Category Archives: Arts and crafts

Transfer photos to wood surfaces

My new color laserjet has arrived yesterday, so I had to make good use of it quick. I’ve used my earlier Barcelona sunset photo, bought some transfer solution and scrabbed the image on the wooden box I keep my charcoal/graphite drawing set in:

The final “product” after some acrylic protective coating

It’s not rocket science – print the mirrored image, lay it on the surface and use some masking tape to keep it in place. Gently go thorugh the surface with a q-tip and use an old plastic card to scratch the paint particles on the surface of the wood. Note: laminated surfaces (which cannot absorb the excess liquid won’t work, i’ve tried), also use a mask and good ventillation if you don’t want to get high from the stuff. It smells like orange btw!

Here is how it looks like during the process:

Wooden box and the laser print soaked in transfer liquid

After you are done applying the solution and scratching the photo to it’s new location, gently remove the paper and apply some protective coating on the surface.

The orinal photo as reference:

Barcelona box sunset
Barcelona box sunset

Note: this won’t work with inkjet prints, for that you’ll need a tranfer gel medium.