Tree - excellent material For decorative finishing and for construction, because it is durable, ecological cleanliness and gives a certain charm to the external treatment of walls and floors in rooms.
Sometimes wood is also used to place various images on it, which can serve as individual paintings or be placed on the walls as decorative elements. Having said that, making an image on wood or transferring it from a regular photograph is quite simple with some tools and common substances on hand.
Transfer Methods
But how to transfer a photo, picture or pattern onto a wooden surface so as not to spoil it, but to get a beautiful result? There are several common ways to transfer an image onto wood with your own hands.
Most often, a certain type of paper is used, a drawing or photograph in electronic format, as well as something prepared for transfer. wooden base- a board on which you need to transfer the picture.
Methods for transferring pictures:
- sublimation paper;
- paper and iron;
- PVA glue;
- gel;
- film for decoupage.
Sublimation paper leaves the image on wooden surface fast. Therefore, the method for transferring an image using it does not require detailed description. Simple instructions for using it will suffice.
In all cases, before transferring a photograph to wood, it is processed in a photo editor, and only then applied to paper. Depending on the type of paper, certain substances are used to transfer the image onto wood.
Preparing to transfer the drawing
It is important to properly prepare the wood surface before transferring the design onto wood.
Preparation for transfer is usually the same for each type of transfer and includes the following steps:
- First, the work surface is cleaned. It is better that it is light and purified. The color of the wood can affect the quality of the future design, so you need to consider what kind of material and type of wood is selected.
- To get the perfect drawing, you need to sand or sand the wooden board so that its fibers do not distort the quality of the image.
- When translating pictures, you need to use a mirror image of the picture. In almost every case, you need to take into account the method of transferring the image, since often the correct drawing from paper requires a mirror reflection.
- Photos should be in high resolution digital form if possible. This doesn't always guarantee good result, but otherwise may lead to distortion of the picture.
- Before transferring a picture onto a tree, texts and numbers should always be reflected in mirror image. If portraits or landscapes can still be left as is, then the readability of the text directly depends on the location of the text on the transfer paper.
Transfer with a hot iron
This is the most cheap way transfer the image onto a wood board. It is best suited for carrying simple images followed by surface treatment.
For this method, before transferring the design, you need to have a printout of the image from a laser printer, as well as a surface for the design that has been sanded with fine-grained sandpaper or a sanding machine.
First, the pattern or design is stretched to required sizes, and then print it out. A sheet of paper must be placed on the board in the place where the transfer will be carried out and fixed. After this, iron the paper with an iron.
To better transfer the pigment, the paper can be pre-moistened with a small amount of acetone, but you must follow safety rules so as not to inhale the fumes. A gauze bandage should be used, and the room where the image is being transferred to the tree should be well ventilated.
Typically, this method is used to burn out patterns and simple images using a wood soldering iron. The pattern can also be drawn by hand and using carbon paper to apply the design onto paper and then onto wood, or directly through a piece of paper and carbon paper onto the surface.
Transferring the image with PVA glue and gel
When transferring an image with glue or acrylic gel medium, the procedure is practically the same. It is recommended that before applying the design, degrease the surface and sand it smooth.
The difference is in the procedure for applying the glue or gel. In the first case, glue is applied to the photograph, after which it is placed on a wooden base. In the case of gel, the substance is applied directly to the board, after which an image is placed on top of it. In any case, it is important to apply the substance in an even layer, not thick, but do not leave gaps or dry spots.
After this, the surface of the photograph or paper with a pattern can be leveled, air bubbles expelled and fixed in the desired position. In this case, a roller is used to smooth the sheets, like, for example, wallpaper on the walls after gluing.
It may take 12-24 hours for the adhesive or gel transfer to dry to completely transfer the photo onto the wood. After a day, the sheet can be removed. In the case of glue, you can slightly moisten the paper with a sponge so that it is better separated from the wooden surface. The glue has to be carefully rubbed off with your fingers. It will be much easier to separate the paper from the gel - just roll it up.
