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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

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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

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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.

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  ^_^

inkjet image transfer II

Here is the second inkjet/printer image transfer I made. It is done exactly the same way the previous image transfer was done except this time I didn’t print the image on a standard contact sheet.
Instead I printed it on a clear sheet protector that has pockets; I believed they are used to hold baseball cards or something like that.
Anyway, this is just another approach to image transfer.
So what did we learn today? We learned that the great thing about image transfer is that it allows countless ways of doing it.
Go ahead, give it a try; I’m sure you’ll make me so proud

One way. New York City 2004. Black and white image transfer.

Inkjet image transfer

This morning I was longing to make some good ol’ fashion image transfer, and though image transfer is not a huge production, still, I had no time to spare.
However, one little disorder I suffer from is that once I have an idea in my head I can’t get rid of it no matter how hard I try.
And then it hit me: inkjet transfer! duh!
Inkjet or printer transfer is a method I came up with a couple of years ago and as far as I know, I don’t believe anybody else is performing inkjet transfer quite the same way, which is OK, no, actually its great.
Inkjet transfer, like I mentioned before, is a really fast and a no-brainer method (no wonder this brain came up with it).
I think in a way my technique of printer transfer is so simple that it completely confuses some people; I always get lengthy emails asking me puzzling questions about this process. It definitely takes longer to write these emails than making the actual transfer
OK, so this is how it’s done:
1) Print a mirror image of your chosen image onto any kind of plastic sheet; I usually use a standard sheet protector.
2) Once the printing is done, and since this kind of a medium will not absorb the ink, the ink will remain wet. All you need to do now is transfer the image onto any type of photographic paper by pressing the print face down into your paper of choice.

So I made two transfers this morning: the one here (taken in NYC in 2000) and a second one which I made the same way but with a twist. I’ll share it with you next time. So stay tuned and don’t touch that mouse!

Inkjet printing on special paper

I don’t know much about inkjet printing, but every once in a while I like to get some special printing paper and either transfer images onto this paper or just print my latest images.
A couple of weeks ago I found a sample pack of Inkpress digital media paper.
It has 23 different print papers, such as Watercolor Rag, Cool Tone, Fiber Gloss and
Luster Duo ( I have no idea what it means).
So I chose to first try the Matte Canvas but to add a twist I printed to the wrong side.
It might be hard to tell from the scanned version but this print turned out pretty cool.
I think I’m going to frame it.

This picture was taken on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles.

Why do you even photograph?

This was not planned or anticipated in any way when I began taking pictures, but now, I find the main benefit of photography for me is that every picture takes me flying back in time not only to the event or occasion, no, my going back in time is much deeper than the usual picture-memory association. My pictures take me into a dark forgotten locked channel of awareness that otherwise would have stayed locked forever. If you experienced it you know what I’m talking about.

But this is merely the value of photography; this is not why I photograph.
The main reason I take pictures, and will always take pictures, is that I love this place.
And because I love this place I want to illustrate and forever preserve its existence, the truth and the depth of it which I’m grateful I’ll never understand.
But don’t let big words fool you; it is a lot simpler than it sounds

And I have faith in you, my dear two readers; I have no doubt you can come up with a better explanation to an otherwise perplexing drive we have to photograph everything around us.

Downtown San Francisco. Holga. inkjet transfer

good day bad memory

When I discovered a printout of this picture, I just couldn’t remember how on earth I achieved this distinctive effect. I suppose I created it about two years or so ago and that’s apparently way too long for someone with a demanding schedule as myself to be able to remember such fine details (and obviously I’d rather not blame it on age). But finally after pondering between inkjet transfer and textured layer I had a moment of rare recollection and I realized this picture was in fact featured in my latest book;
I am not an artist
In the book under the picture it says:
Camera: Holga Film: Kodak 400VC
Place: Downtown San Francisco
Technique: negative scanned through a clear sheet protector.

There you go.

Make earth friendly photo art

After a good deal of experimentation with mixed-media-transfer I cannot but conclude there’s no substitute to using Xerox photocopies instead of inkjet printouts. Not only the Xerox transfer is more stable and therefore you have more control over it (which can also be a bad thing if you like the unexpected) but also the transfer is guarantee to last longer than an inkjet transfer will. The problem with the ink is that it has a shorter life span and sadly it does not handle water very well, so just a little bit of moisture can do great harm to your masterpiece.
Honestly, I’m not that happy about these findings mainly because I very much rather using inkjet printouts as I can print out whatever I want on the fly, and that’s how I prefer working, without extra planning. But it is what it is.
Anyway, the main reason I’m writing about mixed-media-transfer yet again, is that I would like to recommend that if you are interested in doing image transfers, do consider the mixed-media thing. I myself like it very much because of the special appearance of the end result and because it involves the therapeutic process of tearing, assembling and pasting. I often use found objects, meaning movie tickets, used stamps, spam mail, newspapers etc. Actually one of my favorite things to use is the little paper bag they put my sushi in at Whole Foods, it has red stripes and it states “stay cool” so I try to stay cool and I use these paper bags in every mixed media piece I make. The reason I mention it is that not only the mixed-media-transfer has a unique appearance; it is also Earth friendly and a much better way to recycle; no doubt it is the most energy efficient recycling method.
And by the way, before you transfer the image onto these mixed media things, you can scan them and use them as backgrounds with your texture layer technique.

