How to create a partition image to recover files?

I concluded a while ago that to recover files, the ideal solution is to create an image of the partition to be recovered and work on it, saved on another hard disk.

Now, trying to put this idea into practice, I see that it's not so easy.
It's true that many file recovery programs have this option built in; the problem is working with that same image from other file recovery programs.

The first quality that the created image must have is that it was created with a sector-by-sector copy of the partition.
(Otherwise, it wouldn't copy the deleted files.)

Then I mount the image with the ImDisk program so that it appears as a virtual hard drive with its own drive letter.
(Other programs can simulate a CD drive instead of a hard drive.)

The problem is that when I start a file recovery program, it doesn't show that drive letter because it doesn't belong to a real hard disk, the programs only show the real hard drives that exist.

How can I emulate that virtual drive as belonging to a real hard disk?