Digital Image Transfer Tutorial

By Christine Nay

Supply List

1. Collaged Background.  I used an 8x10 canvas collaged with Basic Grey Capella design paper, acrylic craft paint and my favorite soul glue, Mod Podge!
2. Gel Medium.  I like to use Matte Medium because I don’t like much sheen.  You can use gloss or other finishes as well.  The brand and type doesn’t matter.  I’ve read that you can also  use Mod Podge as well as acrylic paints for a transfer medium.
3. Paint Brush or other item (spatula, craft spreader, expired credit card) to used to spread the medium.
4. Photo Copied Image.  I’m lucky that my ink jet printer works for this use but many don’t.  If the ink isn’t water fast, it’s possible that the transfer will not work or will be faded and blurred.  Try it on a safe surface before doing it on your collage.  My image is just printed on the Inkjet printer paper that I get at Walmart.  I don’t think it really matters what type of paper, however.  I think that the lighter weight the better.  I haven’t done it yet but you can also use patterned paper, magazine pages, old book pages, etc., for this process.
5. Spray Bottle and Water.

Step 1.  Spread Gel Medium.

Spread a thin coat of gel medium over the surface on which the image will be placed.  It must be thick enough that no part dries before the image is placed down.

Step 2.  Place the Image.

Place the image directly on top of the layer of gel medium that you just put down.  With a brayer, craft scraper or old credit card, starting on the inside of the image, smooth the image out towards the outside smoothing any wrinkles.  Sometimes with these vintage images, however, wrinkles can add some character.

While you are smoothing, some of the gel medium will come out.  I just continued to scrape that gel off of the canvas.

Step 3. Let it Dry!!!

As the paper dries, the image is transferred from the paper onto your prepped surface.

Now, this is the most important part.  Give it plenty of time to dry.  How do I know you ask?

This is how I know.  I’m not afraid to share my mistakes!!!

I started the process on another canvas.  I applied the image and let it dry for a bit (maybe a couple of hours) while I was doing laundry and stuff.  When I sat back down to peel the paper off, part of the image came off as well.  These spots were still wet.

For the next attempt, I spread just as much gel medium on the canvas but removed more during step 2 while smoothing the image.  Plus, I let it dry overnight!!!

Step 4.  Remove Paper.

(Sorry for the photo quality.  I was working on this at night.)

I used a spray bottle to soak down the image before attempting to remove the paper. 

I let it sit for about 5 minutes, dried the surface with a rag and started peeling.  This is a very tedious process, especially with an image this big but be patient and take care.  If you try to take the paper off before it is wet enough or try to peel too much paper, you will end up smearing the  ink.  Thankfully I was able to fix those spots on this canvas because I had the collagey, vintage thing going and that just adds a bit if character.  That’s what I’m telling myself anyway. *giggle*

You will need to alternate between spraying, waiting and peeling until you have all the paper removed.    This is really the hard part because it takes so much patience, for me anyway, to not continue peeling when it’s not quite ready.

Some people like to use a sponge to help in peeling the paper.  I just used my fingers but I rubbed it gently with a rag after I was finished to remove any bits that strayed.  I probably should have let it dry completely and then wipe with a damp rag but I’m too impatient!

I left a VERY thin layer of paper on my collage because I didn’t want the background to completely show threw.

Step 5.  Embellish.

Finish and embellish as you wish.  I made a quick wash using the same colors as the background and covered the entire canvas so the whole thing would look cohesive.  Then I added two more coats of Mod Podge.

While the Mod Podge was still wet, I placed a strip of lace and then, after the Podge was dry, I glued the buttons down with craft glue.  Warning:  Hot glue does not stick to Mod Podge!  That’s another one I learned from experience.  I’ve been re-gluing a lot of stuff!!!

And that’s it.  I embellished this very simply because this is one of a series of collages that I plan to make and hang in my guest bathroom.  I’ll probably make some changes to the embellishments of all the collages once they are all hanging in the room.

I hope you learned something from my tutorial.  I know that I will be using the technique often.

You can use gel medium to transfer onto just about any surface.  Next up, I’m trying it on fabric to make a wall hanging or pillow.