Mixed media with image transfer and photo prints

This mixed media collage is actually a test piece where I was experimenting with different materials.
I chose an 11X14 canvas board and partially covered it with pieces of an old newspaper and different textured papers. I used mod podge to adhere the papers to the canvas. The mod podge also acts a protective finish. In order to add some color to the mix I used acrylic paints which I often favor as they dry quite fast.
I experimented with different type of printed cutouts. I used inkjet and also professional photo prints. No doubt the professional ones worked much better while the inkjet was not as sturdy and water resistant.
I also experimented with two types of image transfer. The inkjet transfer (done with mod podge) was weaker and somewhat faded (the birds are inkjet transfer). The Xerox transfer worked out perfectly and definitely justified the effort of making photocopies and of course the long wait for the transfer to take place. But of course the choice between photocopy transfer and a printer transfer completely depends on the look and feel one is trying to achieve.
I even tried drawing… but soon decided its not really my best talent and I should probably give it up.
Overall I liked using transfers with the mixed media collage over the photo prints mainly for two reasons: 1) using photographic prints didn’t feel like they are going to be long lasting and they might just come off some day in the future. 2) The image transfers simply blend in much better with the other elements of the mixed media artwork.
So here it is. Not yet a masterpiece.

Mixed media transfer

Yesterday I made a couple of mixed media transfers, experimenting with different backgrounds, when I discovered something new.
Usually when I do image transfers from an inkjet printer I make sure to begin separating the transfer from the paper after about 15-30 minutes when I feel the transfer medium is sufficiently dry. I always assumed that if I waited too long the paper will be too difficult to remove and the transfer won’t work. But not so.
As it turned out, after applying the transfer medium yesterday I had to leave home and couldn’t attend to the transfers only a few hours later that night. By then the transfers were completely dry so I had to apply some more water than usual. However, unlike my dark prophecy I found out that the paper comes apart quite easily, and not only that, but the transfer had developed nicely and was pretty resistant to my abuse and turned out rather perfect.
So perfect that I had to use an artist knife to make it look a bit weathered
So there it is. Let it sit for a while and let it do its thing.

Coffee stains

When People see this picture they often ask me to describe how I photoshoped it.
They think I used some layer texture process or something.
But actually this picture was not processed in Photoshop or any other photo editor.
It is originally a picture taken in Ashbury-Haight (San Francisco) with a cross-processed Fujichrome Provia-F 100 (RHP-III) Color Slide Film.
It was then professionally printed (by dotphoto.com) on a matte finish paper. It is necessary to have the photo professionally printed as the following steps would not work with an inkjet print.
The print was then directly (lightly)sanded and finally coffee stained.
Quite simple.

Tile image transfer

As I promised previously, here are the details on transferring an image
into a standard tile.
You can purchase any of these standard tiles, at various sizes, at any hardware store such as Home Depot. They are priced quite low, something like 13 cents for a 4”X4” white tile. As far as the image goes, you can use an inkjet printout but in order to ensure longevity and durability it is recommended to transfer a Xerox photocopy of your image. Don’t forget to copy a mirror image of your photo, especially if the picture includes text.
Before beginning the transfer I apply something called permEnamel surface conditioner to the tile. It is definitely not a necessary step but it’s a good idea to do it since the Surface Conditioner prepares the surface to accept the image and help them bond together. Next, brush mod podge onto the surface of the tile and place the image face down. Let the transfer take place for as long as you can stand it, preferably over night. Now, wet the tile thoroughly and begin rubbing off the access paper with your fingers until the image is magically revealed. Last step will be spraying krylon permanent protective finish.
Done!
You can now include it with any other project, use as a coaster or even frame it;
it makes a great display!

Putting together an image transfer

When working on an image or inkjet transfer there are two ways of combining a few images or, like in this case, parts of the same image.
You can print the pieces out separately and then join them together in a collage when transferring onto the receiving surface. Or, for a more precise result, simply join the images together on the computer in your photo editor before printing and transferring.

