How to make a paper cut light box: template, paper and lights
A paper cut light box from start to finish: which templates work, the paper that glows best, how to space the sheets, and how to fit LED lights safely.
Published
A paper cut light box is layered paper art with a light behind it. Several sheets of white card, each cut with part of a scene, are stacked in a deep frame with gaps between them. Unlit, it is a white relief. Lit from behind, the back sheets glow, each layer forward is a little darker, and the front one stands out as a silhouette. One colour of card gives a full range of tones.
What makes a template work as a light box
Not every layered design lights well. Look for these:
- Openings that get larger towards the back. Light has to travel forward through every sheet. If a sheet in the middle is nearly solid, everything behind it is wasted.
- Holes in the back sheet. A moon, a sun or stars cut right through the back sheet are the brightest points in the box.
- A strong front sheet. The nearest layer is seen almost black against the light, so it should carry the clearest shapes: tree trunks, an animal, a gate.
- Every part joined to its sheet. Anything not touching the ground, the border or another part falls out when cut.
All the scenes on this site are built this way, and there is a “Lit from behind” colour set in the maker that previews the effect. The haunted house, the nativity and the city at night, with its lit windows, are made with a light in mind.
Paper
| Paper | How it lights | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| White card, 160 to 200 gsm, uncoated | Even, warm glow | The standard choice |
| White card, 220 to 250 gsm | Darker layers, stronger contrast | Stiffer; good for large boxes |
| Coloured card | Blocks most light | Use only for the front sheet, if at all |
| Tracing paper or vellum | Diffuses | One plain sheet behind the back layer hides the LEDs |
Thicker card lets less light through, so the same scene looks more contrasty in heavy card and softer in light card. Whatever you choose, use the same card for every sheet, or the tones will not step evenly.
Spacing
The gap between sheets sets how far the glow spreads. With 3 mm foam the layers read as crisp steps. With 5 mm the light wraps round the edges more and the box looks deeper, but the frame must be deeper too. Allow the gap times the number of gaps, plus about 15 mm behind the back sheet for the lights.
Put the foam strips on the border only, and keep them back from its inner edge. Foam in the picture area shows as a dark bar when lit.
Lights
Use LEDs. They run cool, which matters in a closed box full of paper; do not use a filament bulb.
- A self-adhesive LED strip round the inside wall of the frame, behind the back sheet, is the usual way. Warm white, about 3000 K, suits paper; cool white looks blue and harsh.
- Length: the distance round the inside of the frame. A 20 cm square frame takes about 80 cm.
- Power: a USB strip run from a phone charger or a power bank is simplest. A battery box hidden behind the backing board makes the frame cordless.
- Micro lights on thin wire, coiled behind the back sheet, also work and need no soldering, but they light less evenly.
Point the LEDs across the back of the box, not straight at the paper. Light that bounces off the frame wall and the backing board is even; a strip aimed at the back sheet shows as a row of dots. If you can still see the dots, add a sheet of tracing paper behind the back layer.
Cut a small notch in the edge of the backing board for the wire, so the back closes flat.
Putting it together
- Cut every sheet at the same size from the same card. The Cricut guide covers cutting by machine and the layered paper art guide cutting by hand.
- Stack the sheets with foam on the borders, back sheet first.
- Stick the LED strip round the inside of the frame, near the back.
- Fit the stack with the front sheet against the glass, pad any space behind it, lead the wire out through the notch, and close the back.
- Switch it on in a dim room and look for dark bars or bright dots. Move foam or add a diffuser sheet if you see either.
Choosing a size
A light box is looked at from across a room, so bigger is kinder: 20 to 25 cm square is the common size, and it keeps every part thick enough to cut. Each scene page here lists the narrowest part at each frame size before you download, and the maker lets you set any size your frame needs.