Leadlight glasses are very much different to stained glasses even though they are often thought to be the same thing. Stained glasses contain intricate detail in their designs, whereas leadlight glasses mostly contain simple shapes. All the complex designs of leadlight glasses are made of a variety of geometric shapes. Therefore, when designing a leadlight glass it is important to keep in mind that the image needs to incorporate only geometric shapes.

The first step when creating a design for a leadlight is to draw the desired image. Then, with the help of a professional leadlight glass maker, break this image into geometric shapes. This is very delicate and requires an expert. The outline of the image needs to be clear and the lines should not overlap at any point. If the lines overlap, laying out the lead came and solder will become a problem. Therefore, the design will have to be adjusted appropriately so that the lead cames do not cross over each other and create lumps.

Another important consideration when creating a design for leadlight windows is the size of the design. When the designs are small, the thickness of the lead came can be relatively small. However, for larger designs, the extra strength found in thicker lead cames is crucial. If the right thickness of lead came is not used in the leadlight glass, it will not be able to hold the pieces of glass together. The lead came might give in, resulting in the entire leadlight glass being ruined. Professional leadlight glass makers are aware of the exact strengths to use.