LEGO Brick Labels
About the Labels
LEGO Brick Labels were carefully designed for Brother P-touch label printers, which I selected because the labels are printed on durable plastic tape with a strong adhesive. (You can move them to a different container as your storage system evolves.)
The labels are designed to work with a wide range of storage solutions, including my favorite: The affordable 64-drawer cabinets by Akro-Mils. When printed on ½″ (12 mm) laminated tape, each label is less than 2″ (5 cm) wide.
Each label includes a picture, simplified part name, and the part number to help you find parts quickly! (Custom high-contrast images were created for each part to ensure they look great when printed.)
Download LEGO Brick Labels
The collection has been organized into groups of related LEGO elements, like basic bricks, slopes, hinges, curves, Technic, and more. This makes it easier to quickly find the labels you need!
Download LEGO Brick Labels (Version 40)
- Download Now: LEGO_BRICK_LABELS.zip
Download the ‘zip’ file if you already have a compatible Brother Label Printer. (You will need to install the ‘P-touch Editor’ application on your PC/Mac.) - Preview (PDF): LEGO_BRICK_LABELS-CONTACT_SHEET.pdf
Download the ‘PDF’ file to preview to the entire collection, use my categories as a starting point for your LEGO organization project, or to print a few of the labels on paper (before investing in a label printer).
Further down on this page, you will find a list of compatible printers, and detailed instructions to help you print these labels.
Support LEGO Brick Labels
The easiest way to show your support is by sharing LEGO Brick Labels with other LEGO Artists! Please also consider using the referral links on this page when shopping at lego.com or amazon.com—it helps!
Become a Patron
You can also support LEGO Brick Labels by making a donation!
If you are able to make a donation to support LEGO Brick Labels project, please visit patreon.com to subscribe!
Current Patrons
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Compatible Brother Label Printers
LEGO Brick Labels were designed to be printed on ½″ laminated label tape using a compatible Brother Label printer (such as the PT-D600.) The labels are waterproof, smudgeproof, durable, and they come in a variety of colors such as White, Black, Pink, Yellow, Lime Green, Clear, and even Gold.
Any Brother printer which connects to a PC/Mac using the Brother P-Touch Editor application and prints on ‘P-touch’ ½″ (12mm) labels will work. The multi-function PT-D600 seems to be the best value at this time.
Recommended Printers
The following printers are affordable and readily available. You will connect the printer to your PC/Mac (using USB or Bluetooth), then use the ‘P-touch Editor’ application to print the LEGO Brick Labels.
Model | Features | Compatibility | Learn more |
---|---|---|---|
PT-D600 | Standalone Model w/ Keyboard. Plug into PC/Mac to print LEGO Brick Labels, or design your own labels using the keyboard and small screen. Compatible with labels up to 1″ (24 mm). Uses AA Batteries or included Power Adapter. MSRP 79.99$ |
PC + Mac | PT-D600 at Amazon |
PT-P710BT (Cube Plus) | Wireless Model. Print LEGO Brick labels from PC/Mac using USB or Bluetooth, or design your own labels using Android or iOS. Compatible with labels up to 1″ (24 mm). Integrated Battery, Charge with USB. MSRP 99.99$ Note: The ‘Cube’ (not ‘Plus’) is not compatible because you can not connect it to your PC/Mac. |
PC + Mac | PT-P710BT (Cube Plus) at Amazon. |
Note: For best results, I recommend the following settings when printing with the PT-P710BT (Cube Plus): 1) Quality = Standard, 2) Graphics = Error Diffusion.
While text does look better when you select Quality = “High Resolution”, the part images are much lighter and harder to see for reasons I have been unable to diagnose so far. (Recommendation based on testing with a Windows 10 PC, and version 5.2.032 of the Brother P-touch Editor application.)
Other Compatible Printers
The following printers are also compatible with LEGO Brick Labels using the P-touch Editor application.
Other current models:
- PT-P750W – More costly alternative to the PT-P710BT (Cube Plus).
$129.99, PC/Mac, Up to 1″ (24 mm) labels. - PT-P900W – Higher-resolution printer for commercial applications.
$429.99, PC/Mac, Up to 1½″ (36 mm) labels. - PTE500 – Ruggedized printer for industrial applications.
$269.99, PC/Mac, Up to 1″ (24 mm) labels.
Retired models:
- PT-P700 – Earliest version to support both PC & Mac.
$79.99, PC/Mac, Up to 1″ (24 mm) labels. - PT-D450 – Older model with integrated display & keyboard.
$79.99, PC/Mac, Up to ¾″ (18 mm) labels. - PT-1230PC – Low-cost option that’s no longer available.
