Basic inkjet transfer using mod podge – the details

[If you haven't already, please start by reading previous post : Basic image transfer (inkjet)]

1. Set your printer to normal or standard settings. Next, print a mirror image of your photo onto a standard weight printer paper (it is very important that you don’t print your image on a photo paper,or it is just not going to work!)
2. Brush a good amount (but not too much) of Mod Podge on the printout photo. You can substitute the Mod Podge with any other transfer medium like gel medium or gesso.
3. Place the wet printout face-down onto the photo paper you want to transfer your image to (or any
other surface of your choice), press down on it with your fingers.
4. Some people use a brayer to smooth the paper and get rid of the air bubbles, but you can just use your fingers or any other similar tool.
5. At this point you can place a heavy book on top of your transfer to flatten and strengthen the bond between the printout and the background surface (and you thought you’ll never pick up that book off the shelf! Ha!).
6. Wait a few minutes for the Mod Podge to dry (but don’t wait too long, as the Mod Podge acts just like glue) and then peel off the original printout as much as you can.
7. Now, the final step is to moisten your fingers or spray the back of the printout with water, and GENTLY rub off the left-over paper until you have the transfer entirely revealed.

DONE !

 

 

Photo Transfer Tutorial By Nitsa

Inkjet transfer, packing tape transfer, transferring with transparencies, transfer to mirror and ceramic tile, gel transfer etc. $5 Download

 

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Basic IMAGE TRANSFER (inkjet)

(part one)

What you need:
Inkjet Printer
Standard weight printer paper
Transfer medium
Receiving surface
UV-resistant clear finish

You don’t need a fancy printer and any low end printer will do. The images you are going to be printing don’t need to be of high resolution and are going to be printed onto a standard printer paper.

Image transfers can be done using different transfer mediums such as Mod Podge, Gesso, Gel Medium, wintergreen oil, acrylic caulk, acrylic paint and so on. Each one of this methods will provide you with a different appearance to your final transfer. After you experiment with different products you will be able to determine which one to use for a specific project depending on the end result you’re after.

I often choose to make my transfers using Mod Podge though that’s entirely a matter of personal preference. Mod Podge is a water base all-in-one medium; sealer, glue and finish. It is available in gloss or matte and is most commonly used in decoupage applications.
If you want to learn everything possible about Mod Podge check out Amy’s Mod Podge Rocks blog at: modpodgerocks.blogspot.com

The receiving surface can be anything from card stock, photo paper, canvas, watercolor, wood panel, ceramic tile, mirror etc.
Experimenting with different surfaces can be one of the best things about image transfers.

After your transfer is done, it’s a good idea to protect it with UV-resistant clear coating or a product called Preserve It! (Krylon), so that your transfer has a longer, happier life span.

Next time: the details

Photo Transfer Tutorial

Inkjet transfer, packing tape transfer, transferring with transparencies, transfer to mirror and ceramic tile, gel transfer etc. $5 Download

Mixed media photo transfer using Mod Podge

What you need:
• Inkjet photo or laser photocopy
• Collage materials such as: newspaper clippings, designer or hand-made
papers, stamps, ticket stabs, brown paper bags, wrapping paper, etc.
• Acrylic or water paints
• Mod Podge
• Gesso
• Canvas or wood panel
• A water spray bottle
• UV-resistant clear finish

