Image Transfer

Ranked #182 in Arts & Design, #1,836 overall

Image Transfer Methods for Art and Craft Purposes

A collection of image transfer methods.  Check out the "Featured Image Transfer" module!  Image transfer techniques have become popular among artists, artisans and crafters, especially for collages and many types of altered art, as well as on fabric for quilts and t-shirts.  Here you will find links to instructions for the various types of image transfer using inkjet, photocopy, laser, polaroid pictures,  magazine images, photographs, etc. onto a variety of surfaces including paper, fabric and polymer clay.

Image by Kwanz on Flickr using a Creative Commons Commercial-Use License.

Featured Image Transfer

38.212 degrees N, -122.337 degrees by tea-and-biscuits on Flickr

Inkjet Image Transfer

There was so much information about inkjet image transfer I had to make a lens just for it.
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Ideas For Using Image Transfers

Pick one you like and vote for it!

Make a Polymer Clay Pendant

See instructions in the polymer clay module below.11 points

Transfer a Rusty Object Image to Fabric

Find the link with instructions in the module belo more...6 points

Make a Digital Polaroid Image Transfer in Photoshop

Find the link with instructions in the module belo more...5 points

Make "ancient" pottery

Find the how-to in the links below.3 points

Make a Transparent Photograph for a Scrapbook Page.

See below for instructions how.3 points

Make a Self Portrait Mask with Photos and Polymer Clay

See the link below that says Lazertran Polymer Por more...3 points

Make a Paper Bag Scrapbook with Tape Image Transfers

See YouTube Video towards the bottom of this page more...3 points

Make a Warhol-esque Art Piece with your Photos.

See below for how-to instructions.2 points

Make an Art Card from a transferred Rubber Stamp image

See the link below that says Easy Ink Transfer Car more...2 points

Make a Collage Using My Faux Image Transfer Technique

Scroll down to see how.2 points

Make a Faux Italian Fresco Art Piece

See instructions below "interesting image tra more...1 point

Make a Fabric Book Cover

See instructions in the fabric module.0 points

Transfers and Altered Images

#5342 Transfers and Altered Images

Amazon Price: $8.81 (as of 02/13/2012)Buy Now

Interesting Image Transfer Methods

These Don't Fit Into Just One Category

Common Transfer Techniques
An outline of different technique with some nice images of finished art.
Great White transfer technique
Great White transfer technique by Lisa Cook. Look in the "supplies" module for the link to get the paper she used.
Various Transfer Techniques to Hard, Smooth Surfaces
Everything from Inkjet to Laser Printer to Pencil to Ink...
Digital Darkroom Forum: How to do gel transfer (Xerox, not Polaroid)?
Different responses to the question of how to transfer a photocopy using gel medium.
Several Different Transfer Techniques
Tape, Gel, Blender Pen, etc.
Easy Ink Transfer Cards: Create Ink Transfer Image Cards with Rubber Stamps
Speciality tools and products make ink transfer an easy option for card making. Norma Anne Chattin demonstrates how easy it is to create depth and dimension in card art.
Acrylic gel medium transfers
Detailed description of the acrylic transfer process with pictures.
Photoshop How-To: Recreating Polaroid Image Transfers
Here's how to digitally recreate the look of dry, emulsion, and SX-70 transfers.
Transfer a Rusty Object Image to Fabric
Transfer rust patterns to fabric. Very cool.
Chart of Different Transfer Methods
Handy chart.
Image Transfer Techniques on "Still Alive"
A couple of different image transfer techniques, one using Modge Podge and the other a clear sheet protector.
Thursday’s Tutorial: Packing Tape Transfers » ScrapScene
How to make packing tape decals.
Image Transfer Methods Tutorials
From caulk to waxed paper transfers and everything in between, Cyndi has created some very nice transfer tutorials at her Layers Upon Layers blog.
Fresco Tile
A video showing how to make a tile using the Tilano fresco tile kit.

Watch Various Image Transfer Methods Demonstrated

Artist Trading Card Swap- Gel Medium Transfers and Gesso
by Milliande | video info

42 ratings | 39,918 views
curated content from YouTube

Image Transfer Methods for Photocopies & Laser Prints to Paper

Photocopy Image Transfer
The method described uses "cellulose thinner" or Xylene.
Image Transfer For Card Making And Scrapbooking Made Easy
If you want to transfer images easily with no fuss and mess, just get some clear cellophane tapes and follow the step by step instructions.
Photocopy Transfers Using Solvents by Melissa Chapin
Toxic, but effective.
Scrapbooking : Simple Image Transfer : DIY Network
Create a see-through image on your scrapbook page using clear packing tape, duplicate photos, and water.
Imitating Art - Warhol-esque Project
Uses image transfer techniques to make a Warhol-like canvas with photographs.
Photo Transfer Art : Home & Garden Television
Use photocopies to add an aged look to favorite pictures or art.
Tools of the Trade: Transfer an Image
How to use a Chartpak Blender Marker to transfer images. (Kansas City Artist Trading Cards blog.)
Omni-Gel Image Transfer Tutorial ~ The Spotted Sparrow
Tutorial on how to use Omni Gel Image Transfer medium.

Packing Tape Image Transfer Demo

ScrapTheWorld.TV Scrapbook Show: Image Transfer
by scraptheworld | video info

22 ratings | 22,759 views
curated content from YouTube

Image Transfer Methods for Photocopies & Laser Prints to Fabric

Ranger Ink Perfect Fabric Medium: Postage Stamp Pillow Pendant
Create a fabric transfer pendant.
Ranger Ink Primitive Patchwork Sachet
Use Perfect Pearls, Perfect Fabric Medium and Adirondack® Colorwash to create this pearly, vintage style sachet

Image Transfer Methods for Photocopies & Laser Prints to Polymer Clay

"Ancient Pottery" - Transfers to Polymer Clay
A lesson plan for making a small pieces of faux ancient pottery using photocopied designs for decoration.
Liquid Clay Image-Transfer Purse:
Complete how-to from HGTV.
Jewelry : Image Transfer Pendant
A polymer clay project from Donna Kato on the Carol Duvall Show.
Lazertran Polymer Clay Tutorial
Scroll down the page to see an example of using Lazertran Silk on polymer clay.