The gel needs to be given a little time to dry, after which it is covered with paraffin. PVA glue also needs to dry somewhat, after which it is varnished.
Transferring with film for decoupage
This is a good way to transfer images onto wood without the help of glue or gel, which already leaves quite rich colors and bright designs.
In this method, the surface of the board prepared with sandpaper is used, onto which it is applied. acrylic paint white. The paint is first slightly diluted with water, after which one layer is applied to the surface of the board in the longitudinal direction, and later a second layer in the transverse direction. After this, the paint is allowed to dry.
At the same time, decoupage film is used, on which a photograph or the desired image is printed. First it is soaked in water room temperature for about half a minute. After this, it is placed on the surface of the board, and then the base is removed.
By treating the film with a sponge, excess moisture is removed from it so as not to rub the pattern. After it dries, you can use a marker to correct image defects. The board takes on its final appearance after it is coated with varnish.
From all the available examples, it becomes obvious that transferring an image onto wood with your own hands is not so difficult. Enough to have neat hands and perhaps some photo editing skills, as well as at least somewhat good color taste.
After creating a design on wood, it can be placed in any room of the house or used as a decorative element, multiplying it several times.
Some masters have turned this simple activity into a good business. But first of all, the main task of such a transfer is beautiful drawing on a tree, creating a beautiful object, gift or decor that will bring pleasure to its owner.
Have you ever thought about “printing” your photographs on wood or has such a thought even occurred to you? Anyway, if you like the effect described, you can easily do it yourself by following the simple steps described below.
Step 1 - What is required?
Below is a list of items needed for the job. You do not have to use identical tools, except as noted below.
Photo printed on a laser printer
Wooden board the same size as the photo
Gel medium (it must be acrylic)
Brush for applying gel medium
Knife for butter or any other flat tool to smooth the photo onto the wood
Wood paint (optional) and cloths
Soft paraffin or matte ModPodge decoupage glue to smooth and cover the image
Paraffin brush
Picture hanging brackets
Step 2 – Selecting an image and its future appearance
Obviously, you first need to decide what exactly you want to transfer to the tree. More often than not, bright, clear, high-resolution photos won't look too stylish on wood. In our case, this photograph of an airplane was processed in Lightroom to give it a vintage look - converted to monochrome, contrast was increased and film grain was added.
Step 3 – Print the Photo and Find the Wood Base
Very IMPORTANT - the image must be laser printed, if this is not the case, you don’t even have to try to do the rest. Then you need to find a suitable wooden base, smooth and of the appropriate size.
Step 4 – Applying the gel medium to the wood
This is extremely important point. Cover the entire surface of the wood with one layer of gel medium, not too thin, but not too greasy. If the layer turns out to be too thick and dense, it will be difficult to remove the image after the procedure. A layer that is too thin will most likely not allow the image to transfer to the wood in some places. Try to create an even, high-quality layer.
After the gel medium has been applied, you need to position the photo front part on the tree. There will definitely be bubbles in the photo, so do your best to reduce and smooth them out. In our situation it was used plastic tool, which came to hand, but it could be a butter knife, a ruler, a roller, or any other item that you think would be suitable for this purpose.
After the image is placed on the base and smoothed, leave it overnight and don’t let anyone get close!
Step 5 – Remove the Paper
This is a very interesting stage. To remove the paper, we only need to wet it and scrub it with our hands. This is a rather messy process and there may be another way, but we found our fingers to be the most suitable tool. Some parts of the image will be easier to remove than others, but keep in mind that by the end of the procedure your hands and fingers will definitely be tired. The procedure may have to be repeated and in total it will take from up to 30 minutes. But this extremely exciting moment is to see how the photograph appears on the tree. Have your vacuum cleaner ready to clean up the mess that is sure to come from this step.
Step 6 – Finishing Touches
At this stage you can show your creativity. Since we were going for a vintage look, we gave it one coat of wood paint. Be careful not to let the work become too dark or take on an undesirable color. After application, you can soak the surface with a rag to remove excess.