1) Gather your collage materials and lay them out in a design of your choice on any size canvas or wood panel. Adhere the collage pieces onto the surface using Mod Podge.
2) Make sure to cover the collage pieces with Mod Podge so it doesn’t only adhere the papers to the canvas but also protects it to all eternity (or at least a few years).
3) Next, cover the collage layer with watered-down gesso. It will mute the layer a bit and also will tie the pieces together.
4) Add a thin layer of acrylic or water paint of your choice. Don’t over do it so it doesn’t overwhelm the other layers.
5) Let the collage thoroughly dry.
6) Convert the photo of your choice to black and white (not grayscale) by adding brightness and 100% contrast. In some cases color photos will work as well but black and white often works better.
7) You can use either a xerox photocopy of your image or an image printed from your inkjet printer. If you are using an inkjet, print out a mirror version of your image into a standard printer paper.
8 ) Cover your image with Mod Podge and press it face down into the collage. Rub gently with your fingers to smooth out any air bubbles.
9) If you are using an inkjet photo you will have to wait only about 15-30 minutes for the Mod Podge to dry and for the transfer to complete. If you are using a photocopy let it set for a few hours, preferably over night.
10) Spray the back of your photo with water and gently remove and rub off the excess paper with your fingers in order to reveal the transfer. If you are using a photocopy you will have to repeat this step until the access paper is completely gone.
11) For the final touch you can add text, letters, gesso and paints.
12) Preserve your art work with a protective finish such as “preserve it!” by Krylon for inkjet or Krylon Crystal Clear if you used a toner based photocopy.
13) Clean up this mess !

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Photo Transfer to Ceramic Tile

What you need:
• Laser photocopy (black & white or color)
• Gel medium or Mod Podge
• Glass & Tile primer
• White ceramic tile
• A water spray bottle
• UV-resistant clear finish

1) Begin by brushing a good amount of glass & tile primer on your
tile surface to increase transfer adhesion and let it completely dry.
2) Choose a mirror photocopy of the photo to transfer. Images with
a plenty of light areas where the mirror or tile will show through,
work best.
3) Cover the photocopy with a thin layer of mod podge or Gel Medium and place the photocopy face down onto the mirror or tile.
Make sure to gently smooth out any air bubbles between the image and the surface.
4) Let the transfer take place and dry for no less than 24 hours.
5) Spray the back of the photocopy with water and begin to gently rub off and remove the paper to reveal the actual transfer. Repeat this step as many times as needed until all the access paper is completely gone.
6) Protect your artwork with a clear protective finish.

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Image transfer with inkjet transparencies

What you need:
Inkjet Printer
Inkjet Transparencies
Gel medium
Receiving surface
UV-resistant clear finish

This method is quite similar to the basic image transfer except the image is printed onto an inkjet transparency film.
Set your printer to inkjet transparencies settings and print a mirror-image of your photo into the non-shiny side of the transparency.
Coat the background of your choice with gloss Gel Medium and place the image side of the transparency face down into the background surface.
Smooth the transparency softly with your fingers to remove any air bubbles and to help transfer the ink.
Lift the transparency to reveal the transfer.
(After the transfer is done you can use the transparency in a mixed media collage; simply adhere it to your collage using gel medium.)

Photo Transfer Tutorial By Nitsa

Inkjet transfer, packing tape transfer, transferring with transparencies, transfer to mirror and ceramic tile, gel transfer etc. $5 Download

More than Photography book published!

Photo Transfer Light Switch Cover

Posted by judy.whatilivefor

After seeing photo transfer techniques all over the blogosphere, and seeing that my younger sister doesn’t have a light switch cover for some reason, the stars aligned and in a rare stroke of brilliance, I decided to make a customized, photo transfer light switch cover for her.

Using the techniques found at Still Alive, Sabby in Suburbia, and The Feminist Housewife, I made a beautiful light switch cover that hopefully even my teen sister can enjoy.

Other than requiring a ton of patience and a gentle touch, the process is fairly simple. First, paint the light switch cover. Once it’s dry, apply a coat of Mod Podge and allow to dry.

Print off or obtain a Xerox copy of your picture to desired size. We have a laser jet printer, which worked perfectly fine. I’ve also heard ink printers work too. Because of my sister’s obsession with London after spending last Christmas there, I printed a picture of Big Ben. It fits perfectly along the bottom and even follows up the side of the cover.

Coat your picture with Mod Podge and firmly press onto the cover. Using your fingers, squeeze out any air bubbles. (Ignore the text on the back of my paper, it’s just recycled…)

Wait as long as you can stand it to let this dry. I waited over night, which worked much better than the few hours I allowed the photo transfer tiles I made. Spray the back of the paper with water and start rubbing with the pads of your fingers. The fibers of the paper will start falling off and you will be able to see the image on the cover. Keep rubbing until there are no fibers left…if you leave any they will dry leaving your image looking like a ghost. If there are fibers left, just re-spray and keep rubbing.

