopen and change.

Can I animate the mosaic effect in After Effects?

Yes. Nexus for After Effects adds it as a native effect. Drop it on a layer, tune the controls and keyframe any parameter, such as Tile size or Light angle, on the timeline.

Does the brick mosaic effect give vector output in Illustrator or Figma?

No. The result is pixels only. Illustrator and Figma receive it back as an embedded image, not as vector paths. Set Tile size before you export.

Can I remove the background behind the bricks?

Set Empty areas to Transparent to leave areas with no bricks see-through, or choose Baseplate and pick a Baseplate color for a studded board behind the tiles.

Can I try the brick mosaic effect for free?

Yes. Open the look in the Nexus web editor and try it on your own image without an account. Exporting needs a free account, which exports images up to 720px and video up to 720px with the Nexus mark.

Related effects

Try Brick Mosaic Effect in your browser

Free to try. Exporting needs a free account.

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