Photo to Wood Transfer Tutorial With Step By Step Photos and Instructions
This post and the photos within it may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. If you purchase something through the link, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.
This photo to wood transfer tutorial is one of the most popular posts on Hello Creative Family. It was one of the very first projects that I did on my original blog, Sew Creative. I think people love it so much because of the step by step photos and instructions. It’s a fun project, but does require a bit of patience. You’ll notice as you go through my instructions that I actually did this project twice. I wasn’t completely satisfied with how it turned out the first time, so I scraped the wood and tried again. It’s not a fast project, but if you have patience and stick with it, you’ll get beautiful results. Enjoy and please let me know if you have any questions! -Crystal
UPDATE: I’ve recently discovered a much easier way to transfer photos to wood. It takes about 15 minutes to do my new project and isn’t nearly as challenging as the original way I shared below. Curious to see my new method? Check out my post The Easiest Way To Transfer Photos To Wood In Minutes.
Still want to try my original method? Read on!
Photo to Wood Transfer Tutorial With Step By Step Photos
What you need:
-A piece of wood (mine was a small cutting board from the thrift store)
-A laser printed copy of your photo on copier paper, the copy should be the mirror image of how you would like it to appear on the wood. This ONLY works with laser copies. It won’t work with ink jet. (Make sure this is printed on regular paper, not photo paper.)
–Gel Medium (I used Martha Stewart’s Gesso but Mod Podge also makes this photo transfer medium now. You can find Gel Medium at any Michael’s or Joann’s stores… don’t forget to bring your coupons!)
-Scissors to cut out your photo
-A rag to soak your photo
-A cup or plate to pour your gel medium and mod podge into
-A boning tool or plastic card to get the air bubbles out with
Step 1: Print out the image you would like to transfer using a laser printer. Unfortunately ink jet printouts won’t work for this project. Most copy stores (Kinko’s, Staples) use laser printers. You may want to mirror your image as the transfer will make your image the reverse of how it is printed.
Step 2: Trim your image to the size that you want it to be on the wood.
Step 3: Put a layer of gel medium on the printed side of your photo.
Step 4: Put a layer of gel medium on the wood, then lay the paper photo side down onto the wood. Use your plastic card or boning tool to remove any bubbles of gel medium from between the paper and wood by smoothing the card over the paper pushing excess to the outer edges. Make sure all of your corners are stuck to the wood with the gel medium. If it’s not stuck it won’t transfer.
Step 5: Wipe away excess gel medium from around photo then leave to dry for at least 4 hours.
Step 6: 4 plus hours later, once the paper has completely dried, dampen a rag with warm water and and lay it over top of your photo. Leave for approximately 5 minutes.
Step 7: Once the paper is damp comes the fun, but time intensive part of this project. Stand over a sink, wet your fingers and slowly start rubbing your finger over the paper, almost using your finger like sand paper. The photo copy is going to appear to split in half. The white part of the paper will start to lift away and the paper with the ink will stick to the wood. Take this part very, very slow. If you go to fast the ink will lift away from the wood and you will be left with bare patches.
*Note- having done this step several times now I have come up with the following technique. I stand at the sink and slowly remove the top layer of paper using circular motions with my fingers. I am constantly wetting my fingers and lightly rinsing the wood under the sink to wash off clumps of paper. Once I think I have the first layer of paper off I set the wood down for a couple of minutes and clean up all of the paper bits. This will give the transfer time to dry. When you look at it you will probably see that there are still places where there is a thin layer of paper left, the image will look cloudy. Wet down your fingers and start “sanding” away again. When you can’t see any white cloudy bits anymore set aside again, clean up a bit while it dries, pick it up again and “sand” some more. I wet down and let me project dry 5-10 times before I was done.
Step 7: Leave your project to dry for about an hour then look at it to see if you are satisfied. Grab your boning tool and rough up the edges a bit if you like. You can take a gray sharpie marker and lightly dot in areas where the transfer doesn’t look quite right. If you need to you can wet it down and “sand” down some more if there are bits of paper that you missed. In my case I decided that I would prefer if my photo filled the entire front of the wood so I wet the wood down, scraped the project off and redid it.
Step 8: When you are satisfied with the look of your transfer put a small amount of mod podge into a cup, and using a sponge brush apply a thin layer of mod podge all over your photo, including the edges. Use smooth, even strokes. Allow to dry for at least 15 minutes then repeat 2 more times.
Once your mod podge has dried you have a beautiful photo impact piece that will be commented on by everyone who enters your home. They also make great gifts!
I hope you enjoyed our Photo To Wood Transfer Tutorial. If you have any questions please ask and I’d be more than happy to try to answer. I would love to see the results of your Photo to Wood Transfer projects. Amy Anderson from Mod Podge Rocks recently wrote a great post on 5 Tips for Using Mod Podge Photo Transfer Medium! I’d highly suggest giving it a read if you are having any problems.