If you want to add words, print the words backwards and use the same technique as you did for the picture.

Once all the fibers are gone, touch up with paint and cover with a coat or two of Mod Podge. Screw the cover into the light switch and have the coolest cover ever!
Thank you Nitsa for giving me this chance to share the fun I’ve had with photo transfers!

Judy from What I Live For

Download pdf file : Image Transfer 101

Gel layer photo transfer

What you need:
Laser photocopy (black & white or color)
Gel medium (heavy or regular)
Water spray bottle

1) Brush a generous amount of gel medium over your photocopy. Let it dry completely; the gel medium dries clear.
2) Brush a second layer of gel medium. Let dry again and brush a third layer.
3) Turn the photocopy over and spray its back with water.
4) Rub off the paper backing with your fingers. Repeat this step as many times as needed until the paper is completely gone and your photo is transferred to the gel skin.

Packing tape transfer

What you need:

Laser photocopy (black & white or color)
Scotch clear packing tape
Burnishing tool
Spray bottle of water

1. Layer the packing tape over the photocopy.
2. Turn the photocopy over and burnish its back with a spoon in order to completely
transfer the ink to the tape.
3. Spray the back of the photocopy with water and begin rubbing off the paper back
to reveal the transfer.
4. When you are done your photo is transferred into the sticky side of the tape which
can now be used in a collage.

You can find this process and many other photo processes in my new book:

eBook: So much more than Photography

image transfers, texture layering, mixed media, hand painted photos and much more. $10 DOWNLOAD

Image mirror transfer using transparencies

The cool thing about transferring images into a mirror surface is that the transferred image appears to be 3D and that is something that is always difficult to achieve with two dimensional photographs.

What you need:
1) Inkjet printer
2) Inkjet transparency film
3) Glass Primer (such as Jo Sonja’s Glass & Tile Primer)
4) Gel Medium (regular or heavy)
5) Receiving surface: mirror
6) UV-resistant clear finish

1. Begin by brushing a good amount of glass primer on your mirror and let it dry.
2. Set your printer to inkjet transparencies settings and print a mirror-image of your photo into the non-shiny side of the transparency.
3. Coat the mirror surface with Gel Medium (gloss) and place the image side of the transparency face down into the mirror.
4. Smooth the transparency gently with your fingers to remove any air bubbles and to help transfer the ink.
5. Let the transfer dry for 30 minutes.
6. Lift the transparency to reveal the transfer.

(After the transfer is done you can use the transparency in a mixed media collage; simply adhere it to your collage using gel medium.)

Inkjet Photo Transfer To Canvas Using Mod Podge

First of all, I have to thank Nitsa for such a comprehensive collection of mixed media art and wonderful tutorials!  This site truly inspires me and led me to my first attempt at image transfer.

Here’s what I did:

After painting my 11×14 canvas with acrylic craft paint, I used my inkjet printer to make 8×10 prints of my photos on regular copy paper.  After the paint had dried, I coated my photo (ink side) with Mod Podge and placed it on the canvas (Mod Podge side down).

To make sure I had good adhesion, I gently rubbed from the middle of the photo and then out to the corners.  I also went over the paper with my rolling pin (still don’t have a brayer!) to remove any air bubbles.  Then, I let this dry overnight.

Photo Transfer Tutorial

Inkjet transfer, packing tape transfer, transferring with transparencies, transfer to mirror and ceramic tile, gel transfer etc. $5 Download

The next day,  I lightly coated the dried paper with water using a spray bottle.  Then, I began rubbing the paper off.   This step had to be repeated a few times to remove all traces of paper.  As other bloggers have said, you will get a ghost like appearance to your image if paper is left on the canvas.

After removing all of the paper from my image, I printed out the lyrics to a favorite song using the “mirror image” function in the Print setup of Microsoft Word.

I transferred the words, let them dry and removed the paper using the same technique as above.

