How to create Lego robot build instruction

With this guide you can build your own Lego build instruction with a few steps. You only need to get a program, that is free to download, to do that.

Requirements

Java 8 installed on your PC: Download Java
OpenGL 3.2 or better
Lego Digital Designer: Download Lego Digital Designer

Task #1

Download the robot model in .lxf format

Video tutorial: 'Downloading a robot lego file'

You can download the robot's model file from here: Download the Simpler's model file in LXF format. This file can be used in Blueprint build insturction generator, but it can be also used in Lego Digital Designer to edit and view the 3D Lego model.

Task #2

Download Blueprint build instruction generator

You can download the file from the Ozeki website: Download Blueprint, but you can also navigate to the official site, there you can find useful informations about the program and you can also download it: Blueprint official site.

Task #3

Install Blueprint

You can install the program by extracting the previously downloaded file. You need to left click on the 'Blueprint0026' file, then choose the 'Extract all...' option, choose where you want to extract it, then click on the 'Extract' button. You need to wait a bit, until it extracts, when it completes, in the extraced folder, click on the 'blueprint' file to start the program.

Video tutorial: 'Installing Blueprint on your PC'

Task #4

Open .xfl file and edit the steps

After the program has successfully started, click on the 'File' tab in the menu. Then, choose 'Import LXF...', you need to import the Lego project file, in this example the 'Simpler' file, if you want to create a build instruction for it. When it's imported, you can edit the steps, create new ones, rotate the image and so on, as you can see on the next video.

Video tutorial: 'Importing the file and editing the steps'

Task #5

Create instructions page layout

After we have edited the steps, now we can create the build instruction. In the 'Page layout' tab, in the menu, click on the '(Re)Generate from steps' button. It will generate a build instruction from the previosly edited steps, but before we can export it we need to change the layout in it, edit the image positions, locations of it. The whole process can be seen in the video below.

Video tutorial: 'Creating the layout'

Task #6

Generate a set of PNG files

You can import the build instructions into a set of PNG files. In the 'Page layout' tab, click on the 'Export' button, then from the 'Export formats' drop down menu, choose 'PNG image files', then click 'OK'. After you have choosen a directory, the program will export the images to the choosen location.

Video tutorial: 'Generating PNG files'

Task #7

Generate a printable PDF

If you would like to print the build instruction for example, you can also do that. Click on the 'Export' button, again, from the 'Export formats' menu, choose PDF and click 'OK'. Choose a location, where you want to save the file, and the build instructions PDF will be created.

Video tutorial: 'Generating a printable PDF file'