UV Printer for LEGO | Custom Minifigures, Bricks & Tiles

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A Lego UV printer is a desktop UV printer that prints your own artwork directly onto minifigures, bricks, and tiles.

"Lego UV printer" is what many people call this kind of machine, so we use that name too. Really, though, the method works on bricks and minifigures from any brand.

For AFOLs, it opens up more ways to personalize builds and create unique parts. For small businesses, it helps produce custom designs and repeat orders without making every piece by hand.

In this guide, we'll show you what you can print, how to get better results on small parts, and what to look for in a UV printer for custom brick projects.

Prefer to watch? The video is under three minutes and takes you from a photo to a printed minifigure.

Note: LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO Group. This article discusses custom UV printing for brick figures, bricks, and related building projects. The LEGO Group does not sponsor, authorize, or endorse this article.

What Can You UV Print on Minifigures and Bricks?

Custom minifigures are a natural starting point, but UV printing can do much more than faces and clothing.

Here are some examples of what you can make with a UV printer like eufyMake E1.

Custom Minifigures

You can print full-color designs on heads, torsos, arms, hands, and legs, including facial expressions, clothing, armor, logos, and skin tones.

If you want a design to run across the head, torso, and legs, a baseplate jig can help keep the parts aligned in the same printing pass.

For curved areas such as heads, arms, and hats, test the artwork on a spare part first to see how much detail remains visible.

LEGO graduation figure named Simona on a dated platform with diploma, flowers, and Politecnico Milano sign behind

Custom Bricks and Tiles

Flat tiles are a good place to start because their surfaces are easier to position and print on.

You can add album covers, illustrations, logos, patterns, or text to a tile or brick.

If you want a larger image across several bricks, arrange them together in a jig and print the design across their faces. A fixed layout helps keep the image aligned from one brick to the next.

Two LEGO Christmas ornaments with minifigures in holiday scenes; blue frame labeled Aurora and green frame labeled Elyse

Image: Eric Ledbetter

Replace Stickers with Direct Printing

If you want to replace a set's sticker with your own artwork, UV printing can put the design directly onto the part instead. This works well for logos, racing graphics, badges, and other details on suitable flat surfaces.

For example, you can print a custom vehicle logo on a brick rather than applying a separate sticker. The printed design has no sticker edge, although the part's surface and shape still affect the result.

Add Raised 3D Texture

The eufyMake E1 can build raised textures up to 5 mm high. If a flat graphic feels too simple, you can add raised lettering, logos, armor details, or decorative patterns to make the design more dimensional.

Red BMW convertible scale model on road diorama with HAPPY 50 California license plate

Image: Wen-Yu Chang

Print on 3D-Printed Minifigures

If you already make your own minifigure shapes with a 3D printer, you can add full-color artwork with UV printing.

LEGO Santa Claus minifigure with red suit, white beard, and red hat on tan background

Image: Eric Ledbetter

See Custom Lego Style Brick Man with 3D and UV Printing for an example using the E1.

How to Print a Custom Minifigure with a UV Printer

Before you own a UV printer, you can still customize a minifigure in a few other ways, and each one asks you to give something up.

Water slide decals are the cheapest and most forgiving: you print the design on decal paper, wet it, slide it onto the part, and move it around until it dries. The artwork stays a film on top of the part, so it is never printed on the plastic itself.
Stickers cover curved surfaces a decal cannot reach, but every sticker has an edge, and on a small face that edge is easy to see.
Hand painting gives you full control, yet a torso or a face is small, so every line has to be steady, and you repeat it for every copy.

The following workflow shows how to print custom artwork on brick figures using the eufyMake E1 UV printer.

Step 1: Create Your Minifigure Design

To create a design, you need a useful tool from one of our users who customizes bricks with the E1.

Open the brick figure design page and upload a photo of one person. Click generate, and in a few seconds the page turns the photo into a minifigure design with front, side, and back views.

You can also change the facial expression below the preview.

Grid of eight cartoon face expression buttons showing happy, neutral, sad, content, sleeping, laughing, and heart-eyed faces

When a color in the design matches the part, pick the part's color with the eyedropper. Every matching area is then cut out of the print.

This saves ink and stops the printer from laying the same color over the part, so you avoid a color mismatch and visible seams.

If the cutout removes too much, use undo and redo at the bottom left.

Download the image file when you are happy with it. If you plan to print without a jig, download the outline file too.

Software interface showing customizable LEGO minifigure in blue sweater and pink pants with front, side, and back views

Step 2: Import the Design and Set the Ink

Import the image into the eufyMake software.

For ink, start with 3 layers of white and 1 layer of CMYK. White goes down first, so the color of the part underneath does not change the color on top.

Dark parts need more white. A light skin tone on a black torso can need 5 to 8 layers, and with fewer layers it can come out gray.

If a color looks gray, add white before you change anything else. If a skin tone still looks flat on a dark part, add a little more magenta and a little more yellow.

Step 3: Hold the Part Still

You can do this in two ways, and both start from the same design.

White 3D-printed LEGO minifigure holding jig on UV printer platform

Use a jig for repeatable positioning. If you have a 3D printer, you can download a jig model or use the jig files provided with the design workflow.

Print the jig, place the parts in their slots, and use Snapshot to capture the printing bed.

Once the parts are positioned, align the artwork with the captured image. A jig can hold multiple parts in a fixed layout, making it easier to repeat the same job or print a batch.

With the eufyMake E1, you can also scan a jig, save its layout, and reuse or share it for future projects.