To finish the piece, I used watered down gray craft paint to add some age to the piece, wiping off any excess paint to get the look I wanted.  Then I added some homemade embellishments.  To seal it all up, I coated the entire piece with Mod Podge.  After that dried, I hung them up and admired my work.

Thanks for taking the time to read about my first adventure in photo transfer.  I have always had a love for photography and this site has given me so many ideas to use with my favorite hobby.

Sabrina

NEW eBook: Spice up your photos

Inkjet and photo transfers, texture layering, mixed media, hand painted photos and much more. $10 DOWNLOAD

Perfect photo transfers

As I have acquired some experience with the different methods of image transfers, I eventually realized my transfers were too… well, too perfect. And a perfect transfer can be quite dull.
In fact, one of the best traits of image transfer is their flawed appearance that makes
each transfer unique.
As a result I decided that the outcome and quality of a transfer now depends on the image I choose to transfer and that I don’t have to be restricted to selecting high quality flawless images.
So at this point I choose to transfer images taken with film cameras, especially classic or toy cameras which as a rule produce mysterious, dreamy wonderful images.
If you only shoot digital you can simply modify your images in Photoshop, age them or process them in any way you wish, before printing out and transferring them.

Metallic image transfer

When I discovered I have metallic paints in my art box I decided to use these paints to experiment with paint transfer.
1) The very first step is to choose the right image to transfer. I chose a mirrored Xerox copy of a black and white picture I took of the home of George Washington in Mount Vernon, Virginia. The reason I chose this image is because it has sufficient light areas where the paint will be visible.
2) I covered the image with metallic acrylic paint, placed it face down and pressed it onto a medium texture real artist canvas.
3) After a few hours when the transfer was dry, I sprayed water on the back and began peeling and rubbing off the excess paper to reveal the image.
4) The final step, as always is to protect the image with clear UV protection.

[*The final transfer has a special metallic surface shine which is not clearly visible in the scan]

Distressed image transfer

If, like me, you are a fan of the altered and distressed appearance of photos you might
want to give this one a try. You can choose any surface for this transfer but I prefer wood
surfaces such as artist wood panel or any type of wooden blocks.
1) Thoroughly cover the surface you are transferring to with acrylic black paint
and let it completely dry.
2) Use white acrylic paint to cover over the black paint, but let the black paint to
show through in some areas.
3) Use a big nail or a screw or any other tool to scratch and distress the surface.
4) Using gel medium adhere a few pieces of old newspaper or old dictionary and lightly cover
them with white paint.
5) Now that your surface is ready you can transfer a photocopy of your image into the surface using gel medium or Mod Podge. Images with a lot of white space or big sky area work best with this method. (if you are not sure how to do a photo transfer check out the “Image transfer” category or tag)
6) Don’t forget to protect your art work with a clear protective finish.

Photo transfer to a mirror

Recently when the idea to try transferring images to a mirror hit me, I was quite surprised I didn’t come up with this wonderful idea long before.

When choosing an image to transfer it is best to choose a photo with plenty of white space so the mirror shows through.
Before beginning the transfer it is a good idea to prime the mirror with a glass & tile primer since it will increase transfer adhesion.
Next, cover a photocopy of your image (inkjet printout won’t work so well for this type of transfer) with a thin layer of mod podge or Gel Medium and place the photocopy face down onto the mirror. Make sure to smooth out any air bubbles between the transfer and the mirror.
Let the transfer take place and dry over night.
Spray the back of the photocopy with water and begin to gently rub off and remove the paper to reveal the actual transfer.
Repeat this step as many times as needed until all the access paper is completely gone.
And finally, make sure to protect your artwork with a clear protective finish.

By the way, just so you know, the scan of the mirror transfer here does not do justice to the actual piece. So don’t let it discourage you from trying this style of transfer

You can find this photo process and many others in my new book:
So Much More than Photography – eBook edition is now on sale for $10.
Get it here

First Attempt at Mod Podge Transfer

I was so inspired by this site that I had to try this technique.  This is a picture of my first attempt at image transfer to canvas using Nitsa’s mod podge technique.  I used an image printed from my inkjet (or is it ink jet?) printer on plain copy paper.