If you like this post, we think you’ll love:
How to mount a photo to canvas.
How To Make Easy DIY Photo Coasters
The Easiest Way To Transfer Photos To Wood For Perfect Results Every Time
Do you print the photo onto photo paper or just regular printer paper?
Hi Madyson,
You print it onto regular printer paper. 🙂
Best Wishes,
Crystal
I was wondering what type of gel medium you used? modeling paste? Or matte gel? Or gloss gel?
Hi Derrick,
This is what I used, Martha Stewart Gesso Primer:
http://canada.michaels.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-MichaelsCanada-Site/default/Product-Show?pid=C_cp0488
Best Wishes,
Crystal
If I used a piece of raw wood. Could I stain it first? If so do I clear coat it. Thanks.
Hi Laura,
I’m so sorry, I’ve never tried it on a piece of stained wood before. I would think that it should be ok, you would probably just want to see how your gel medium reacts with the stain. Maybe try staining a small section on the back and laying some gel medium on it to see if there is any reaction?
Thank you for visiting!
Best Wishes,
Crystal
I used raw wood. It worked fine. But the problem i’m having is if the photo has a lot of white back ground…in my case it was text on white, it turned looking more like it was glued on rather then a transfer of the ink. The solid black text is fine.
Hi Shawn,
Yes, my photo had quite a bit of black to it so that probably helps with the finished appearance.
Best Wishes,
Crystal
i tried this with phots printed out from the store.. found out there is layer of film in the paper.. worked my way down and finaly got to the image.. image looked clear .. let dry was still clear. did a layer of mod podge and let it dry as it was drying it started to get a milky color over the photo. maybe some chemical reaction…
.. i havent seen results like this nor have i seen someone use store printed pitcures.. but it was a test.. so far i wouldnt use printed pictures on photo paper on a transfor.. id simply mod podge the picture to the wood
Hi Sean,
I did this project with a photo printed on a laser printer. I think it has to do with the way the laser printer prints onto the paper. The gel medium causes the paper to almost split in half leaving the image behind.
I’ve also mounted my photos to canvas, love the look and find it’s a lot easier, but the photo to wood transfer does create a unique look if done correctly.
I’d love to see some of the photos you’ve mounted to wood!
Best Wishes,
Crystal
I want to know what “magic” you performed to get the cutting board to shrink down to just about the same size as the photo! [Compare the board in pictures for Steps 7 and 8.] 🙂
Hi Rowena,
Thank you so much for visiting. At the end of step 7 I said:
“In my case I decided that I would prefer if my photo filled the entire front of the wood so I wet the wood down, scraped the project off and redid it.”
So the magic isn’t that I shrunk the cutting board it’s that I printed my second picture a bit bigger so it fit the cutting board better. 😉
Best Wishes,
Crystal
I have been reading a lot on message boards about confusion between using laser vs inkjet for the photos and so I made a video showing the difference between the two. The Laser is definitely the best way to go, but wanted to show a visual for anyone wondering what the difference looks like.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgYb-RTJDX0
Hi Crystal I tried this project. The photo transferred ok except that you can see all the grain marks from the wood and the picture is “yellowed” somewhat. I used Poplar wood so I’m not sure if that made a difference or not. The picture is of my granddaughter at the beach so there is a lot of lighter background in the picture and wondering if that is why the grain in the wood shows through. Do you suggest a particular type of wood? I’m going to try again with a different type of wood but just wondered what your experience was. Thanks!
Hi Michele,
I’ve never tried doing this on poplar, I’ve mostly used reclaimed wood. My guess though is that it might have something to do with the light background. I think that photos with a lot of black and grey in them look the best. Let me know how your next try turns out!
Best Wishes,
Crystal
I love this, trying it now. I just put the gel on the wood, not the photo. And I used photo paper, printed at work. Hope it’s a laser, guess we’ll see. But is photo paper the right thing to transfer from?
Thank you!
Hi Deb,
Let me know how it goes! I just use plain copier paper for mine.
Best Wishes,
Crystal
The first try with photo paper didn’t work out, had a plastic type film over it. Started over and used pictures printed on regular copy paper, turned out beautifully! I made a total of 5 over the weekend, then put together as a collage yesterday. I’m please with my end result :))
Hi Deb,
I’m so happy your second attempt turned out. Yes it has to be on plain old copy paper. I would love to see a picture of how they turned out! If you would like to share them on my facebook page I’d be thrilled! http://www.facebook.com/sewcreativeblog.
Best Wishes,
Crystal
I don’t believe photo paper will work as it can’t breathe like regular paper. You want to just use plain printer paper/copy paper. Please let me know if the photo paper worked, for future attempts, ty.
Hi Danielle,
You are absolutely correct. For best results you need a laser copied photo printed on copier paper, not photo paper.
