Sometimes everything starts with a completely ordinary photograph.
Not a professional studio portrait.
Not a perfect image from the internet.
Just a photo that means something to someone.
Those are the kinds of photos that most often become personalized lithophane lamps in my workshop.
At first glance, the process looks simple:
someone sends a photograph, and a few hours later a lamp is created.
But between those two moments there is an entire process.
And that process is exactly why every lithophane lamp turns out differently.
Everything Starts with the Photograph
For lithophane lamps, a photograph is not just “an image”.
It becomes part of the material itself.
Brighter areas allow more light to pass through.
Darker areas stay thicker and create shadows, depth, and details.
That is why not every photograph is ideal for a lithophane.
The most important things are:
- contrast
- a clear face
- enough detail
- a good balance between light and shadow
Sometimes a photo only needs small adjustments.
And sometimes much more editing is required before it can look good once illuminated from the inside.
From an Ordinary Image to an Atmosphere
For this project, the goal was not to create “just another print”.
I wanted to create a sense of atmosphere and depth.
That is why the background was transformed into a darker cosmic scene which later, once the lamp is illuminated, creates a completely different feeling from an ordinary photograph.
This is where the creative part of the process truly begins.
It is not only about turning a photograph into a model.
It is about giving the photograph a new story once light begins to pass through it.
Next Step: Turning the Photograph into a 3D Model
In the next part, I will show:
- how the photograph enters the ITS Litho software
- how the cylindrical lamp model is created
- which settings I use
- and how the entire project is prepared for 3D printing inside Bambu Studio.
Because this is the moment when an ordinary photograph truly starts becoming a physical object.