Reddit reviews ME456 A4 LED Light Box 9x12 Inch Light Pad Only 5mm Ultra-Thin USB Power Light Table for Tracing

Get a tripod, a light table, if you have the camera and lens already this is about a s cheap as you can get it. Blurry image of my setup a while back

I do this as well, and honestly prefer it - for me, it's much easier and faster than using a scanner. I used to use the (very expensive and fancy) Hasselblad Flextight that my university provides, but found my new method to be far easier and faster while also providing better results.

I use a cheap "tracing pad" from Amazon to illuminate the negative.

I put the tracing pad on a low table, then set-up my tripod above it, so my digital camera is pointing straight down. I use a Sony A7r with a 90mm macro lens, but any digital camera that can focus close enough works. The one key point here - it's very important that the camera is level and actually pointing straight down - otherwise you'll not only get keystoning, but your plane of focus will be off and so your negative will not be entirely in focus.

I stop down to around f/8 and 1/8th or so of a second at the base ISO, and use the 2-second self timer to avoid shake. I keep the camera still and just move the negative on the light table to photograph it in thirds. Takes about 10 seconds per negative.

Then, I use Lightroom's built-in batch panorama stitch to stitch all the frames into a single large .dng. I then open the .dng using Adobe camera raw's default settings in photoshop, and the perspective crop tool makes it really easy to crop to just the negative, including or excluding the frame borders per your preference.

Then I invert the negative using a single adjustment layer and do color correction from there, following the guide from Alex Burke's e-book. But you could also try Negative Lab pro.

TL;DR: A tracing table will allow you to see a sheet of dot-grid underneath your fancy letter writing paper as well as a cover-sheet you might be using to prevent smudging + links and some other tips below.


I buy loose leaf Tomoe for my personal letters, and I really don’t want to have lines on a personal letter. Lots of people create them with pencil and erase afterwords, and I’ve even seen individuals use rubber bands, but I think both of these are painful! I was recently talking to Portbow about this in another post, and I described how I use a thin usb tracing table (or light table) with a sheet of dot-grid underneath so I can see the dots.

The second problem I have that is handily solved by a tracing table is ink drying times on fancy paper as a left-handed writer. If there there are lines above my current one that are still wet (the Organic Ink in the supplied photos takes 15 minutes on Tomoe), I guarantee I will smear it with my left hand while writing. To address this, I use a second sheet of printer paper to cover as I write, and the ink dries quickly against the printer paper. With the tracing table, you can cover directly above your current working line and still see what you've written.

One final trick. I paperclip the pieces of paper together and stick them to the board with a rubber band. This keeps everything aligned nicely so I’m not wrinkling the page with oil from my right hand as I’m trying to keep it steady.

I think these kinds of light tables were used extensively in the journalism department that I worked in when I was in college, so it just made sense to me. Those used to be big tables with fluorescent tubes in them, which made them super inconvenient. I think the new LED lighted plastic ones they have today are amazing.

To be sure, it's not especially convenient to use somewhere else than your desk at home, but the thin one I linked to above can fit next to your notepad in a briefcase or bag, and you can use it with an external USB battery pack like you use to recharge your phone if you're feeling particularly adventurous. People will go out of their way to talk to you about it if they see you using a fountain pen and portable light table in public, like a coffee shop.

Lots of people just want to keep things simple, and this might not be the best solution for you. However, I personally find it to be the easiest experience once you get everything set up!

I just got a basic LED tracing table off amazon, it has worked wonderfully: https://www.amazon.com/ME456-Light-Ultra-thin-Power-Tracing/dp/B01EBA8ZX8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1496185073&sr=8-3&keywords=light+table

Thin and usb powered

There are definitely cheaper options out there that are just as good as the cricut brand. I personally have this one that works perfectly

If you want something larger, you can look for tracing tables like this one. I have something similar and use it more to view negative holders than to take photos (happy with my scanner), but I would say it should well too.

Ideally you want to avoid any extra surfaces in between, so I would rather try to make a mask with a window for the film.