inket transfer on wooooood

okay, so here's my first attempt at a little tutorial!

i recently scanned a lot of old pics of my family and wanted to put them to use... i found these great wooden boxes at ikea [$5 in as-is!!] and remembered playing around with wood transfers when i was younger, figured it was about time to try it out again!

what i used:

acrylic medium [i used liquitex gloss medium & varnish $5-$10]

inkjet printer

plain white paper

sand paper

paint brush [or your hand!]

 

1.start by putting together a handful of pics you want to transfer, and raise the contrast or saturation if you think they need it... and make sure you reverse the image!!!

then print them out on plain ol' paper with your inkjet printer

[transferring can dull the pictures so the higher your gradient range the better, you'll notice some of mine didn't work so well]

2. sand the surfaces u want to transfer onto if its rough

3. grab your acrylic medium and brush onto the wood

this part can be a bit tricky... too much and your paper can get soggy, rip, or have lumps, too little and it may not transfer completely... test runs are always a good thing!

[avoid putting the medium directly onto the paper, the ink will smear]

4. place the image picture side down

 start in the center and smooth it out towards the edges so you don't get air bubbles

[i tried the 'burnish with a spoon' method on some, didn't seem to make a difference for me. i think it works best on laser prints]

5. now wait!!!! you need it to dry completely, i waited overnight...

6. take a fairly wet washcloth and place it over your image, let it sit for a minute.

7. start rubbing the image lightly so that pieces start to roll up

be careful not to rub too hard or in one place, your image may come off completely.

unless thats the look you want!

8. continue rubbing in a circular motion until you are happy with the results

if the colors on your image start to smear, wipe across it with the washcloth

AND VOILA!!

i removed more of the paper from the edges and then sanded them just for fun :)

original inkjet image on left---wood transfer on right

you are done :)

fun fun!

Q's??? please ask!!