Graphics Transfer Using Inkjet Printer

I found this table at a garage sale for $5.00.  It’s a very heavy, solid piece so I bought it.  I started with two coats of cream Chalk Paint.  I really wanted to add a graphic from The Graphics Fairy but didn’t want to go through any of the processes I had seen online.  I had read somewhere that you could use an ink jet printer to transfer to wood so I thought I’d give it a try.  

After a bit of practice on scraps of wood, this is the technique I came up with and it worked really well.  You’ll use a sheet of peel off labels and remove all of the labels leaving you with the waxy paper. 

For this technique, I found a simple image worked best.  If it is too finely detailed, it ends up looking ‘muddy’.  I chose this image that is mostly letters.

Print your image on the WAX side of the paper (remember to reverse it if there are words/letters in the image) and then using a heat gun, dry it completely.  This is important.  Even letting it dry by itself for hours, doesn’t completely dry the ink and it will smear when you lay it down on the wood!

 

Lay the image face down on the painted surface and secure with painter’s tape.  Using something like a plastic scraper (I used a sample of chipboard) rub and rub and rub. 

You can peel back the paper periodically to see if there are any areas you’ve missed.  Once you’re satisfied with the results, remove the paper. You can reuse the paper by simply wiping off the image with a damp cloth.  This one I obviously couldn’t because I chose to cut it so it made centering the image easier.

Using the heat gun again, go over the entire image to make sure it is dry.  Don’t hold the gun over any one area too long or too close or it may bubble. Gently, and using a soft cloth instead of a brush, apply a coat of wax (I used clear).  Once this is dry you can distress, buff, wax again or whatever you choose.  For this piece I chose to do some more distressing and apply another coat of clear wax.

It should be noted that this method doesn’t give a SHARP image but since I was going for a vintage, distressed look, it was perfect!

 

To summarize:

Paint

Print image and dry with heat gun

Apply image

Dry and heat set image with heat gun

GENTLY apply a coat of wax using a soft cloth*

Distress, wax, etc. as much as you want

*You can also spray with clear sealer. I did that on a smaller piece and it worked fine too.

BEFORE

AFTER

And, since I just have to stop keeping the furniture I redo, this one is for sale on Craigslist (Sold) . . . Now on to my next project!