Here’s what I did:

I first chose a cool  image from one of my magazines, scanned it and converted it to black and white.  I played with the contrast until the image looked like an ink stamp.

Then I painted a 12″x16″ canvas board with silver and white acrylic paint and let it dry a couple of hours.  I printed out some background clip art and mod podged it to the painted canvas.  I smoothed out the background images as best I could with my fingers since I don’t have a brayer.

After 15 minutes I painted a coat of mod podge over the entire canvas. I waited another 15 minutes and applied another mod podge coat.

I let the mod podge dry about 30 minutes.  Mod podge dries pretty fast which is a plus because I am super impatient.

With my heart beating fast because I didn’t want to mess up, I brushed the ink side of the black and white image of the man and woman making sure I had an even layer.  In hindsight, I think I put too much mod podge.

I carefully held the image over the part of canvas that I wanted to place it.  I set it down gently and smoothed it out with my fingers working from center out.  I made sure there was good contact ink to canvas contact.

After a couple of hours, I sprayed water onto the paper until I saw the image start to appear through the paper. Then I started gently rubbing the layers of paper off.  I think I was rubbing too hard on one small part because some of the ink started to come off.  I panicked so I stopped where I was at.  I left too much paper on the image which made the image look ghostly.

When it dried it was pretty hazy but I thought if I painted mod podge on it it would look more clear.  Well, the image of the couple still looked ghostly.  After looking at it for a while, I started to like the ghostly effect.  I then really liked it when my kids told me it looked cool. 

I am so happy I found this site.  Nitsa’s work is amazing and her techniques are simple and fun to do.   This is the first blog site I have joined and actually submitted something.  Hope you like the piece!  Pat  ^_^

Hand painted photo transfer

One of my favorite surfaces for image transfer is canvas.  Recently I discovered something called Real Canvas Pad which is a pad containing 10 9X12 sheets of real canvas primed with Gesso.
An affordable alternative to stretched canvas.
I actually prefer the unprimed side which is rough and looks a lot like raw canvas.

To create this painted photo I chose a black & white Xerox photocopy of a picture taken in Downtown Los Angeles and transferred it using Mod Podge onto the canvas.
After the transfer was done I simply painted the transfer using acrylic paints.

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watercolor photo

If you like this artwork and would like to create a similar masterpiece, this is how it is done:
1) Make a black & white mirror photocopy of the photo of your choice.
2) Cover the photocopy with Gel Medium and put it face down onto a watercolor paper.
3) Wait a few hours until the image is dry.
4) Spray the back of the photocopy with water and rub off the access paper to reveal the photo which is now transferred to the watercolor paper.
5) Repeat step 4 as many times as needed until all the access paper is completely gone.
6) Use water colors to color your photo.
7) Make sure to protect your artwork with a clear protective finish.

Here is what I used for this artwork:
A photocopy of a picture taken in the countryside of beautiful Virginia.
Golden Regular Gel (Semi-Gloss)
Canson 9”X12” heavyweight watercolor paper pad.
Reeves water color paints.
Krylon Low Odor Clear Finish (Matte).
That’s it.

Photo transfer with color & paint

BUY THIS ARTWORK

Using a similar paint transfer process I selected to transfer a color image this time.
I chose a colorful picture taken in Philadelphia and used yellow and turquoise acrylic paints to transfer the image onto an 5”X7” flat canvas panel.
Very simple to do and with a high success rate

BUY THIS ARTWORK

Dotphoto and the mystery of the metallic prints

In the past I mentioned here how much I love dotphoto, right? (here, I really did!).
and I do love dotphoto…
I’ve been using their printing services for a few years now and I was always happy with their printing quality and even with their fast and reliable customer services.
Until a couple of days ago when I tried to order a few of metallic prints from them.
So I went for the obvious; choosing the photos I want to print and selecting the metallic prints option… and nothing. I’m still on the same page. Ok, lets try something else. I start from the metallic prints page. Oh good, there’s a “choose photos” button on the page. It takes me to my albums. At the top it says “select photos and then go to cart” . I do just that, and guess what? You won’t believe it; my cart is empty. Ah? Now what? OK, I really want these metallic prints now so I go to the Help page and I put the “metallic prints” term in the search box.
In the search results page there’s a short explanation what metallic prints are, but nothing about how to order them… hmmmm… Ok, I admit this is a low point in my internet life and I begin doubting myself and my abilities to figure out a simple ordering process.