Thank you for visiting.
Best Wishes,
Crystal
Hi Crystal,
I plan on doing a photo transfer to a piece of driftwood with a fairly smooth surface, but driftwood tends to be on the porous side. I was thinking of pretreating the driftwood with the gel medium beforehand to let the wood soak it up to fill the voids before proceeding with the normal process. Is this something you would recommend? Would you also recommend it for reclaimed 1850’s barn wood? Showing some wood grain through the print is ideal I just don’t want it to be distorted.
Thanks,
Brian
Hi Brian,
That sounds really cool! I’ve never tried it on something like driftwood before. The one thing I do know is that the surface needs to be flat so that the paper can lie flat on the wood. Any area that isn’t against the wood would lift up. As long as you have a flat piece of wood it should work great.
I love the idea of a reclaimed piece of barn wood too!
Best Wishes,
Crystal
I’m getting ready to do this at this very moment. I opened the Martha Stewart Gesso and it is super white, like if I didnt know any better I’d think it was white acrylic paint, is this the right stuff? The bottle looks exact to yours, same words everything. TY
Hi Danielle,
Yep! You have the exact right stuff.
Good luck!
Crystal
It worked. However it remained white. It didn’t dry clear. It must be wrong.
Hi Danielle,
No, I think that is right. So you put the gel medium on the image and then place the image face down on the wood. Leave it to dry then place a wet towel on top and start to “sand” the image down. The white part is what holds the image to the wood, you shouldn’t be able to see it… BUT you need to remove all of the white part of the paper to get down to the image.
I’m working on a project now and it took me about 10 times wetting it down, “sanding” and letting it dry before all the “white” paper was gone and just the paper with the image was left behind. Keep at it!
Best Wishes,
Crystal
Hi Crystal, great post! I had many questions but they were answered from other questions. I have tried for first time without having read your blog and I was a little bit disappointed. Even though after sanding it wouldn’t look that cloudy, once I applies themod modge it was very cloudy and had lots of white pieces of paper. Should I repeat several times weting and sanding? Or is it a problem to wet the wood veey often? Also, is it normal the fact that at some places the paper was completely removed and you could only see the wood?
Thank you,
Anastasia
Hi Anastasia,
Thank you for visiting! Yes, keep on “sanding” away. I did this project again recently and it probably took me 10 times of letting the paper dry and then resanding to get a finished look.
You have to be very careful when sanding the paper away, or you will remove it all and the wood will show through. The photo in the post I did twice because I wasn’t happy with the way the first one looked, too much wood showing through. 🙂
Best Wishes,
Crystal
This maybe a weird question but does the picture have to be black and white or can it be in color?
Hi Tiffany,
I like the outcome of it in black and white better, it pops more. I have done it in color as well though.
Thank you for visiting!
Crystal
Hi. I am not ablet to find gel medium in my city (India). Could you please suggest an alternative for that?!
Hi Srishtti,
Do you have mod podge photo transfer medium in India? It’s the same thing as the gesso that I used and works really well too.
Best Wishes,
Crystal
Can you leave the picture on for too long before the next step (dampen and remove)?
Hi thanks for your idea.i have a question about this kind of print that you lessoned,can we use it on mirror or glass?thank you
Hi Crystal,
This tutorial was great! I have a side table that i wanted to transfer a photo onto using your instructions. I am pretty sure I have an ink jet printer tho. Do you know if Target or Wal-Mart’s print kiosks in the photo department work for the purpose of this?
Thanks so much,
Marley
Hi Marley!
Oooh that sounds like a great idea. You basically want a photo copy of your photo, so a place like kinkos or staples would be the best bet for getting a laser printed copy of your photos. You’ll have to send me a picture of your finished results!
Best Wishes,
Crystal
hello Crystal.
Can u please tell me what exactly mod podge does in this project.
I stay in a very remote area so if u have any other options to this please suggest me.
Hi Jai,
Thank you for visiting and for your message. The mod podge seals the paper and adds a protective clear coating over it. You could probably use another sealer to finish it if it’s available where you live.
Best Wishes,
Crystal
hey i saw this trick but i cannot find gel medium as well as mod podge in my country (india).. can i use a normal glue to print the picture on the wood ??
Hi Dishi,
You could substitute the glue for the mod podge possibly… but not the gel medium. I would suggest instead of transfering that you try mounting it. Take a peek at this post for an idea:
https://hellocreativefamily.com/how-to-mount-a-photo-to-canvas-tutorial-5-00-gift/
Best Wishes,
Crystal
This is awesome! I tried this process and it turned out really cool, but I was concerned with getting a crisp image for my girlfriends birthday so I also had a print made by Plak That to make sure it turned out crisp. They made a print for me and it turned out fantastic. The homemade ones are always cool as well though!