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.

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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.