By the way, the above image was chosen to be the February icon of the inkjet transfer group on Flickr. Pretty cool, no?

Film photography

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If you are familiar with my blog you already know that for the most part I prefer shooting film cameras over digital any day. Don’t get me wrong, I like digital cameras just fine and I can definitely recognize the great advantage of shooting digital. It lets you shoot freely without distressing about the cost of film and with
immediate gratification, therefore it permits a faster learning curve. . When I travel there’s no substitute for the convenience and immediacy of digital. (I traveled with film cameras in the past
and I have no intention of ever repeating this mistake again!)
But then again, I believe these same qualities of digital photography in fact have done us a great disservice -
it made us lazy photographers.
I know of some photographers* who shoot tens of mindless images of the same scene hoping that at least one of them is going to turn out a good one.
This practice can very well corrupt the value of photography.
Even more perplexing to me is that many websites and books about digital photography encourage the photographer to do just that; take as many pictures of the same thing as your memory card will allow you, after all, digital is free and it’s always easy to delete the bad ones…
Other than the obvious fact that I prefer the look and feel of film (though I’m sure nowadays this appearance can be easily duplicated in Photoshop), and oddly I even appreciate the delay associated with film, maybe the main reason I prefer film is that it lets me photograph without agonizing about image quality.
Digital cameras on the other hand, loaded with pixels and fancy features, are manufactured and designed to produce sharp, polished, color-correct and superior images. And you’d better aspire to top quality images or else you will surely offend the great designers, manufacturers and gurus of these cameras.
Most importantly, I find that many photographers who use film, often alternate between film and digital which is quite clever, because nobody should be forced to choose only one method for taking pictures.

* * * * * * * *

So what’s up with film photography lately?
Here’s a quick update:

1) After Kodak announced they are discontinuing their infrared film (HIE-135) back in November due to a decline in demand, this month they issued yet another list of discontinued film such as the EKTACHROME 400X Professional Film.
2) According to recent articles in papers, such as the NY Times, film processing locations are declining.
3) My favorite film Kodak T400cn has been discontinued! (in fact a few years ago). However, its not all bad news as this film did not just vanish but it was replaced with another similar film: Kodak Professional BW400CN.

Last week, while picking up my film, I was approached by a woman in the camera store (which is now selling mostly digital cameras, printing from digital and even recently displaying inkjet printers at the front of the store. And as if this was not enough insult, lately the film department was reduced in size and moved to the back of the store) anyway, the woman looked at my film and said it was very interesting to see someone who’s still using this dying breed.
And I thought; Give me a break! It was only a few years ago, that people saw a digital camera and had no idea what it was.
And now, how quickly it happened, film is as extinct as a dinosaur?

Saying all this, however, I noticed the growing number of toy cameras offered not only in obvious places like camera stores but also in unexpected trendy fashion stores such as Urban Outfitters.
I’m sure it means toy cameras, while becoming popular, are also going to grow more expensive.
But than again, it also means that more people are going to use film!

You can find this article and many other photo processes in my new book:
So Much More than Photography
eBook edition Price: $10
Kindle edition Price: $10
Print edition Price: $35 (Now on sale for $25.20)
Black & White print edition Price: $20

Related:
long live film photography
The (ridiculous) price of a film camera
Why I prefer film
Where do you get your film?

hollywood nights on film

something about photography books

Whenever I enter a bookstore I’m naturally always drawn to the photography section.
I know I’ve mentioned (or should I say complained about) it before but what is it about photography that makes people keep writing the same stuff over and over?
Excluding books about specialized printing processes, most photography books out there offer the same tedious advice on how to make great pictures that sell.
Yeah, yeah yeah, we already heard everything about composition, light, camera settings, angles, lines, textures, colors blah blah.
It almost seems they all find their information and inspiration at the same source…
Not too creative I’m afraid.
All the rest of the books out there, including a couple of toy camera books I found, for the most part fall under the category of collecting and displaying of photos.

So if you know of any CREATIVE photo making books, with something new to offer, I would love to hear about it.
Meanwhile I will keep my eyes open

The Presedio, San Francisco. Inkjet transfer.

preserving your inkjet photos

As some of my experiments are done with inkjet prints, the issue of preserving these photos was naturally an obvious concern.
So this is what you can do in order to protect and improve the longevity of the photos:
1) Coat your work with UV moisture resistant clear finish. It will protect and double the life of your image.
2) Like with any other photo you should keep your photo in a dark moisture-free place and keeping it in a protective sleeve will help too.
3) Using archival ink and permanent papers will ensure longevity.
4) Its always a good idea to have a high res digital copy.

The above photo, taken in Richmond Virginia, was printed on watercolor paper,
soaked and sun dried.