But I’m also upset and tired so I email dotphoto’s support:

Just letting you know your system for ordering prints is very confusing.
I’ve been trying to order metallic prints for about 15 minutes and it just doesn’t let me place the order.
I’ve tried a few different ways.
…

so I gave up. Just letting you know.
Nitsa

Aurora from dotphoto writes back:

Hello,
The problem you are most likely running into is that you are trying to order more than one at a time. With metallic prints, posters or gifts, these images go through our gift wizard so you can fine tune how your image will look. Please select one image and then click on metallic prints. This will take you to our gift wizard and allow you to order.
Aurora

Elementary! And oh so brilliant! You can’t order more than one photo at a time.
Would be nice if they mentioned it somewhere on the site.
I wish it wasn’t so, but sadly I don’t posses any psychic powers.

So I email Aurora:
true, I was trying to order more than one photo at a time.
However, no where on your site it is clear that I should order only one print at a time.
in fact when going to order metallic prints it says “Choose photoS” and not choose photo.
I’m just saying in case you want to improve your service.

Nitsa

But Aurora is determined to prove me an idiot or at least an unreasonable customer:

“Hello,
I apologize. This is stated in the gift wizard faq.
Aurora”

Ah. Yes. Obviously. The gift wizard faq. Dah!
It’s probably unnecessary to mention I couldn’t find the gift wizard faq, though I don’t doubt it exist somewhere on the site.

So finally I order metallic prints from another online printing service.
I can’t wait to see what they look like.

Meanwhile, here is my version of metallic prints 
(an image transferred to aluminum foil)

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Gold image transfer

Since my previous expedition in the land of transfers worked so nicely (i.e. transferring an image to a silver surface) I thought to myself; “well, why not transfer to a shiny GOLD surface” but of course! So before you know it I covered a 7”X5” wood panel with some shiny gold metallic tissue paper and using Mod Podge (obviously my favorite transfer medium) I transferred a photo taken recently in downtown Los Angeles.

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Shiny image transfer

As you probably know you can transfer images to a great number of different surfaces such as: photo papers, canvas, wood, ceramic tile and so on. And so obviously experimenting with different surfaces is one enjoyable aspect of image transfer.
One of my favorite surfaces to transfer to is aluminum foil and recently I decided it will probably be a good idea to mount these transfer on a canvas panel so they don’t tear easily as they might when they are kept loose.
So all you need to do here is take a canvas panel or any other firm surface of your choice and using Mod Podge cover it with aluminum foil.
And now you have your surface ready to receive the transfer.
Here, when covering the 8”X6” canvas panel I made sure to smoothen the surface before transferring the image (taken at the Metropolitan Museum in Manhattan) onto the foil.

And here I actually crumpled in the foil and didn’t smoothen it when covering the canvas in order to create a textured surface.

Color image transfer (Polaroid)

The only difference between color and black & white image transfer is that the color Xerox is printed on a higher quality paper than the black & white Xerox copy.
Therefore it needs more time to dry and also it requires a bit more effort to remove the left-over paper (step 5). But otherwise it is the same basic process.