$52.99, PC only, Up to ½″ (12 mm) labels. - PT-2430PC – Older version of PT-P700 without Mac support.
$79.99, PC Only, Up to 1″ (24 mm) labels.
How to Print LEGO Brick Labels
It’s easy to print LEGO Brick Labels on a compatible Brother Label Printer.
Step-by-step instructions:
- Confirm that you have a compatible label printer.
Only Brother label printers that connect to your Windows PC or Mac using USB or Bluetooth are compatible with these labels. (Some older models are not Mac compatible.) - Purchase several rolls of ½″ Brother Label Tape.
The labels are designed for ½″ label tape, which means that the labels will be ½″ tall and up to 2″ wide (1.2 cm × 5 cm). This size is perfect for common storage solutions like the 64-drawer cabinet by Akro-Mils. - Install Brother P-Touch Editor application.
It is available from the Brother website at brother.com/product/dev/label/editor/index.htm (There is a download link at the bottom of the page.) - Connect the printer to your computer.
In most cases you will use the included USB cable, although the PT-P710BT (Cube Plus) also supports Bluetooth. - Download LEGO Brick Labels.
You can find the latest version at brickarchitect.com/labels - Open .lbx files in Brother application.
After you install the “Brother P-Touch Editor” application, you should be able to simply click on label files (with .lbx file extension) and the labels should appear in the “Brother P-Touch Editor” application. - Print the labels you need.
If you want to print all of the labels from a single file, click “File” in upper left of application and press “Print…”. (If you want to print just one label, you may need to carefully select the image and text, copy it from that file, and “paste” it into a new file.)
FAQ
I’ve prepared this FAQ to cover the most common questions from fans of LEGO Brick Labels. (Please feel free to leave a comment on this page or send me an email if you have any additional questions!)
Q: Why are the labels cutting off after printing only 60% of each file?
April 3, 2020: Several Mac users have experienced a bug which prevents them from printing a complete 11 ¾″ strip of labels.
This issue was discovered with the ‘PT-D600’ printer on ‘Mac OS Mojave 10.14.6’ + ‘P-Touch Version 5.2.10’, and with ‘Mac OS Catalina 10.15.3’ + ‘P-Touch Version 5.2.9’. (Thanks to Gabriela who received the workaround from Brother customer support, and Lauren for helping diagnose this issue.)
Primary Workaround:
- Uninstall the current version.
- Go to support.brother.com
- Search for ‘QL 500’ (even though we have the PT-D600).
- Download and install the ‘P-touch Editor’. (It should be version 5.1.110, which is an older version than the one you uninstalled.)
- When prompted to enter a serial number for your device, enter “B2Z112233” (a serial number for the QL 500).
Alternate Workarounds:
- Use a Windows PC.
- Manually copy/paste the second half of each strip of labels into a new file.
Q: Why isn’t ______ included in the LEGO Brick Labels collection?
Since many people print every label in the collection, I don’t want to include uncommon parts which few people own. It also takes a lot of time to create each label, so I focus on the most common and versatile parts.
When a very useful new part is included in many new sets, I’ll create a label as soon as possible. For a less common part, I wait a few years to see if it gains widespread adoption before adding it to the collection. (Many less common parts are retired after just a few years.)
I’ve also ensured that the top 600 most common parts from the last 5 years are included in the collection. (The only exception are weapons, because they are already covered by generic labels for Guns, Swords, etc…)
Q: Can I use black labels with white text?
I had not tried this, but another reader confirmed that this works fine. For folks who want a darker look for their LEGO collection, the black label tape looks great!
Q: How did you get consistent images for each LEGO Part?
The images were created using custom LDraw scripts that optimize the viewing angle and enhance the contrast of each part. The scripts are proprietary and hard to use.
Workarounds:
- If the missing part is pretty common, ask me to include it in a future update!
- If you need to create additional labels, I recommend using images from BrickLink. They won’t look quite as good, but may meet your needs.
Q: How can I show my support for LEGO Brick Labels?
There are several ways you can help! Most of all, you can share a link to LEGO Brick Labels with your friends that have a large (or growing) LEGO Collection.
Other ways you can help:
- Please consider using our referral links when shopping on lego.com or amazon.com — It helps!
- If you want to make a donation to support LEGO Brick Labels, go to patreon.com/bricklabels and subscribe!
LEGO Brick Storage
There aren’t any “perfect” LEGO Storage solutions for all LEGO enthusiasts—the best solution for you will depend on dozens of factors such as the age of the primary LEGO builder, the size of your LEGO collection, how much space you have, and your budget.