3D modeling interface displaying a colorful LEGO minifigure beside its gray mold outline, with a cursor visible

Use an outline for individual parts. If you do not have a 3D printer, you can use the downloaded outline as a positioning guide.

Print the outline, place the brick figure part within its matching shape, and align the artwork with the part.

This is a simple option for one-off projects, although a jig is generally more convenient for repeated printing.

Simple line art of a Lego minifigure with orange outline, showing head, torso, and legs

Step 4: Check the Print Before You Print More

If your design has very fine lines, print a thin line test first.

Some parts carry faint lines from molding, and a thin print can show them.

Hand holding a LEGO minifigure with black hair, freckles, and black outfit with gray and red chest detail

What to Look for in a LEGO UV Printer

Not every UV printer is equally suited to printing on minifigures and bricks. Small parts bring their own challenges, from fitting fine details onto a tiny torso to keeping artwork aligned across multiple pieces.

Here are a few things worth checking before you buy.

Print Quality for Small Parts

A minifigure face is only a few millimeters across, so fine lines and color transitions have to stay clear. Look for a printer with enough resolution to reproduce small lines and features clearly, and test how well it handles artwork at the size you actually plan to print.

Bricks and minifigure parts come in many colors, including black and other dark shades. Without a white base, light-colored artwork can look dull or disappear against dark plastic. Check whether the printer supports white ink and lets you adjust its layers for different designs.

Positioning and Repeatability

Small custom parts are not always easy to position. A printer with a camera-based positioning system can help you place artwork directly over an individual part without creating a dedicated jig for every design.

For repeated printing, a jig provides a fixed position for multiple parts. This is especially useful when you need consistent placement across a batch or want to print the same design again later.

Ideally, the printer should support both workflows so you can choose the method that suits each project.

Printing Multiple Parts at Once

If you customize several minifigures or produce parts for a MOC, printing one piece at a time can quickly become tedious. Check the actual printing area, not just the printer's overall size.

A larger bed may give you room to arrange multiple heads, torsos, legs, or tiles in one jig and complete more parts in a single job.

A Printer That Fits Your Home Workshop

Many AFOLs work from a desk, shelf, or small hobby room rather than a dedicated production space.

A large industrial UV printer can take up more room than the project requires.

A compact, lightweight desktop printer is easier to fit into a home workshop and move when your workspace changes. This is also useful for small businesses that produce custom parts in limited quantities rather than running a large production line.

Maintenance and Running Costs

UV printing involves more than the initial printer price. Ink consumption, maintenance, and replacement parts also affect the cost of each project.

White ink usage can increase when printing on dark parts or building up more coverage. Designs with heavy raised textures may use more ink than flat prints, so estimating ink consumption before printing can help you plan costs.

You should also consider how the printer handles routine cleaning and idle periods. A maintenance system that manages ink and printhead care can make regular use less demanding.

Why the eufyMake E1 Is Worth Considering

The eufyMake E1 is designed for desktop UV printing, but several of its features are especially useful when working with small minifigure parts, custom bricks, and MOC details.

What You Need	How the E1 helps
Fine details on small faces and torsos	Prints at 1440 DPI to reproduce small facial features, thin lines, clothing patterns, and other detailed artwork.
Bright colors on dark plastic	Uses white ink as a base beneath CMYK. You can add more white layers when printing light skin tones or bright artwork on black and other dark-colored parts.
Accurate positioning on tiny parts	Snapshot captures the printing bed so you can align artwork with individual parts without making a jig first. For repeated prints, Zero-point Alignment with a jig provides a fixed reference for more consistent positioning.
Repeatable printing for custom designs	Scan a jig and save its layout in the software. You can reuse the same setup for future jobs instead of positioning every part from scratch.
Several parts in one print job	The 330 × 420 mm printing area gives you room to arrange multiple minifigure heads, torsos, legs, or tiles in a jig, reducing the need to position each part separately.
A printer that fits a home workshop	Its compact, lightweight desktop design is easier to place on a desk or shelf than many larger UV printing systems, making it practical for AFOLs without a dedicated printing room.
More than flat artwork	Supports raised 3D textures up to 5 mm high, so you can add dimensional lettering, armor details, logos, and decorative patterns instead of printing only flat graphics.
Managing ink costs and maintenance	eufyMake software estimates ink consumption by color channel and print time before printing, even if you haven't purchased an E1 yet. You can also track ink usage and maintenance history, estimate remaining ink, and choose flexible maintenance options to help manage running costs and plan supplies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Print Directly on LEGO Bricks at Home?

Yes. A desktop UV printer can print artwork directly onto compatible LEGO bricks, tiles, and minifigure parts.

You need a way to hold each part in position, such as a jig or printed outline, and you should test ink adhesion before printing finished parts.

Is UV Printing Better Than Pad Printing for LEGO?

They serve different needs. UV printing is digitally controlled, supports full-color artwork, and is practical for custom designs and small batches. Pad printing generally produces a smoother finish closer to traditional LEGO printing.

UV printing can leave a slightly raised or textured surface, so compare samples if appearance is important to your collection.

Where Do I Get a Jig?

You can download the jig model from the design page, use the jig files and saved layouts we attach to this guide, or scan your own jig in the eufyMake software and save its layout.

For more ideas, from golf balls and keycaps to pens, see UV printer jig ideas.

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eufyMake Team

We’re the eufyMake Team, Anker’s brand for creators and small businesses. Here on the blog, we share 3D and UV printing tips, projects, and ideas to power your next creation.