LED Photo Frame

Photos are nice to have on the wall or on the tables. I thought it would be nice to build LEDs into a photo frame so you will be able to see the photo in the dark as well.

This instructable will show you how you can use some LEDs to light up your photos.

Step 1: Materials & Tools

For this project you need a couple of things:

- Photo frame (I used a metal frame, bought it for only $1).
- 8x 5mm LEDs (You can use colored ones also if you like. Or give your white LEDs a color)
- Electric wire
- Button Cell 3v Battery (CR2032)
- Button Cell Holder
- Foam (actually you can use allot for this, even cardboard)
- Hobby Blade
- Hot Glue (glue gun)

Comments

[nigelvincent007]

Its better to use LED strips... easy n simple...:)

[Vmocny44]

I was thinking of doing this but using 12 or 18 led's.. battery wise what would i have to change? im pretty new to leds.. and im just not sure. Thanks :)

[effiesque]

One can also use shadow box frames... We can get them from the dollar store for cheap in Canada... It solves the problem of light going out the back and can offer more space for the circuit.

[venugopalnayak]

hey guys-Hi!!! I'm from India -great idea- I'm planning to do this to my photos in our restaurent/bar & really liked this idea- cool- THX for the help

[SexiiSushii]

Where can you find the button holder?

[Unclegummers]

Looks good! I'm guessing that there isn't much effect when the lights in the room are on.

So maybe a photocell switch would be cool?

Switch it on only when the light in the room are off, for maximum battery life.

[Big Ugly Mich]

Is there a reason you're using a button cell instead of a regular D or C cell?

[motadacruz]

The size.
I used a button cell because there isn't much space behind the frame to work with. If you're going to let the photo frame stand up on a table, then you can put a D or C cell behind it.
But if you'd like to hang it on the wall, a button cell is the only way to go.

[wolfsingleton]

 Well done.  My wife and I did something like this in a larger format a couple years back.  Local movie theater closed down and we got a hold of the movie poster lightboxes they used.  We took out the existing wiring and subbed in the guts of two cheap outside solar garden LED lights.  Had a bit of trouble hanging the damn thing on our apartment walls, but the skinny wires snuck along the wall and allowed the solar panels and sensors to mount on the window nearby.  We had a local printer do the large format print (photoshop of my son as Spiderman) and it worked pisser.  Works great for decorating a home theater with custom movie posters!

[motadacruz]

That sounds pretty sweet!
I'll check the local theaters to see if one closes down soon so I can make one myself too :)

[Dries von weidtz]

Looks great
How long does those batterys last?
Canone use silicone instead of a glue gun or will the silicone
take to long to dry
Drie

[motadacruz]

I'm not familiar with solicone. But I think it will work fine also.
Also i'm not sure how long 1 cr2032 battery will last. Haha, i'm not much of a help am I :)
I think the battery will last at least a couple of weeks (if you leave it on the whole time).
You can put a switch on it and turn it only on at night.
Or you can put like 5 batteries in there (parallel), then you do like 10 weeks with it leaving it on :)

[Jay_Clark]

Good instructable and great concept, one consideration is to use a photo-resistor so that the circuit will turn itself off and on as the ambient light changes in the room. They are small, take up little room and save you from having to use the piece of plastic on the battery. 

Thanks for posting this!

[way77]

Looks great. Are these generic LED's, where do you get these? 

[motadacruz]

I bought these LED's on eBay.com.
They are 5mm white 20.000mcd. I bought 100 pcs for only $7.

[Chromatica]

Good Project.
If I were to do this I would use a Wall Wart instead of the CR2032.

[Fildain]

Looks great.  It might be cool to cut another piece of cardboard to mount on the back so not as much light leaks from behind it.

[motadacruz]

Yea, I am going to do that with the next ones i'm going to make to mount on the wall.
This frame was only $1 so I was not able to do much more with the backside because of the space. Next frame i'm going to buy will have a thicker frame so I can work more on the backside.

[lemonie]

Yea, you got that pictured nice.

L

[Seppuko]

The final result looks awesome!