History of LEGO Brick Labels
LEGO Brick Labels began in April 2014, when I decided to organize all of the bricks included in 21050 Architecture Studio into two 44-drawer Akro-mils cabinets. The label collection grew throughout 2014, as I purchased additional LEGO bricks while writing my book, The LEGO Architect.
You can read the detailed version history to see which labels were added in each update.
Show your appreciation by sending a photo of your well-organized LEGO Storage!
Have questions/ideas to make LEGO Brick Labels even better—leave a comment below!
I’m LOVING these brick labels. Got my printer through your referral link, so hopefully you got a kickback for that, but I was also thinking of joining the Patreon–there are a few parts I really wanted to request labels for, and I just generally wanted to support the creation of more labels. But when I went to the Patreon, all of the recent posts were about a parts guide, and not labels. Since I’m not a subscriber, I can’t read the posts to see what the parts guide is, and I don’t necessarily want to subscribe to the Patreon if the parts guide is an entirely separate thing and you’ve shifted your focus away from labels and onto something else. So stupid question: are the labels in the parts guide? Or have you shifted focus and are now primarily working on a parts guide, not labels?
The parts guide is currently separate from the label collection, although I do hope to add labels for the new parts in the parts guide over time.
(The parts guide reflects my latest thinking around how to categorize/sort your collection. As always, feel free to adapt it to your needs!)
Thank you so much for making the labels. They have been a life-saver! I was looking at the PDF and didn’t see the 1×2 gold bar (99563). I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction. Thank you!
I think it is listed as a minifigure accessory.
Thank you so much for this, it’s very helpful. Hopefully you got the referral when I nabbed a printer. My one question is: why no transparent colors? Those are some of the few pieces I actually do organize primarily by color.
I can’t really afford to buy a printer just for this job. Do you offer a printed set of labels for sale? Or do you know of an online service that could print and mail them out to me? I’m in the UK. Thanks 🙂
I do not offer a pre-printed set because it would still be pretty costly due to the amount of time it would take me to print them.
Instead, I recommend buying a used printer if your budget is tight, or seeing if someone in your local LEGO community or a friend or family member already owns a compatible printer that you can borrow.
good luck, and happy sorting!
Hi Tom, is it possible to download previous versions of the brick labels for items which are not on the current version but have been available in the past?
All of the older labels are still included in the collection, with labels for retired parts moved to the Retired folder.
If you really do want an older version, there are links to download versions going back to 2.0 on the history page: https://brickarchitect.com/labels/history/
I was able to get the PT-P300BT to print the labels directly from my phone! Downloaded the app, opened the app, downloaded the label zip files on my phone, opened a file on my phone and it opened in the app and it just printed it! Sounds so simple, but it was after about an hour of trying to get the label maker to connect to my desktop over Bluetooth (no USB option with this printer) and using the desktop software (which never saw the label maker). So, no USB connection or desktop software required. Hope this helps someone. I was using iPhone and updated firmware on the labeler. Thank you so much for all your effort in putting this amazing website together.
Hello,
Which app did you download for IPhone?
I just placed an order on Amazon for the P300, it is currently on sale and I have been wanting to move away from my hand cut and taped labels lol. Did you use any specific apps other than the Brother app to download and get the files? I assume you can just download the zip and unzip it inside of the “Files” app on iOS, then open the labels up in the brother app after that?
Thanks in Advance!
That would be my expectation, but I can not verify myself because I do not have any iOS devices.
Are there also stickers for the subgroups like BASIC-brick / TECHNIC-connector? I can see them named on the contactsheet, but no stickers in the lbx-files? Seems useful if you store in the hierarchical system., like different boxes with bags inside.
I do not have pre-made labels for the subgroups, but it is a good idea. Thankfully, you can probably create them easily using just Text labels.
Is there an option to see the older versions for ‘older’ parts? I’m a volunteer at a toybank and I make sets complete for kids who don’t have enough money. The donated sets vary from vintage (legoland) to friends 😉 I’ve sorted everything allready but missing labels and I’m not handy with design.
The resources at Brick Architect (LEGO Brick Labels and LEGO Parts Guide) are focused on current parts, so you will probably have better luck looking for vintage parts on BrickLink or Rebrickable. I have some vintage part labels, but it is not my highest priority.
Good luck!
Does the PT9700 work? I can’t quite see if it does
I can not confirm, but I believe it will work because it says on the Brother website that it is compatible with the “P-touch Editor5.x” app. Your mileage may vary.
Will the Brother P-Touch PT-D210 Label Maker work? Seems like an affordable option but wanted to check first.
I am seeing conflicting information about whether this has a USB port which you can connect to a Mac or PC to use the required Brother P-Touch Application. I believe that it is not compatible but I am not sure.