I have the COOLEST trick for you all today:Β Home Printer Ink Image Transfers For DIY Signs- A New, Easier Method Without Wax Paper!
This post was sponsored by Graphic Stock, and affiliate links are included. All opinions are my own, because I only promote things that I love and think you will love too!
Most of you who are on pinterest have seen the idea of printing on wax paper & transferring it onto something else. It’s super cool, right? Well, I tried it following the tips from a few different posts, but I could not for the heck of me get my printer to accept the wax paper. It kept pulling the wax paper off the sheet, and getting the tape on the insides of my printer. I just spent more than several hundred dollars on that baby, it’s state of the art, and I did not want to break it. So I started brain storming, thinking that there must be a better way to do this.
BOOM! IDEA!!!
You know those clear plastic page covers for three ringed binders?Β Yep… my husband has hundreds of them in some ugly white binders full of Football history & Patriots newspaper clippings. They are dear to his heart, and it’s the best place to store them, but I think our pretty bookshelf could do without them.
Anyways, I thought that a plastic sheet would do the trick. So I stole one out of his books. Just kidding, I asked and he got one for me. He’s s nice.
Then I made this image using this super cute bike graphic from Graphic Stock. I seriously love them. Lots of adorable rustic images on that site.
Make sure to flip the image so when you transfer it it will show up correctly. I almost forgot to do this. Lol.
HERE is the bike image I used.
And HERE are some more super cute ones from them too.
If you aren’t already a member, you can download these graphics using a 7 Day Totally Free Trial where you can download 20 images per day, and keep them even if you decided not to continue the trial. And they are royalty free!
If you want to just go ahead and sign up for a membership without the free trial, I have a 80% off discount code for you HERE.
But back to the tutorial on how I dressed up this super cute chest my husband made for me.
So I took the plastic sheet holder and cut off the part where the holes are. Make sure to still keep it in it’s “pocket form” though (as in, don’t cut the edge off too close to the sheets- they need to still be functional)
Next, I slid a normal 8.5×11″ piece of paper in for stability, and ran it though. It slid in beautifully just like I expected. YAY!
Very carefully, making sure not to smudge the ink, I moved the sheet over to my trunk, and slid the page out of the plastic sheet. You want to be able to see where you are placing your image, right?
Then I flipped the page over, ink side down, and carefully placed the image face down onto the wood.
Make sure whatever surface you are doing this too is porous & will accept ink.
Making sure not to nudge the image, I carefully glided over it with a roll of tape. You can use whatever to do this part. I just was too lazy to get a credit card out of my purse.
At this point, you can lift the sheet off & look in awe of how amazing your ink transfer looks. Wasn’t that easy?! Rub a clean sheet of paper using the same method to transfer the image to get rid of any excess ink.
My first thought was “What else in my house can I do this to?” Since you can seriously personalize something with this method, you could seriously make an adorable wedding gift too, btw.
Doesn’t it look s cool? I am in love! Well I’m off to find something else to try this trick on!!!!
Again, to use the same graphic I used, sign up for your seven day free trial HERE, and download the image HERE.
WOW! I love this. How do I flip a graphic I already have? I am all hyped up and ready to try this.
Thanks!!
So glad you like it! If using in photoshop, select the image, go to image>flip/rotate and click flip horizontally. If using picmonkey.com, try this method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7Ch6TErqjo
Hey Hannah! It looks great!! Can I use an inkjet printer for this?
Looove your blog =)
xoxo
Hey Paula! Yes, Mine is an inkjet! Have fun! XO
Hi, I'm just wondering 2 things. Is your printer laser or ink jet? And what setting did you use for your printer when it asks for paper type?
Your technique is great, I'm dreaming of all the projects I can now do with this simpler way than wax paper. I just added a link to my free printable Christmas baby craft post so my readers can learn from this post too.
A word of caution, I tried this with my OkiData MC361 laser printer and it did not work. The plastic melted inside the printer π
Oh No! Hope it din't mess it up! That's horrible! Mine is an inkjet, so I'm guessing a laser doesn't work the same. I'll have to look into that.
XO
I tried this and the ink bubbled so the picture turned out kinda grainy… any thoughts as to what I might have done wrong?
Hi Niki! Because this method prints on a glossy surface, there will be some ink bubbling. It happened to me too.Personally, I like the way it transfers, but if you are looking for something really crisp, you could always see if you can adjust the paper settings, or use a different method. Hope that helps!
Hi Niki…. Do you know why it doesn't work with a laser printer and have you tried??? think I may need to google some more too.. π
Awesome! Thank you! And by the way….just scrap paper/modpodge then ends of the 3 ring binders. They will look cute! π
it will never work on a laser printer as the laser printer heats up the toner and melts it into the paper…. that will only melt your plastic if you try it and may ruin your laser printer. Inkjet ONLY! π
might I suggest you decorate the ugly binders? that is what I did with my genealogy binders and now they are lovely!
Thanks for the idea work perfectly.
Laser printers get very HOT to transfer images to the paper. Plastic does not like it Hot. Special transparencies made for Laser printers might do the trick. BUT They are not cheap!
LOVE this project idea! You said it will only transfer to porous surfaces (like your untreated wood). Will it work on a flat acrylic painted wood surface too?
Do you think I can use this methode on 100 percent wool felt ? It’s a great way !!!! Thank you for the tutorial
So, I know this post is old… bit I was seriously thinking of using this SAME technique with either clear binder sheets or transparency sheets and thought well, I’ll just Pinterest it, see if someone’s done it before and TaDa! Glad I’m not the only one who thinks this way! Lol!
Wow….this technique is beautiful..
I am just waiting to try out this awesome technique…….nd the moment I succeed I will tell the entire world about it.
This is genius!!! I spent the whole afternoon trying to print on wax paper or freezer paper so I could transfer to wood. The only problem I had was using the correct paper setting. When I used automatic it worked just fine. And being able to reuse the it made it the best ever! Thanks for thinking outside the box.
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