Transfer to Polaroid

Everybody knows what a Polaroid transfer is but what is a Transfer to Polaroid?
Ok, so this is what it’s all about:
A few days ago I realized I kept around a few Polaroids that didn’t turn out good; some of them didn’t even develop. Why I kept them is a whole different issue, but the fact is that I did and now I was looking at these Polaroids thinking “hmmmm.. there must be Something I can do with these nogoodniks… but what?”
And then, as it often happens, I had a marvelous idea; how about transferring an image onto the hopeless Polaroid, so the Polaroid acts as the receiving surface. What a brilliant idea! I thought to myself.
(As you see, I was quite impressed with myself.)
But anyway, now to the technical details:
1. In order to prepare the Polaroid to receive the image it is necessary to de-gloss the surface by lightly sanding it.
2. The next step in preparation is to coat the image area of the Polaroid with Gesso so the surface is unified.
3. After choosing the image to transfer it is important to trim it to the size of the Polaroid.
4. After covering the image with Mod Podge or any other gel medium it is placed face down and pressed onto the Polaroid.
5. The transfer must be completely dry before spraying the back of the transfer with water and removing the access paper to reveal the transfer.
6. When spraying the final transfer Polaroid with clear protective spray it’s a good idea to use a gloss finish to restore the appearance of the Polaroid’s original shine.

The really cool thing about this transfer technique is that after it is done you end up holding an actual Polaroid in your hand.

{Let me know if anything is unclear as I don’t think you’ll find any information about this process anywhere else }

Paint transfer

Though I always look for new ways to transfer images I was quite surprised when one mixed media book mentioned paint transfer. So of course I had to give it a try first chance I’ve got. And obviously I was delightfully surprised to find out that using paint for image transfer actually works.
1) The very first step is to choose the right image to transfer. I chose a mirrored Xerox copy of a black and white picture I took in NYC near Madison Square Garden. The reason I chose this image is because it has good details but also a bunch of light areas where the paint will be visible.
2) I covered the image with standard yellow and orange acrylic paints and placed it face down and pressed it onto a 5”X7” canvas panel.
3) After a few hours when the transfer was dry, I sprayed water on the back and began peeling and rubbing off the excess paper to reveal the image.
4) The final step, as always is to protect the image with clear UV protection.

Photo transfer with mixed media

What you need:
1) Inkjet photo or laser photocopy (black & white or color)
2) Canvas Panel
3) Mod Podge
4) Mixed media materials (such as designer papers, newspapers, stamps etc.
5) Water spray bottle
6) Acrylic paints
7) UV-resistant clear finish

1. To create a similar artwork begin with any size canvas panel (12” X 9” in this case)
2. Using Mod Podge cover the canvas with textured papers (sometimes called designer or decorated paper), old newspapers and other found objects such as ticket stubs and stamps. 3) At this point, it’s a good idea to brush this layer with a coat of Mod Podge or any other gel medium for better hold and protection.

4. Next, transfer a photo of your choice, you can transfer an inkjet image printed onto a STANDARD printer copy paper or use a toner based photocopy of your photo. For this transfer I chose a photo of Manhattan Bridge which I took from Brooklyn Bridge in 2004. I chose this picture because it has a nice contrast between the shadows and highlights areas. Before transferring it I printed a mirror image of this picture with my inkjet printer, then took it to Kinkos and made a Xerox copy of it. (Generally Xerox copies have longer life than inkjet printouts).
5. In order to transfer the image, coat your photo with a nice amount of Mod Podge (any Gel medium can be used here instead) and placed it face down into the background layer canvas. Using your fingers gently smooth out any air bubbles.
6. Set aside and let it completely dry. If you are using an inkjet printout it only needs about 20 minutes to dry but a photocopy requires a few hours, however for better results it is recommended that you let it dry over night.
7. After the transfer is dry spray the back of it with enough water (no need to soak) in order to rub off and remove the paper back which you can do using your fingers but you can also use a damp sponge. (Make sure to repeat this step as many time as needed to remove all the excess paper or otherwise the transfer will have a white ghost-like layer over it.)

eBook: So much more than Photography

Tutorials include: image transfers, texture layering, mixed media, hand painted photos and much more. $10 DOWNLOAD

8. When the transfer is ready you can use watered-down acrylic paints to add some color in different areas for added interest. In addition you can use distressed ink around the borders.
9. And finally don’t forget to protect your masterpiece with a UV-resistant clear finish.

And now you know what I do on cold rainy nights.

You can find this process and many others, along with steps and process pictures in my new book:
So Much More than Photography
eBook edition Price: $10
Print edition Price: $35

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