We then lightly sanded the edges to remove any excess gel and smooth out the wood surface. We also used a product called Pigment and sponged it onto the edges to create a vignetting-like effect.
Elements in the interior made of wood make it more elegant and attractive. This decor can be made with your own hands. The simplest option would be a wooden board with a pattern applied to the surface in accordance with a certain technique. To make a product correctly and beautifully, you need to know exactly how to transfer a design to wood in several ways.
How to decorate a tree with drawings
There are several techniques in which a design can be projected onto a wooden surface. In every situation, it’s worth knowing exactly how to transfer a drawing to wood:
- Burning using a special device. The drawing is clear and embossed. The contours are noticeably limited; you can create a shadow or shadow transition effect.
- Decoupage is the most popular and simple technique creating a drawing. As a result, the image can be colored or black and white, the drawing can be of any complexity.
- Wood carving requires a sketch that is projected onto the surface using several methods: using carbon paper, redrawing, relief copying using sharp tools.
You can partially combine several techniques in one work. This is possible provided that the person has artistic talent, which will help to abstractly imagine the result of the work.
Preparing the wooden surface
Before transferring a design to wood at home, it is worth preparing the surface correctly. Both the work process and the result depend on the quality of the wooden base. The service life is also directly determined by the quality of wood preparation.
Wood surface preparation:
- Choose correct tree. It is best to work with pressed sheets of plywood, chipboard and other analogues, but also natural material quite suitable.
- Decide on the parameters and shape of the wooden base. Immediately get rid of excess parts and sand the edges.
- The surface itself should be smooth and even. For this you should use grinding machine, A hard to reach places process with sandpaper or file.
- Only then is a sketch of the image itself prepared for transfer.
Thus, preparation consists of three simple steps that even a child can do.
woodworking
In order for the burning procedure to be carried out quickly and efficiently, it is necessary that the pattern on the surface of the wood be as accurate and high-quality as possible. Several methods are used to transfer an image to a surface. The most popular option remains transfer via carbon copy.
How to transfer a design to wood for burning using carbon paper:
- You need to take a sheet of carbon paper. It is advisable to use paper that has been used more than once.
- Place the carbon paper with the ink side facing the wooden surface. Place a sheet with a pattern on top and secure the structure with tape or tape.
- Use a graphite pencil to trace the lines of the image. You need to work carefully, limiting the interaction of your hands with the paper as much as possible.
- After completing the tracing of the lines, remove the layers of paper. The drawing for burning is ready.
This method is very reliable, but requires special care in execution. During the translation process, traces of carbon copy may remain, which are almost impossible to clean from the surface of the wood.
Drawing without carbon copy
In order to learn how to transfer a drawing to wood without a carbon copy, you can use several methods. Each one has a different set of tools and materials, but is simple in terms of implementation.
Image transfer methods:
- Graphite print. Take a simple pencil with a soft core and trace the contours of the drawing on paper. Rotate image to wooden base and press quickly without moving. In order for the graphite to be printed well, you can run it over the paper with a hard roller or a plastic strip.
- Thermal transfer. First you need to select an image taken with the right device. Using thermal action, a photocopy or printout made on a powder printer will be printed. Place the back side on the wooden base and heat the paper with an iron.
- Reprint using white spirit. The picture must be printed on a laser printer or copier. Attach the sheet with the pattern to the wood and wipe with white spirit. It is worth applying a little product to the cotton pad so that the paper does not become soggy.
There are other options, but the principle of implementation is much more complicated and requires more time and money.
Preparing wood for carving
To form an image on a board or plywood, you need to know just a few basic rules. If the work is done incorrectly, the carving process can become significantly more complicated.
How to transfer a design to wood for carving in order to comply with all the rules:
- Apply a grid onto the surface of transparent paper. The size of the cage will depend on the required size of the pattern.
- If you need to create an ornament, then apply part of the image onto tracing paper and fold the sheet in half. Trace the image onto the other half of the tracing paper with a pencil.
- Symmetrical design can be achieved by using carbon paper.
