BrickLink Studio is the free LEGO design program for Windows and macOS, and since January 2022 LEGO's named replacement for LEGO Digital Designer. You build by dragging parts from a palette into a 3D scene, and the same program checks whether the model would stand up in real bricks, turns it into step-by-step instructions, renders a photorealistic image and sends the parts list to BrickLink so you can order it.
Quick answer: download Studio from BrickLink; build by dragging parts in from the palette; run the Stability Check; use Instruction Maker for steps and pages; render with the built-in renderer; export the parts list to a BrickLink Wanted List.
What Studio is
Studio began as an open beta on BrickLink in December 2016; version 2.0 followed in July 2018, and it has been updated regularly since, with the 2.26 series in 2026. It uses the LDraw parts library, so it has a very large range of LEGO parts, and it adds tools LDraw editors do not bundle: a photorealistic renderer called Eyesight, built from the Cycles renderer behind Blender, an Instruction Maker, a Stability Check and integration with the BrickLink marketplace. PartDesigner, a companion program, lets advanced users create parts that are missing from the library.
Installing it
Download Studio from BrickLink's Studio page and install it like any other program on Windows or macOS. Signing in with a BrickLink account connects it to the marketplace features, such as part prices and sending a parts list to a Wanted List.
Your first model
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Find a part. Search the palette by name or part number, or browse its categories.
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Pick the color before you place the part, so you are not recoloring later.
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Drag it into the scene. Studio snaps parts to compatible connections, stud to tube or pin to hole, when you bring them close.
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Move and rotate selected parts with the on-screen handles, and orbit, pan and zoom the camera to work from every side.
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Group sections into submodels as the model grows: a wheel assembly, a roof, a figure. Submodels keep the model manageable and become natural sub-steps in the instructions.
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Save often in Studio's own .io format.
A good first project is a small vehicle or a single room, something with a clear shape and a few dozen parts, before attempting anything large.
Check it would hold together
The Stability Check analyzes the model and highlights parts and connections that would likely be weak or fall apart if built with real bricks. Run it before you order parts: it is far cheaper to fix a floating section on screen than after the bricks arrive.
Make instructions
Instruction Maker splits the model into steps, which you can reorder, merge or split. You can add callouts for submodels, adjust the camera for each step and lay the steps out into pages, then export the instructions to share or print.
Render it
The render tool produces a photorealistic image of the model, with settings for lighting, background and image size. Renders take longer at higher quality settings, so test with a small image first.
Order the parts
Studio shows the model's parts list and, through its BrickLink integration, part prices. Send the list to a BrickLink Wanted List, then use BrickLink's Easy Buy to choose the stores. Our BrickLink buying guide covers that step, and our parts sourcing guide covers buying common parts more cheaply by parting out a set.
Moving files in and out
Besides its own .io files, Studio opens or imports LDraw files (.ldr and .mpd) and LEGO Digital Designer files (.lxf and .lxfml); importing adds the file as a submodel, opening makes it a new project. It exports to LDraw, LXFML, POV-Ray, Collada (.dae), CSV, TSV and BrickLink XML. An LDraw export opens in our browser tools: the LDraw Model Checker lists its parts with catalog links and compares two builds, and the LDraw 3D Viewer lets anyone turn it around and step through the build without installing anything.
Studio or an LDraw editor?
Studio is the easier start: one install, snapping that feels like real bricks, and instructions, rendering and ordering built in. The LDraw editors, such as LeoCAD and LDCad, are open source, run on more systems and suit builders who want fine control or work with the wider LDraw toolchain. Our LDraw guide compares them.
From Studio to a set people can buy
The BrickLink Designer Program takes fan designs made in Studio and, after review and voting, produces a few of them as sets sold for a limited time through crowdfunding. It is a long shot, but every entry starts as a Studio file.
