After the luminaires have been focused and checked, the lighting designer can prepare a personal work sheet known as a magic sheet, which incorporates graphic and textual information on the lighting elements and their respective control channels in a condensed and schematic form.		The magic sheet enables the lighting designer to locate any lighting element at a glance and to ask the board operator for the control channels without having to look it up on the lighting plot, thus saving precious time during lighting rehearsals  .

The lighting designer is now ready to plot the lighting.   A production table will be placed in the center of the auditorium. The lighting designer sits in the middle with the director on one side and, when the lighting board is portable, with the board operator on the other, facilitating communication with both. The stage manager will sit next to the director, and often the production manager and scenic designer will join these rehearsals, sitting nearby.

The lighting designer should have an updated lighting plot, magic sheet and cue synopsis spread out in front of him or her. When the board operator is seated next to the lighting designer, the monitor of the lighting board will be immediately accessible and the light designer can read the light level of the channels. If the lighting board cannot be placed out front next to the lighting designer, a separate monitor should be installed on the production table.