# Build a DIY lightbox for small product photos

> A cardboard box, tracing paper and a white sweep, lit from both sides with matching bulbs, and the phone settings that turn its grey into white.

**In short:** Cut windows in a large cardboard box, cover them with tracing or baking paper, and curve one sheet of white paper from the back wall onto the floor. Light it from both sides with the same daylight bulbs, room lights off, then lock focus on the product and raise the exposure until the sweep reads white.

A Stensa guide, updated 2026-11-06. The page: https://trystensa.com/guides/diy-lightbox

## What a lightbox does

A lightbox, or light tent, is a box with see-through white walls and a white floor that curves up the back. Light comes through the walls from outside, is softened on the way in, and reaches the product from every side at once. [Digital Photography School](https://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-use-a-light-tent-for-small-product-photography/) describes the result as even, nearly shadow-free light against a simple, solid background: exactly what a marketplace main image wants.

You can buy one, but a good one takes an afternoon to make from a cardboard box.

## Build it

1. **Choose the largest box you can find.** [Adobe's DIY guide](https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/photography/discover/diy-lightbox.html) starts with the biggest box available: the product needs room, and DPS advises keeping space between it and the walls, since a product close to a wall picks up its shadow.
2. **Cut the windows.** Take the flaps off the top. Cut a large window in each side, leaving about 5 cm of cardboard from each edge so the box keeps its shape. Adobe opens one side completely, the side you shoot through; DPS cuts windows in all four and keeps the bottom whole.
3. **Cover the windows.** Tape tracing paper, baking paper or white tissue paper over each one, cut a little larger than the window. DPS uses white fabric, such as muslin, nylon or an old white T-shirt. Masking tape lets you swap materials and compare.
4. **Line it white.** Cover the inside walls with white paper, with the tape on the back so it doesn't show.
5. **Add the sweep.** Run one long sheet of white paper from the top of the back wall, curving down onto the floor and towards you. Adobe's warning: don't crease it, or the crease will show in the photo. Matte paper is better than glossy, which reflects.
6. **Pure white, not cream.** Shopify warns that [off-white or cream backgrounds are harder to edit to pure white](https://www.shopify.com/blog/12206313-the-ultimate-diy-guide-to-beautiful-product-photography). Buy a fresh white sheet.

## Light it

The box only softens the light; you still need a light source on each side.

- **Two lamps, one on each side,** facing each other through the side windows and angled slightly towards the product, with the phone in front. DPS uses this layout; Adobe places the lamps close to each side, about 13 cm away.
- **Or start with one on top.** DPS's own build starts with a single lamp above and adds side lamps only if the shadows are still strong.
- **The same bulbs.** Mixed bulbs light the product in two colours at once. GIA's photographers [use a single colour temperature](https://www.gia.edu/gem-photography); DPS recommends daylight-balanced bulbs, since ordinary household bulbs add a yellow cast.
- **Room lights off,** and direct sun kept off the box, so nothing else colours the light.
- **No lamps?** A window works: put the box on a table close to it, with the window to one side.
- **Mind the heat.** Hot bulbs and thin paper don't mix. LED bulbs run cooler, and they don't need to touch the box.

> Photo: Two studio lamps with the same bulbs, side by side and facing the same way. Two lamps with the same bulbs: one light, one colour, from both sides of the box. Photo by Reinis Brūzītis on Unsplash (https://unsplash.com/photos/two-studio-lights-with-fluorescent-bulbs-facing-left-bb5YXGFZgrg).

## Set up the phone

1. **Put it on a stand** in front of the open side, and leave it there for every shot, so a whole set matches, as [the catalogue guide](https://trystensa.com/guides/consistent-product-photos#fix-the-camera-move-the-product) explains.
2. **Step back and use 2x,** so the edges of the box stay out of frame and the product keeps its shape.
3. **Lock focus and exposure.** Touch and hold the product until AE/AF Lock appears ([Apple's camera guide](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/use-camera-tools-iph3dc593597/ios)).
4. **Raise the exposure for a white background.** A white sweep usually comes out grey. DPS found white backgrounds looked best about one stop brighter: drag the sun up until the sweep reads white and the product still has detail.

Then check the photo with the free [photo checker](https://trystensa.com/tools/photo-checker), which lifts a light-grey background the rest of the way to white.

## No box? Two quick versions

- **A sweep on a chair.** Drape a white sheet or a roll of paper over a chair, so it runs down the back and across the seat, with the chair facing a window. Put the product on the seat and a white card on the side away from the window. [Shopify's no-equipment guide](https://www.shopify.com/stock-photos/tips/how-to-take-product-photos-at-home-with-almost-no-equipment) builds it this way.
- **A folded foam board.** Score a white foam board down the middle and stand it up in a V behind the product, with the open side to the window.

## When a lightbox is the wrong tool

- **Very shiny things.** [SLR Lounge's verdict](https://slrlounge.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-light-tents) is that highly reflective objects are hard to shoot well in a tent: they mirror the white walls and lose their shape. Use black cards and a single soft light instead, as in [the jewellery guide](https://trystensa.com/guides/jewellery-small-product-photos#control-the-reflections).
- **Mood.** A tent gives flat, even light by design. For a dramatic shadow or a side-lit texture, take the product out and use a window.
- **Big things.** A tent holds small and medium products; a bag or a shoe needs a sweep on a table instead, as in [the marketplace guide](https://trystensa.com/guides/marketplace-product-photos#set-up-a-white-background).

## Before you shoot

- [ ] Windows covered, inside lined, sweep curved with no crease
- [ ] Two of the same bulbs, or one window to the side
- [ ] Room lights off, no direct sun on the box
- [ ] The phone on a stand, at 2x, exposure raised for white
- [ ] Space between the product and the walls

## Doing it in Stensa

**Hero Center** sets one product dead centre with room around it, the lightbox shot. **Fill the Frame** takes it edge to edge, and **Pyramid** stands a tall product between two small props. Stensa recognises the product in the box, tells you when it sits in its guide, and exports a square Shop photo; product sets keep every product you shoot in the box at the same zoom and angle.

## Sources

- [How to use a light tent for small product photography](https://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-use-a-light-tent-for-small-product-photography/), Digital Photography School
- [How to make a DIY lightbox](https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/photography/discover/diy-lightbox.html), Adobe
- [The ultimate DIY guide to product photography](https://www.shopify.com/blog/12206313-the-ultimate-diy-guide-to-beautiful-product-photography), Shopify
- [Product photos at home with almost no equipment](https://www.shopify.com/stock-photos/tips/how-to-take-product-photos-at-home-with-almost-no-equipment), Shopify
- [Gem photography](https://www.gia.edu/gem-photography), GIA
- [The pros and cons of light tents](https://slrlounge.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-light-tents), SLR Lounge
- [Use iPhone camera tools](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/use-camera-tools-iph3dc593597/ios), Apple Support