After seeing quite a few DIY lightboxes for macro photography, I decided to make one for myself. I don’t really need one, but I wanted to see if it would really make a difference to my photography end results. So following the many posts available, I made one on my own.

Raw materials used:

1. Box in which I got my printer
2. Some plain A4 sheets
3. A chart paper
4. Some tape
5. A normal home knife

These are only for the box. I am still working on the lighting part. What I have now for the light is a CFL bulb to give diffused light. I am thinking 2 table lamps will be okay for my small project.

The first thing that I did to the box was to cut out 2 of the longer sides and one of the shorter sides with the knife. The uncut shorter side will be the bottom of the lightbox.

The Cut-Out Printer Box

The next thing to do is to cover the cut-out sides with any sort of paper or fabric that lets in light but diffuses it a bit. I used standard printer paper A4 sized sheets, joined them together and taped them over the cuts.

The Box with the Sides Covered with Paper

After this is done, I taped one end of the chart paper at the base of the box towards the top, and let the other end roll free. This way you have no lines on the chart paper and you can extend/reduce the length of the surface if needed.

The Finished Box

That’s it for the box. Now I need to figure out the lighting part. It’s not easy to get the right things here in India so I think I will use 2 standard folding table lamps. I wasn’t able to buy them over the weekend casue the stores were closed. So that will be in a later post.