Sheer Heaven Photo Transfer Tutorial

Sheer Heaven Inkjet Transfer Tutorial
by jwesolek | video info

143 ratings | 113,406 views
curated content from YouTube

Polaroid Image Transfer

Needs special equipment but is a cool technique!

Polaroid Transfer Tutorial at Sarah Wichlacz
Blog entry with instructions for polaroid transfers.
My Polaroid Transfers. Stories behind Images. How to start.
Polaroid image and emulsion transfers. Tools & techniques. Personal projects. How to start Polaroid transfers.
Cheap and Cool Photos
Clear instructions on how to do both an image transfer and an emulsion image transfer using Polaroid pictures.

Rub-Onz Transfer Film

Grafix Clear Rub-Onz Inkjet Laser Film, 8-1/2-Inch by 11-Inch, 4-Pack

Amazon Price: $5.86 (as of 02/13/2012)Buy Now

Design your own rub-on transfers! Customize your own fonts, photos and clip art to adhere to all kinds of surfaces. Rub-Onz transfer film comes with 2 films; a Frosted film for drawing or printing your design and an Adhesive film with a blue liner.

Image Transfer Supplies for Artists, Artisans and Crafters

Product Discovery: JudiKins TranzIt Rinse-Away Paper
A cellulose based transfer paper for use with laser printers and copiers (NOT inkjet printers).
Transfer papers for artists - Lazertran
Lazertran papers - premium waterslide decal transfer papers for Fine Artists & Crafters
JONATHAN TALBOT: TACKING IRONS /IMAGE TRANSFER PAPER
TACKING IRONS / RELEASE PAPER / IMAGE TRANSFER PAPER / MORE
TAP - Transfer Artist Paper by Leslie Riley
One of the experts of image transfer has developed her own line of inkjet transfer paper.
Tilano
Different image transfer kits from tiles to magnets to glass, etc.

Image Transfer Medium

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Books Containing Image Transfer Techniques

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Other Books With a Few Pages About Image Transfer

And a lot of other cool stuff!

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My Faux Image Transfer Method

For When You Want a Sharp Image

Image copyright Gretchen Little.

Okay...I made this lens not because I do a lot of image transfer but because I was looking for good information about it for artists and found a lot of garbage to wade through. The librarian in me couldn't resist a chance to create order out of chaos. BUT...I do like the distressed look and idea of an image transfer, although I also like the end result to be a crisp black image. Therefore I invented my own way of getting a faux transferred image look. I use it for paper collage whether the receiving surface is paper, canvas, wood, etc.


This is what I do:
  1. I print out an image on my laser printer, but a photocopy will work too. Inkjet prints will bleed if you paint on top of them, but the toner from the laser printer or photocopier is waterproof and even acts as a resist 90% of the time.
  2. At this point I can color the image either with paint, ink, pastels, colored pencils, etc. I use watered down acrylic paint or watercolors. I keep a paper towel handy to blot paint that gets too opaque where I don't want it to, although that can add to the image transfer effect. Sometimes I wait to color it until I've attached it to the rest of the collage.
  3. I like to tear my image and leave the edges rough, but it doesn't really matter. Depends on how distressed a look you want.
  4. The I attach the image to the substrate. I've been using gel medium lately having experimented with just about everything else. It wrinkles sometimes but that just adds texture.
  5. I will usually put another layer of color on after the gel medium has dried. Sometimes I'll rubber stamp on top of the image. Overlapping onto the artwork underneath with color and stamping makes the edges less noticeable.
  6. And that's it! You'll end up with something like the image at the top of this module. It is actually a combination of this method and a partial image transfer from a technique I learned from Claudine Hellmuth's DVD and then modified. The words and heart were done as described here, but the spirals were put face down after being coated with gel medium, then the paper was lifted off before completely dry. That left a clear image with some of the fibers from the paper but they are practically transparent when painted and just add texture to the canvasette underneath.

1930's Waxed Paper Transfer

My parents told me that when they were kids they used to spend hours transferring the Sunday newspaper comics by rubbing them with waxed paper, then rubbing the waxed paper with the transferred comics onto other paper.

Fave Artists Blogs/Sites

Jack and Cat Curio
Two mixed media artists based in Phoenix, Arizona. We crave all things: old and rusty, vaudeville and burlesque,pinups and rockabilly, voodoo and magic, carnivals and circus acts, old locks and keys, romance and Paris, silent film & Hollywood, vamps and sirens, murder and mayhem, ghosts and hauntings, breakfast and coffee, legends and myth,Broadway and Ziegfeld, music and comics, Heroes and villains
"T"eresa Stanton
This is a collection of "T"eresa's image transfer art on Flickr. She also has an Etsy store called ARTicles by Teresa that's worth checking out.

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Intuitive

I am a licensed massage therapist, artist, crafter, blogger, foodie, and Second Life enthusiast. more »

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Image Transfer Workshop 

Mixed-Media Techniques for Successful Transfers

Image Transfer Workshop: Mixed-Media Techniques for Successful Transfers

Amazon Price: $7.99 (as of 02/13/2012)Buy Now

Image Transfer Workshop introduces you to a vast number of transfer techniques (complete with finished art samples) that go well beyond the rudimentary tape and gel transfers found in other books.

The Creative Squid 

Creativity + Squidoo

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