I've read up a bit on photo transfer before, and decided to give it a try myself finally. It always looked interesting, and now after giving it a go, I have a few tips for anyone interested! here's my process
First of all the supplies you will need are, caves of any size or thickness,pencil (for tracing the exact size of canvas over your photo) liquidex gloss heavy gel, your photos printed out on paper (I used regular computer paper) and scissors.
First you will flip your canvas over, front side down over your photo. Trace tightly around the edges, then cut along those lines to remove image from rest of paper. You will need to do this so you aren't trying to transfer the image with lots of extra paper hanging over the sides. This makes the transfer a little cleaner and easier to peal off later (I found) trust me, I tried it both ways.
Apply transfer gel (a thick coat) to canvas.. just surface not sides.Any where there is gel that you do not cover with photo, will just look like glue later.
Press photo down firmly, and rub in all the areas
Here is a picture of some of my transfers drying.. (over night) it takes a long time.
In the morning or after several hours use a damp cloth or spray bottle to wet the paper. i found that using a damp paper towel worked best for me. I layer it across the photo, pressed down firmly, then started pealing. Pealing is messy and can be tedious. But if you get the amount of dampness & coverage just right, you can peal the entire image off in one peice. Here is one of my finished products.
This is the original photo...
That was the best turn out. For a couple reasons.. which leads me to my tips for anyone wanting to try this neat craft. tips: 1. Use a vibrant photo. Transfers by nature come out duller then the photo. So use a vibrant photo, or if you want to do black and white.. I would contrast it pretty heavily before printing it out to ensure the photo comes out very clear.I did quite a few black and white photos and they came out very dull and washed out. 2.Practice with smaller inexpensive canvas's before doing a larger photo and potentially wasting money. And practice a few different types of photos, to find what works best. This will also give you a chance to work out any kinks, and learn from any mistakes. Next time I try transfers I am going to try with wood plaques. Ill let you know how it goes. :)
