Dice Art: Everything You Need to Know

What is dice art?

Dice art is mosaic art made from regular six-sided dice. Each face (1 through 6) reads as a different shade of gray, so when you line up enough of them in a grid, they form an image.

How it works: brightness mapping

Every die face covers a different amount of its surface with pips. A 1 is mostly blank, a 6 is heavily dotted. That difference in coverage maps directly to brightness:

1. Convert the photo to grayscale — each pixel becomes a single brightness value.
2. Divide it into a grid — each cell represents one die. A group of pixels gets averaged into one brightness value, which is why even low-res photos work fine.
3. Assign a die to each cell — pick the die color and face number that best matches that cell's brightness.

That's it. A dice art generator does all of this automatically — upload a photo and it outputs the full grid pattern.

Why use both black and white dice?

Black dice alone give you 6 shades. Add white dice (black pips) and you get 12 — white-1 is nearly pure white, black-1 is nearly pure black, and white-6 and black-6 meet in the middle. More shades means sharper detail and smoother gradients. White dice on their own don't work; they lack contrast.

Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo, and the Mona Lisa — all made with Diceify.

How to make your own

1. Pick your image

Zoom in tight. The more the subject fills the frame, the more detail you'll get. You don't need a high-res photo — the generator averages pixels anyway.

• Faces work best when cropped close — one person per portrait.
• Contrast matters. Dark hair on a light background (or vice versa) gives clean edges.
• Dramatic lighting helps. Strong shadows make faces pop in dice.

2. Generate the pattern

Diceify converts your photo into a dice grid and shows you a live preview. You can tweak contrast and brightness before committing — small adjustments make a big difference in how readable the final piece is.

3. Materials

Standard 16mm dice in black and white (buy in bulk), a frame or backing board, and glue (wood glue or epoxy). A straight edge helps keep rows tight.

4. Build it

Follow the pattern row by row. Diceify's step-by-step builder highlights your current position and tells you exactly which die to place next.

Dice art examples

Here are some dice portraits and mosaics created with Diceify, each one built by hand from a generated pattern:

FAQ

How long does it take to build?

A small 20×20 portrait (400 dice) takes 2–4 hours. A 40×40 piece (1,600 dice) is a full day. Bigger than that and you're looking at multiple sessions over a few days.

Where can I buy dice in bulk?

Amazon, gaming supply stores, and educational supply stores all sell packs of 100–1,000. Get uniform 16mm dice — they give the cleanest grid.

What's the difference between dice art and pixel art?

Both are grid-based. Pixel art uses colored squares (unlimited colors). Dice art uses six-sided dice (up to 12 shades) and has a physical, three-dimensional quality you can't get with flat media.

Further reading

• Dice Art Gallery — browse portraits and abstract mosaics created with Diceify.
• Why I Built Diceify — the story behind Diceify and a video of building a dice portrait from scratch.
• How Jeremy Made Dice Portraits for His Nieces — a community story about making personalized dice art gifts.