How To Quickly And Easily Transfer Images To Wood

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I discovered the coolest and most fun way to easily transfer images to wood. If you love crafting then you are going to love discovering this awesome image hack too.

Working with wood is always exciting – there’s so much you can do with it and when you blend the beautiful element of wood and your favorite images, it’s the perfect combination. 

I decided to use this sweet and absolutely darling image of my granddaughter, Carmela. It’s best to use images with lots of colors for the most impact but, as in the photo I used, I didn’t completely follow that guideline.

The image I used was loaded with pinks, and I love how those colors variances were able to show up exactly the way I imagined them. Even the pattern of her bedsheet and her blanket translated perfectly to the wood. 

Try not to use too much white in your photo as printers don’t print in white and you will have the wood showing instead – unless, that’s what’s you are going for of course. 

It’s super easy to make one of these and in under 20 minutes or so, you will be able to easily transfer images to wood. 

Products You Will Need:

1 – Wood Large Round Centerpiece or any woodblock or cut you desire.
2 – Mailing Label paper 
3 – Inkjet Printer – I have an HP Envy 7640 printer and absolutely love it! 
4 – Any image you choose – try and use vibrant colors and avoid too much white. 
5 – A topcoat wood glaze or protectant – I used Gator Hide Polyacrylic topcoat by Dixie Bell – it’s perfect for using on furniture too.  You can also use Mod Podge® Acrylic Sealer as well. I use it for so many of my projects, and I love how it’s available in gloss or matte finish. 

Step 1 – Remove all the shipping labels from the sheet and discard them. The goal here is to use this waxy shipping label paper to print on. The premise is that the ink will not be absorbed into the paper as it’s poreless and therefore we can use the ink to transfer to the wood. Brilliant! 

This is what type of label paper you will need. 

Once you peel the white labels off, this is what you will have to work with. 

Step 2 – We are going to be printing on the backside of the paper so be sure to load it correctly into your printer.

Step 3 – Clean the wood slab of all dust and debris. You can gently sand it as well. 

Step 4 – Print Your Image – you have some time to work with it once it’s printed so don’t worry too much about rushing. You can add a piece of Frogtape to the top of the image to secure it to the wood if you like – if you don’t use it, just be careful not to make the printed image slip and slide on the wood as it will be ruined and become one huge smudge. 

Step 5 – Gently place the image on the wood where you want the most impact. Without moving the paper, press down firmly on the image pushing it into the wood – you can use your hand or a tool if you prefer.

I used my hand and rolling motions using the palm of my hand to ensure good coverage. Lift the paper off, and get ready to paint the topcoat.

Step 6 – Add the topcoat or glaze – Once you add the top coat, you will be amazed at how it brings the colors to life! The topcoat is an essential step in this process for two reasons, it will protect the image and add some of the color impacts back into the image. 

And it’s that’s easy! You can use this same technique on any porous surface as well. 

I love the delicate nature of this image and how the natural grain in the wood adds a dimension you just can’t get using any other medium. You can hang it on your wall, prop it up on an end table or create a wood stand for it yourself. 

You are going to love learning how to easily transfer images to wood too. I can’t wait to create more of these using some of my other favorite images. 

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