The method of transferring an ornament or image can be used from the options presented above. The main thing is to lay the sheet with the applied ornament so that the direction of the pattern coincides with the location of the fibers.
Decoupage technique - a simple option for transferring an image
Often not only production is required interesting jewelry for the interior with an image on wood, as well as a more practical use of technology. Knowing how to transfer a drawing to wood, you can restore old furniture, do wooden element designer.
To realize such ideas, the decoupage technique is used. The principle of such work is simple and does not require special skills or availability unusual materials or tools.
How to transfer a design to wood using PVA glue using the simplest algorithm:
- The prepared surface must be coated with PVA glue. The layer should not be too thick. Strokes should be made smooth and uniform.
- Place the design on the surface of the wood and carefully straighten it paper web. It is necessary to expel the air and position the edges of the cellulose base.
- Coat the image again with a thin layer of PVA on top. Wait until everything dries and duplicate the layer again.
Further processing is chosen in accordance with the preferences of the “creator”.
Additional finishing
After you have transferred the design to the wood and performed secondary surface treatment, it is worth considering options for further surface treatment.
There are several options:
- Cover with varnish.
- Paint it.
- Prime.
- Leave the product untreated.
- Laminate.
Additional decoration includes making a stand, frame, pendant for finished product. Here you can show your imagination and skills.
I translated an image printed on a regular laser printer. In the future I'm thinking of looking for an inkjet printer to print color images. In this case, you must not forget to mirror the image horizontally. Well, I also made a small tone correction to the bright side.
The surface on which the image is transferred must be smooth. I used sandpaper 120 grit.
Main element technological process- gel medium. When I found a craft store in my city and asked the seller to give me a gel medium, he asked me a question that puzzled me: “Which one do you want?” “Well, well, on the Internet it’s written simply - gel medium. Let me translate the pictures.” Then it was the seller’s turn to be surprised. It turned out that translating pictures is just side effect, which the seller had not heard of before, but in general the gel is used for various effects “under glass” and “with rhinestones”. From all the many gels, I chose a transparent glossy acrylic medium. It turned out I was not mistaken. The gel itself is similar to sour cream. And consistency, and color, and just as opaque.
Glue the sheet with the image and use a roller to push out the bubbles.
The idea of the method is that top layer paper carrying the image is pasted into the medium ( liquid glass). After complete hardening (we left the blanks to dry overnight), you only need to remove the layer of paper. To do this, the paper is soaked and rolled with your fingers. I used the hard side of the dish sponge. Here you must not overdo it and damage the image itself. But this does not pose a particular problem, the image is quite stable.
We have conducted many experiments on paper removal. The sponge showed itself with best side. But when the paper was rolled up with your fingers, a small paper pile remained, which rose when the varnish was applied.
After removing the paper, all that remains is the printer ink glued into the liquid glass. Moreover, after drying, the gel became transparent and the structure of the wood was clearly visible.
I must say, the technology is quite effective. The whole process takes two evenings. The image is translated clearly and does not blur. One jar of gel with a volume of 125 ml and costing 480 rubles was enough for 9 A4 sheets. The only inconvenience is that the image may be damaged when the paper is removed.
All that remains is to cut off the excess.
Now that you have the technology, you can think about its application. For example, decoration of boxes or original labeling of products.
You can purchase some things from this blog in our VKontakte group:
In this tutorial I will show you 5 in various ways prints on wood. These are great methods that will allow you to make custom designs such as signs, plaques, gifts, or simply brand your creations.
Step 1: Gathering materials
Materials:
- pine board
- Liquitex gel medium
Step 2: Setup
I tested 4 methods for transferring a design from paper to wood and one method using a technique. On each board I used the same image, which had my logo with a large block of text, a picture and regular sized text, so for each type of application it would be clear how well the wood reacted with different options application.
All pictures were printed on my laser printer (not inkjet). I also mirrored the image so that it would appear correctly on the tree.
