Ashley Cameron Design

DIY LED Tracing Light Box &/ Lightbox Artwork Frames

Published: Jul 23, 2015

This post was last updated: Oct 3, 2022

About a 1 minute read

"The art of living… is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive."

Alan Watts

This project used:

Premium pine or other wood
Hardboard
Acrylic sheets
5050 warm LED light strips
AC to DC wall plug adapter
Dimmer switches with DC connection
White spray paint
Soldering iron
Copper wire
Sandpaper
Table saw & miter saw
Nailer
Drill
Wood glue
Hot glue gun
Clamps
Turn buttons (for artwork frames)

I originally built a lightbox out of recycled poplar wood in my first test experiment. I documented the process and posted this article (now updated September 9, 2022) in which an artist in NYC found the post and requested a couple of custom lightbox frames that she could insert collaged artwork on clear acrylic so they would be backlit (artwork below).

Cabell’s finished artwork

The lightbox frames were a success with her gallery showings, and she ended up ordering 20 more!

This gallery is a combination of the 20 lightbox frames and the two lightboxes I built for my sons. They were so excited and love the dimmer switches.