How to make a DIY teleprompter
A working teleprompter is a piece of clear glass at 45 degrees in front of your lens, a screen facing up underneath it, and a dark hood. Here's how to build one, and how to run it with a free app.
Step by step: set up a glass teleprompter rig
- Lay the screen under the glass. Put your phone or tablet face up in the tray, under the angled glass. The camera sits behind the glass and films straight through it.
- Pick your rig in Reframely. Open the sliders and choose Your rig. Tablet or Phone in a glass rig mirrors the text, so it reads the right way round in the glass.
- Turn the brightness all the way up. Beam-splitter glass passes only part of the light, so the reflection is dimmer than the screen. Full brightness and a darker room keep the words crisp.
- Check it through the camera. Look at the camera’s screen, not the tablet. If the hood’s edge shows in a wide shot, zoom in a little or widen the side margins. Then pair a clicker or your phone and press play.
What you need
- Clear glass or acrylic, such as the glass from a picture frame. Proper teleprompter glass is a beam splitter, coated so it reflects more of the screen and passes most of the light to the lens.
- A box or frame to hold the glass at 45 degrees: cardboard, foam board or wood.
- Something dark to block light around the lens, such as black card or fabric.
- A phone or tablet for the script, and your camera.
Step-by-step builds from DIY sites use the same idea with different materials, from a cardboard box to an old laptop screen (Instructables, DIYPhotography).
Build it
- Cut an opening in the back of the box for the lens, and an open top or front for the glass.
- Fix the glass at a 45-degree angle, with its top edge leaning toward the camera and its bottom edge toward you, so it reflects the screen below up toward your eyes.
- Lay the phone or tablet screen-up under the glass, near the front.
- Line the inside with black card or fabric and wrap the lens opening so no light leaks in.
- Put the camera behind the glass with the lens close to it, centered on where the reflected text appears.
Run it with Reframely
- Open Reframely on the phone or tablet under the glass and tap Open prompter.
- Choose Your rig → Phone in a glass rig or Tablet in a glass rig. The text is mirrored so it reads correctly in the reflection.
- Turn brightness to maximum and dim the room. Plain glass reflects less than beam-splitter glass, so a bright screen and a dark room matter more.
- Move the reading line in the Display menu until it sits in front of your lens.
- Pair a second phone as the remote so you don't have to reach into the box.
Seeing a double image? Plain glass reflects from both its front and back surfaces, which can create a faint ghost of each line. Thinner glass or acrylic reduces it, and teleprompter glass mostly removes it.
Common DIY problems and fixes
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| Double image | Ordinary glass reflects from both surfaces. Use thinner glass, or acrylic, and keep text large. |
| Dim or washed-out text | Max brightness, a darker room, and black fabric around the lens and box. |
| Text reads backward | Turn on Mirror, or use a glass-rig preset. |
| Box edges in the shot | Zoom in, move the camera closer to the glass, or make the opening bigger. |
When to buy instead
A DIY rig is a great way to find out if a teleprompter suits you. If you use it weekly, a commercial rig with proper beam-splitter glass gives a brighter, cleaner image, and a solid mount that keeps everything aligned.
Questions
Can I use picture frame glass for a teleprompter?
Yes, it works for a DIY build. It reflects less light than coated teleprompter glass and can show a faint double image, so use a bright screen and a dark room.
Which way should the text be?
Mirrored. The glass flips the reflection, so the app needs to flip the text back. Reframely's glass presets do this automatically.
Sources
Last updated .