Step 3: Method 1 - Acetone
The first method is to use acetone to transfer the toner to the wood. All you need is acetone, paper napkin, nitrile gloves to protect your hands, you can also use an old plastic card. When working with acetone, be careful and read the safety instructions.
I placed the mirrored image on the plywood and wrapped it to secure it in place. Then I dipped a napkin in acetone and placed it on the picture, pressing it firmly on top.
After several repetitions, the toner transferred to the wood and the paper came away from the wood.
Pros: very fast, decent quality images, pure process
Cons: Image quality is average, acetone is a strong chemical
Step 4: Method 2 - Ironing
The next method is to use a regular iron. All you need to do is iron the paper. As in the last step, I wrapped the paper around the piece of wood and then ironed it, being careful not to move the sheet against the wood. I tried to press hard on the iron, and the iron itself was set to high temperature, but it seems to me that the temperature was not high enough.
The picture came out so-so, and I think it was because the iron didn't heat the paper up enough. I've heard that using wax paper can improve the situation, and some craftsmen also transfer images using a soldering iron with a special tip for branding.
Pros: the cheapest method, done quite quickly
Cons: bad quality images, the possibility of burning yourself, charring wood or paper
Step 5: Method 3 - Polyurethane Varnish
The third method is based on the use of polyurethane on water based. I used Polycrylic (this is just the name of the manufacturing company, so you can buy any equivalent). You need varnish, an acid brush, a stiff toothbrush and water.
I applied the polycrylic with a small brush, trying to create a thin film so it was wet but didn't puddle. I then pressed the paper directly onto the wet polycrylic and pressed the paper from the center to the edges, removing any air trapped under the paper, and then moved the wood to the side where it dried for about an hour.
After the piece was dry, I wet it with water and then peeled off as much paper as I could remove with my hands. Next I took toothbrush and gently rustled it across the surface until all the remaining paper was cleaned off.
The quality turned out to be excellent! Everything except a small defect on the letter “F” looked very good. I was truly surprised by this wood printing method.
Pros: excellent image quality, safe covering water based
Cons: paper removal is a rather messy method, takes an hour to dry
Step 6: Method 4 - Liquitex Gel Solvent
The fourth method was a gel solvent. I used Liquitex gloss, a foam brush, an old plastic card, a toothbrush and water.
The process is similar to the one in which varnish was used, the only difference is that we have a gel in our hands, not a liquid. It is better to work with gel with foam, because the brush leaves a lot of tubercles and stripes.
I pressed the picture into the gel and removed the air trapped under the paper, first with my fingers and then with a plastic card. I then left the piece to dry for 90 minutes and then scraped off the paper with a toothbrush.
This option also looked great, but there were a few pieces of paper left on the wood that couldn't be scraped off with a brush.
Pros: Excellent image quality, safe water-based gel
Cons: polycrylic is more difficult to remove, the surface becomes rough, takes a long time to dry
Step 7: Method 5 - CNC Laser
So, now let's try the technological method. I had access to a Full Spectrum Laser Hobby 20x12 and used it to print the same image. Setting up the device is very simple.
Image quality was good as expected. The only problem area was the photograph, which was difficult for the laser to copy. But the text and logo, completely black in the photo, look great.
Pros: excellent detail of text and logo, set it up and the machine will do everything for you
Cons: Expensive to buy, hard to find rentals, doesn't handle photos very well
Step 8: Apply the finishing coat and final opinion
I decided to apply finished works varnish coating to see how to change appearance products and this procedure slightly changed my opinion about each of the methods I tested.
The acetone darkened a lot after varnishing and I liked the final look much better, which is why I'm ranking this result higher than the gel sample.
The option with the iron... remained of poor quality.
The polycrylic darkened even more and looked even better. This is a definite favorite in my ranking.
The gel also darkened, but the surface of the wood was not leveled, and pieces of paper that I could not remove were noticeably sticking out. To achieve a result similar to polycrylic, I had to spend a lot more time.
Option on laser CNC It didn't darken much, but became a little more like scorched wood, and the detailing was still excellent.
Loading...