The method for manufacturing optical light guide elements comprises a) providing a plurality of initial bars, each initial bar extending along a respective initial-bar direction from a first bar end to a second bar end and having a first side face extending from the first bar end to the second bar end, the first side face being reflective; b) positioning the initial bars in a row with their respective initial-bar directions aligned parallel to each other and with their respective first surfaces facing towards a neighboring one of the initial bars; c) fixing the plurality of initial bars with respect to each other in the position achieved in step b) to obtain a bar arrangement. The method further comprises at least one of the following steps d), d′), d″): d) segmenting the bar arrangement into bars referred to as prism bars each of which comprises a portion of at least two different ones of the plurality of initial bars, by conducting a plurality of cuts through the bar arrangement; in particular wherein the cuts are parallel cuts; d′) segmenting the bar arrangement into bars referred to as prism bars by separating the bar arrangement into parts along cut lines, wherein the cut lines are at an angle with the initial-bar directions; d″) segmenting the bar arrangement into bars referred to as prism bars by separating the bar arrangement into sections by creating cut faces which are at an angle with respect to the initial-bar directions. And the method further comprises e) segmenting the prism bars into parts.