How to Make a Light Box

Want to take your photography skills to the next level? In this instructable, I will guide you through the steps of how you can make your very own light box at home.

1. Foam Board
2. Wax Paper
3. Exacto Knife
4. Scissors
5. Glue Stick
6. Glue Gun
7. Ruler
8. Pencil

Decide on the dimensions of the light box, then measure out the sizes on the foam board with a pencil & ruler.

Note that you will need to have a border of about one centimetre in order to construct the light box with hot glue. Make the border as minimal as possible (while still maintaining structural integrity) so that it doesn't obstruct a significant amount of light when photographing with the light box, as the borders can create unwanted shadows in your photographs.

With an Exacto Knife, you then proceed to cut out the pieces of foam board; you will need 5 pieces of foam board in total for all the slides.

After you have measured a roughly one-centimetre border for the side pieces of the light box, you will then proceed by measuring the pieces of wax paper to be cut for the sides of the light box.

For the wax paper sides, you will measure out the exact same dimensions as the foam board pieces you have cut out. These dimensions include the width of the border of the side. For example: if the side is a 10"X10" piece of foam board with a 1cm border, the size of the wax paper cut out should be 10"X10" as well.

Cut out the pieces of wax paper, then with a glue stick, proceed by carefully glueing the wax paper to the foam board sides. You will need between 3-4 pieces of wax paper depending on whether you would like to have light cast into the light box from the top.

I recommend cutting 4 pieces of wax paper which gives you the possibility to have light shine in from the top of the light box.

After you've successfully completed steps 1 & 2, it is time to construct your light box. To construct the light box, you will begin the glueing process with the use of a glue gun. Carefully glue along the edges of the foam board sides and attach each of the sides together.

You have successfully completed the construction of your very own light box! You can now begin taking stunning photos and enhance your photography skills with your new light box.