Artograph Tracer Projector

I'm giving this thing 5 stars because it works as expected and is great for hobbyists and small business. I am almost finished with a painting that I started using this thing. It is amazing for drawing accurate images. Don't listen to all the reviews about this thing running hot. Mine came with an energy efficient bulb, and I am soon going to replace it with a super bright LED bulb. Yes, it is dim with old incandescent bulbs, but why even bother with them when you can have 100W brightness with a cool LED or florescent bulb? You will need to work in a dark room to use this, just like any projector. If you're looking for a good deal, this is it. These sell at art stores for $120, and if you're into making backdrops, or murals, or just painting your kids walls, this thing works great. If you aren't willing to spend a few bucks to get a really good LED bulb, this will still work, but you will need to let your eyes adjust, especially if you are drawing or working on a canvas that isn't white. I STRONGLY urge you to buy a super bright LED bulb along with this. The brighter the better, within the wattage limits on this enlarger.The largest image you can copy from is a 5 inch by 5 inch picture. It sounds tiny, but all you have to do is get a picture or image you want to enlarge, and print it out using the computer to reduce it to a 5x5" picture. Grid your work out, and do one section at a time. I just finished an 8ft by 8ft backdrop using this method, and it worked great. I received a ton of compliments on the quality. If you have any questions about this thing, feel free to ask.

This works great. You can see full color images and the size will focus even if I fill a full wall. Only downside is that it’s hard to find a good set up for tracing / placing a canvas because the projection is always slightly higher than floor level. I had to sit on the floor to do my first test and so it was hard to get the details right simply due to my physical body position. The projection itself is highly detailed so I think I just need to find a good spot to set this up. Also it won’t project screens but that’s expected

Last Christmas, I bought this for my girlfriend, and (somewhat awkwardly) her dad got her the Artograph EZ Tracer. Our lack of communication though has resulted in a pretty good opportunity to provide a good comparison between the two. This one provides a very nice bright BIG image of whatever you put under it. And you can make it very large before there is any big drop in quality. It's easy to focus, and can accomodate a CFL bulb. The EZ Tracer is ok... but pretty much only as a toy. It works, but the image tends to be muddy, and is difficult to focus. (set mostly by moving the whole projector rather than through any lens focus mechanism). It also isn't able to enlarge the image much at all. It also only has room for a standard bulb, and heat becomes an issue pretty quickly. It would still be fine for applications that don't need much enlarging or long periods of use and is a good projector for the cost, but you certainly get what you pay for.

I should have listened to the many negative reviews I read on Amazon and elsewhere. But, some reviews were favorable and I had high hopes as I was very eager to find something to enlarge photos and pictures for my artwork projects. This unit is definitely overpriced and it doesn't work. My package came with the bulb broken and when I opened the box, the bulb pieces (some very tiny) went flying everywhere. Talk about a mess to try to clean up!! Not happy about that. But, I did contact Amazon and they very graciously credited my account for a small portion to cover the bulb replacement. So, my first time to use this and I followed the directions to a "T". Very difficult to stabilize this unit and it must be used in a completely dark room ( I used a large dark closet). It took some figuring out, but I got my picture centered properly under it, But, and that's a very big But (no pun intended) it's absolutely impossible to focus this unit for any tracing except for a very fuzzy outside line and then I would have to be "guessing" even then. I am very disappointed that it doesn't work. I went online to find any kind of tutorials to help me figure out what, if anything, I might be doing incorrectly in my attempts to focus this unit. But, what I found, mostly, was a lot more negative reviews saying the exact same thing as I was experiencing. So, my opinion is this unit should be taken off the market. It is probably overpriced even if it did work. And, the company, at the very least should figure a different way to package this as almost every review I read said that the bulb was broken when they got their package. So, save your money, your time and your effort and don't even think you can try to get this thing to work properly....it won't. If I could have given zero stars, I would have. I should mention, the one good part of this purchase was that it shipped and arrived much quicker than stated and when I have had these problem issues, Amazon has been wonderful in helping me.

It is ok. The room must be very dark to see the projected image. I knew this might be the case from other reviews but still thought it might meet my needs and was one of the only ones in my price range for this project. I find it very hard to focus which I did not expect with it being such a simple set up. It advertised that it came with a bulb that would not give off as much heat as the older bulbs did which was great but when the box arrived, I opened the main box (that appeared totally undamaged) and when everything was half unpacked, I noticed teeny tiny shards of glass everywhere. The super thin, fine glass of the broken bulb clung to all of the packaging; I ended up with a slice in my finger and having to clean it out of our carpet and couch. I give it three stars because it is still kind of pricey for the quality but I do hope to play around with it more and make it work for my needs.