anyone ever heard of a optical device called a opaque projector?

Question

What are they and how do they work?

Answer 1

It is a device which uses mirrors and lenses to project an image of an opaque object, such as a picture, onto a screen. Those "cutsie" images you teachers used to "draw" and put up on bulletin boards were probably made by projecting pictures on a wall and tracing around them.

Answer 2

We used to use those in school in the old days to project images from a book or magazine or other printed source. They were big and heavy and clumsy. A light shown on the book and was projected (by mirrors, another responder said) through a big lens onto a screen.

These days you can scan whatever you want and then put the image on a computer and project that. I doubt many schools have opaque projectors anymore. Some artists used them for copying things at a larger size than the original. There may still be some around somewhere, but like I say, they're big and clumsy.

Answer 3

It's an enlarger that uses a mirror, a light bulb & a focus lens. The sizes can range from about the size of an old vhs camcorder to the big old hunky things from school.

Alot of artists still use them especially for murals.

There's a focus lens but moving the whole unit closer or further from the wall can help with the desired effect.

They range in price from $20 used (try an Ebay search under art projector enlarger) to the hundreds for a new top of the line model.

I tend to do my art on a smaller scale so I use one when I need to go bigger. I find it's less frustrating for me to use it than redrawing the whole thing to to a larger scale.
I got mine of ebay for about $20 including the shipping, it's pretty old but it does the job!

Hope this helps you some.