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Distinctive feature century of high technology is the ease with which beauty is replicated and originality is put on stream. But if not everyone can become an artist and paint great canvases, then many can create unique images using simple technologies.
Wood is one of the suitable materials on which a photograph or favorite drawing will look great. In addition to the fact that the quality of the product will remain unchanged for many years, it will be a kind of masterpiece or a piece of goods, depending on how it is disposed of.
The essence of technology
Don’t be intimidated by such buzzwords as sublimation printing technology or graverton, because they are one and the same thing, and therefore less incomprehensible. The technology is based on the principle of sublimation, when a substance, under the influence of high temperature, “jumps” from a gaseous state directly to a solid state, bypassing the wet stage.
Graverton technology allows you to transfer a design to wood, metal, glass, fabric, and the process itself takes place in a certain order:
- On sublimation paper the image is printed;
- The front side is applied to the object being processed;
- Placed in a heat press for a certain time.
A huge number of things can be subjected to artistic processing - from shoes, dishes, fabrics to corporate symbols, puzzles and all sorts of other unexpected things.
The main disadvantage of graverton technology is the need special equipment and its high price:
- sublimation printer(starting from 500 thousand rubles and kopecks);
- thermal transfer press(from 9 to 30 thousand rubles).
It’s nice to turn ordinary things “like everyone else’s,” with a little effort, into your own, cozy, personalized ones. Good way– decorate them with an original design. And even if you consistently skipped art classes at school, and even draw a little worse than a fifth grader, it doesn’t matter. This simple method will allow you to decorate all the textiles and wooden surfaces in the house with funny designs. And please your friends with original gifts.
Authors of a resource popular among designers shutterstock offer to try simple technology home printing. It is available to every owner laser printer. Or someone who is not too lazy to go to the nearest copy center and print out the desired design. This method will allow you to easily transfer the image onto fabric or wooden surface.
You will need:
Acetone (or nail polish remover based on it);
Cotton pads;
Plastic card;
Scotch;
Ruler;
T-shirt/fabric/wooden surface on which the design will be transferred;
Desired image.
Step 1: print the picture on laser printer in a mirror version. An inkjet printer is not a good helper in this matter, because... does not guarantee even distribution of ink, which will be reflected in the final result. The darker the original image, the better.
Step 2: put the sheet down face down onto a fabric or wooden surface. It is advisable to secure it on one side with tape so that the picture does not “run away”. Soak a cotton pad or brush in acetone and carefully wipe the back of the design until the paper becomes wet.
Step 3: take a plastic card and use it as a scraper to go over the entire back side of the drawing. It's like you're rubbing it in. First from bottom to top, then from top to bottom, repeat several times. Do not press the “scraper” too hard so as not to tear the print. The main rule is that all this time paper with an image should be damp with acetone. This will help the design adhere to the fabric or wood.
Step 4: Gently pull back the edge of the sheet with the image and evaluate how the “imprinting” process is progressing. When the drawing is completely transferred, remove the paper.
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 rags
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. Most often, bright, clear photographs from high resolution won't look too stylish on the tree. 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. Too much thin layer most likely will not allow the image to transfer to the tree in some places. Try to create an even, high-quality layer.
After the gel medium is applied, you need to place the front part of the photo 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 you're sure to get 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.
Probably, in every house where attention is paid to the interior, there are paintings or their modern analogue - photographs. Even most offices and offices have works of art. Most often, these are amateur works that depict a landscape, and such design of the room will not surprise anyone. Today I want to invite you to consider interesting works artist, thanks to whom you can add a fresh touch to your interior.
Thanks to today's master class, you will learn how to transfer an image from a photograph to a board. The author offers us urban scenes from the beginning of the last century, but you can use this method of image transfer for any photographs.
Such works look great among modern surroundings.
For work we will need:
- board;
- photo;
- laser printer;
- fine sandpaper;
- PVA glue;
- acrylic varnish;
- sponge;
- warm water;
- acrylic paint.
The photo below shows a step-by-step and accessible way for everyone to transfer any image onto a wooden surface.
1. Increase to the right size the selected photo, and then print it on a laser printer so that the reverse image is obtained.
2. Sand the board on which the image will be with fine sandpaper or, if possible, sand it with a machine (the surface of the board should be smooth).
3. Cover the surface of the board with PVA glue (using it gives the most good result) or acrylic varnish.
4. Carefully place our printout with the image down, smooth the surface with a sponge, expelling air bubbles and trying not to make wrinkles (the procedure is similar to gluing wallpaper).
5. Leave the image to dry (it will take about 12 hours).
6. Using warm water and a sponge, carefully remove the paper from the board. If the paper cannot be removed with a sponge, you can roll it up with your fingers - the design will not be damaged. We remove absolutely all paper from the image.
7. When the image is dry from moisture, cover it with acrylic varnish.
8. Wait for the varnish to dry.
9. The image can be left as it is, or it can be aged using acrylic paint. You can stamp the image different colors- in this case, one color is superimposed on another. To prevent colors from mixing, intermediate drying is necessary. The protruding parts of the image are carefully processed with fine sandpaper.
As you can see, this method of transferring an image onto a wooden surface is simple and accessible to anyone who wants to create a unique and original work of art. Thanks to imagination and use acrylic paints You can create not only a series of urban scenes and portraits in a retro style, but also interesting still lifes. Such an image can be not only a wonderful decoration for your home, but also an extraordinary gift to friends and relatives on the occasion of a special event. Try it, you will definitely succeed!
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, a paper towel, nitrile gloves to protect your hands, or you can 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 image quality, clean 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 most cheap method, done quite quickly
Cons: poor image quality, 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 quality images, safe water-based coating
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 it changes 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.
The CNC laser version did not darken much, but became a little more like scorched wood, the detailing was still excellent.
