Photo transfer onto wood

[Gary W. Graley]

Hi folks, I recently tried my hand at transferring a photo onto a wood plank that I routed two grooves in that I put on top of an open drawer on my desk, making a small side portion of the desk. I glued two sections up to get the size I needed and sanded it down smooth.

Then I took a sheet of printer label,
Remove ALL the labels so you just have the slick side
Print onto THAT side, the ink will not soak in as it is a waxy smooth surface
I lay a strip of tape sticky side up on the wood and lay the sheet of paper down onto that
Carefully FLIP the paper over and align it up, I let the middle of the paper bow down naturally and let it set itself down onto the wood
Press the tape down onto the wood, TAKING CARE not to move or shift the paper as that will smear the image
Then carefully smooth along the back of the paper...again do NOT let it slide/shift around and press down so the image is being put onto the wood.

Remove the paper carefully up and let it set to dry for a short while
Take a can of clear spray lacquer and spray a coat over the image to preserve it and prevent it from being smeared

and voila Shiny !

an 8 x 10" photo onto my wood desk addition

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

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[jaseman]

The other way to achieve this is with laser printed image (I’m assuming you used an inkjet printer). Take your laser print, place it face down where you want it, then run a hot iron over it to heat-transfer the toner from the paper to wood.

The advantage to a laser print is that you can take your time positioning it, as well as having a crisper final product. The disadvantage is that it requires a more expensive laser printer, which most people don’t have sitting around at home... but you can always take your file to Kinkos or such and have them print it for a buck.

I recently did this to make some stencils for wood burning some stuff for Christmas gifts. I’ve only done it once, but from what I saw looking up instructions, you can do some pretty interesting transfers. Not just on wood, but fabric, leather, and all sorts of subtrates.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Yep, ink jet printer it was, thanks for the tip on the laser printer deal, worth a shot too but more expensive, I'll have to see if there's a kinko's around here. For now, for what I am doing, it's not too bad
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[jaseman]

Since I’ve just been printing out stencils for wood burning, b&w has been perfect for me. Plus, I don’t have any printer at home anymore, as I rarely used them and the ink dries up so quick when they sit around.

Kinkos, Office Depot/Office Max, or any of those types of places will all be able to do laser up to 11x17, both color and b&w. Anything bigger, and you’ll be stuck with b&w as you have them do it on the machine the output blueprints on, but it can be done.

Most places have a minimum charge, so even if it’s 34 cents a copy, you may be paying the $2 minimum for just one print. But, most libraries will let you print for free if your just doing one.

Probably more info than you want or need, but I’m always looking into new ways to create things. It’s the designer in me...

 

[Gary W. Graley]

my old board was looking kinda worn out, not in the good way of wear so I got some 1x6 and jointed them together to form another table, this one is a bit flatter than the old one. And a new printer gave a nicer rendition onto the wood as well, more refined and crisp, looks pretty nice I think,

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

especially when compared with the old one, I was not kind to it,

Untitled by GaryWGraley, on Flickr


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