Light Box Alternatives: Trace Without Buying a Light Pad

A tablet or laptop screen

Open a blank white page or image, set the brightness to maximum and switch off auto-lock so the screen does not go dark mid-line. Lay the printout on the screen, then your paper, and hold them with a strip of low-tack tape on the bezel, not the glass.

It is the closest thing to a real light pad for small work. Put a clear plastic sleeve or screen protector between paper and glass, press lightly, and never use a ballpoint. The working area is limited to the screen size, so an A4 drawing on a 10-inch tablet means moving the paper, which risks misalignment. Tape the printout to the drawing paper, not to the tablet, and move them together.

A window

Tape the printout to a bright window, tape the paper over it, and trace. It is free and the light is even. The downsides are drawing on a vertical surface, which tires your arm and makes small detail hard, and needing daylight. A north-facing window on an overcast day may not be bright enough for thicker paper.

A glass table or picture frame with a lamp

Rest a sheet of glass across two stacks of books, or take the glass out of a large picture frame, and place a lamp underneath pointing up. A white sheet of paper on the floor under the lamp diffuses the light so you do not trace through a hot spot. LED bulbs work best because they stay cool.

Tape over the edges of loose glass from a frame before using it; they are rarely polished and can cut. This setup gives a large, flat, horizontal surface, which makes it the best free option for bigger drawings.

No light at all: transfer instead of tracing through

If your paper is too thick for any backlight, stop trying to see through it. Rub soft graphite on the back of the printout and trace over the front, or use a sheet of graphite transfer paper between the print and your surface. Both methods work on heavy watercolour paper, board and canvas, where no light pad will help.

You can also print a very faint guide directly onto paper your printer accepts. It is the fastest method, but printed lines do not erase, so test them under your medium first.

When buying a light pad is worth it

If you trace more than once or twice a month, a light pad pays for itself in comfort. Look for even brightness across the whole panel without bright spots near the edges, adjustable brightness, and an active area at least as big as the paper you usually use. An A4 pad has an A4 active area; the frame around it makes the device larger. If you work on A3, buy an A3 pad.

A light pad still will not see through heavy watercolour paper well. If most of your work is on 300 gsm paper or thicker, transfer paper will serve you better than any backlight.

Questions before you start