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DIY Lightbox
Published: 2010-04-13 08:00:25 +0000 UTC; Views: 51016; Favourites: 1125; Downloads: 737
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Description
This is a quick tutorial to show how you can make a lightbox out of mats. I work in a frame shop and put together one of these a while back and just wanted to show people how they can do the same thing.To make a larger one try 8-ply mat board. The best part about this lightbox is you get the mats cut by a framer and you don't have to use a box cutter on cardboard, and the end result looks a little more professional. The mats are usually cheap (mine were $.50 each) so there's no reason not to do it if you can find them.
If you have any Q's just comment and I'll do my best to answer. I've never done a tutorial before, and there are probably typos in there, so apologies in advance. :3
And for the record I'm by no means a skilled or experienced photographer- just good enough to photograph the D&D Miniatures I painted. This is just to give someone with no knowledge of photography something to start with!
ETA- Wow, thank you so much =Romaji and ^shelldevil . I hope some of you browsing the DD's find this useful. <3
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Comments: 106
Oh I'm glad it could help you, that is lucky! And yea, if you know exactly what you need it for you can make it just the right size, so that will be better than store-bought. And if it ever gets damaged you can repair, rather than buying a new one etc.
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This is great! I made a lightbox out of a cardboard box, but it's not very sturdy. I like this a lot more!
Where did you get those lamps? I need ones like those too.
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I made one out of a box at first and hated it, so I used these. I think it's a lot prettier.
I got them off amazon but I really hate them. You might be better off finding something with a base, like a desk lamp, so you don't have to jimmy-rig something like I did. Just make sure you have nice white daylight bulbs so you don't have too much yellow. 
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This is nothing short of mad genius! This'll be very helpful for my friend who's been pining for a light box for a while.
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Thanks so much! I hope they find it useful!
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Niiiicce! I know someone who's into this, I can't wait to share it with them!
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I hope they find it useful! Thanks for the comment
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Pretty cool. I'd have never thought of that on my own. lol. Great of you to put this up. Maybe I'll use this for when I make some plushies. I'd love to have a clean professional backdrop.
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Yea with plushies you wouldn't even need a nice camera to get good photos. Anything larger than a quarter would be fine, and you can make this lightbox any size (probably not bigger than 11x14 without stronger supports, though.)
Comment back if you post any, I'd like to see what people come up with. And let me know if you have any Q's. <3 tyty!!
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wow this one of the most useful things ive found here at DA!!!! Thanxxxx!!!!!
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Wow thanks so much, I never thought anyone would say that about something I did haha :#)
You're welcome!
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damn i though it was a tutorial to make a tracing light box *sad* xD
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Sorry!! My friend said the same thing. I always thought it was strange that there were two things in the same field with the same name, but they're different.
Maybe I'll figure out how to make that sort of lightbox, so people can be redirected there and not be let down.
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Congrats on the DD! This looks really easy to do and is a perfect size for small craft projects that you want to photograph really well.
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Thank you! You can actually make this just about any size, though larger than 11x14 might require something sturdier, like foam core, as supports. But yea, I use it for tiny D&D miniatures so this size is definitely great for itty-bitty things.
You're welcome, too. ;D
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I'm not much of a photographer but i have no doubt that this will come in handy
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I hope so! It's a nice thing to have around if you ever need to ebay something etc.
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this is really handy - i've tried making one of these in the past but it never came out quite right but you've now inspired me to have another go
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I had tried to make one from a box and it turned out very poorly, this way is a bit easier and turns out looking much nicer/cleaner etc. So, hopefully you have better results this time! <3 I'd love to see any photos you make once it's done, and if you have any problems let me know I can try to explain better.
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wow..this is so helpful...I never knew something like this before!
Thanks for sharing!
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You're welcome/Thank you! :3
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Wow! This is a great tutorial! I tried doing something similar, but with white t-shirts and boxes. It kinda worked, but the macro tends to pick up the stitching of the fabric in the shirts, so I had a lot of editing to do in Photoshop. So this is way better. Thank you for making this! And a well deserved DD indeed!
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Yea I tried to use printer paper at first but we had this 'barrier paper' stuff that is basically tracing paper, and it worked much better. It diffuses the light but keeps it strong. And for the back bristol board with not too much texture or shine is good.
Thank you!
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Thanks for the comment. I hope you find it useful
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Yeah, I think I'll try to do it! ^^
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this would be an awesome way to do some action figure photos. i definitely am going to have to try this.
but what about a black background?
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Um, I know that putting coloured paper works ok... It might work with black too if the subject was something light! It's worth a shot, if it doesn't work try using green and then keying it in photoshop, like a green-screen. You could select all the green (or whatever) and then lower the saturation and lightness to make it look like black paper instead.
I hope that made sense. Good luck, let me know how it goes! I'd love to see the photos if you post em online. <3
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ok! i'll give it a try when I find some spending money.
definitely!
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Wow! Thank you! I tried to make on my own and it fell apart after the first use - to flimsy. And the shots were useless - different colors of white paper I used to line it with. Thank for the detailed instructions. Yay!
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I was wondering what this one was for (haha, I was expecting the one used to transfer drawings? I was like, wait, why so many frames? ) but I like this. I'm going to take note of this tutorial. Thank you so much for sharing it.
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Ah yes, the two things have the same name generally so it can be confusing. I wish I could make one of those this easily, they are quite expensive!
Good luck making one, please let me know if you take any photos with it, or if you had any trouble etc- I would like to improve the tutorial if I could, since it's my first one and I worry I did not explain certain things well.
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yes, they are quite expensive. 
thank you for the well wishing me (wait, is that the proper way to say that? anyways...) I'll surely keep you posted about it (I'll definitely try to make one)... I do have your tutorial in my faves~! thanks so much for sharing this again.
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this is so helpful! i have a lot of problems with getting my lighting right its ether to bright and bleaches out my details or to dark and grainy . thank you very much for sharing.
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Nice! Thanks a lot for sharing, I might use this guide if I push myself to make a Lightbox once!
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Thanks for the comment! I hope if you do you share any photos you take in it ;D
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Looks pretty awesome to me~ O: I wish I had a lightbox for drawing with... but I guess transfer paper works just as well. *lazy*
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I have one I don't want! lol
It was $8 at a thrift store and I think it's actually for x-rays..lol.
It's weird they're both called lightboxes. Whoever decided that is dumb, to call two things in the same field the same thing!
Maybe you can turn an aquarium on its side and put some lights inside? 
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Right?! I mean, it makes sense that they're both called lightboxes, but not that they're BOTH called lightboxes. Maybe the one for photography should be a lightCUBE. That'd make sense.
YAY! Because right now, I either use transfer paper (which isn't half bad, but it's a tad messy) or I use my friend's.
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