Monday, April 23, 2012

Print Transfer Technique

A  quick and easy way to transfer some print material to your art journaling pages, that I came across mostly by accident and have since used on many an art journaling page!

You will need:
  • Art journaling page
  • Mod Podge
  • old book pages or sheet music
  • bone folder or popsicle stick (or you can use the back of your nail if you like)


I generally use this method when I’ve already layered on several paints, inks, stamps and splatters, so the transfer print sits on top of the page.

1.) Tear your piece of printed paper to about the size you would like the print to appear on your page. No need to be accurate - just roughly the size.

2.) Smear some Mod Podge on your page where you’d like the print. Again, no need to be accurate. Just more or less will do. I generally use my finger, but you can use a brush if you prefer. Use a generous amount, but not too much.

3.) Now you have to work relatively fast, depending on how much Mod Podge you used! Place the piece of print on top of the mod podge and burnish it either with the bone folder or the back of your thumb nail.

You just need to go over it a few times.

4.) Take the end of the piece of paper, and slowly start pulling. You will see that the print has transferred to the page. If it’s not transferring much yet, just press it back down and give it a bit more burnishing.


Keep on pulling as much or as little as you like. Very old paper tends to be more porous, so it tends to rip easier and leave more paper behind, but that’s ok. You just go back and and start pulling from another spot. You can leave as much or as little paper on as you like.



I quite like it when some of the paper remains, especially since the print that transfers onto the page is of course mirror imaged, but the print you don’t pull off isn’t, so it makes for interesting texture and visual interest!

Different kind of print/paper react differently to this method, so have fun experimenting!

Here I have a newer print and it transfers the print with barely losing any paper - also very nice!



5.) Once you pulled everything off that you wanted to, let the mod podge dry completely.

And that’s it! Pretty simple, but very effective!

Of course you can do this with newspaper images too, just remember that whatever you are transferring will be mirror- imaged.

Oh, and one more little tip. Should you at any point after drying decide that you didn’t want to leave as much paper on the page, just wet your finger, or give the spot a quick spritz with some water (just a mist, not too much) and gently rub with your finger. The paper will continue to come off, leaving more of the print behind!


39 comments:

  1. That was for me, wasn't it? Thank you :)

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  2. Thanks so very much for this, Birgit!!!

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  3. i came across this gorgeous page of yours at Art Journaling. It´s stunning, love it:-)

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  4. Excellent detail, thank you! I'm hoping to use this technique with some art campers in the next few weeks.

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  5. love this technique! looks so natural (but yet is so planned!) thanks for sharing!

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  6. I have success with this only when I'm trying not to! Lol, I'm gonna your way and see if I get better results!

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  7. I sure going to give this a go!!! THANKS so much for sharing this...

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  8. this is awesome, thanks so much for sharing!

    Just wondering, does this work in a similar way with gel medium? I havn't got any mod podge and my LSS just closed down :(

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  9. Hmmm, I don't know! I have never tried. Maybe you could try it on a scrap piece of paper and let us know how it works out! Happy experimenting!

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  10. Thanks for the tutorial - i can't wait to try it.

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  11. Found you on Pinterest....nice....great directions and thanks!Lyndaoflakeland.blogspot.com

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  12. Beautiful, I can't wait to try this!

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  13. Absolutely wonderful!

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  14. Thanks for the technique. I love your art!

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  15. Thanks for sharing - your journal page is adorable! Pinterest strikes again!

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  16. Love this idea! I will definitely give it a try. Thanks. Cindy

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  17. love your page! and thanks for sharing this cool technique!

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  18. Super cool technique! I love it and thanks so much for sharing it! :)

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  19. Neat technique and very nicely shown in your photographs! Thanks for sharing :)

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  20. Such a great technique! Thanks.

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  21. This is very interesting! I wonder if you mirrored text and printed it or scanned a page, mirrored and printed it you would get the same effect. Or photo copied something in mirror? Now you have my mind working. Have to try this!
    Thank you so much for sharing! :)

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  22. ......and here I am....in November, 2015.....still getting the benefit of what you shared back years ago......Thank you......See? A good gift like yours just keeps on giving! Barbara Barrow-Bliss

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  23. I agree with Barbara above. Now it's late November, 2015 Your instructions are fantastic. I can't wait to try. Thank you so much!

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  24. thanks for the great tips! going to try!

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  25. This is just what i wanted !! I was looking for some paper sheets which should have prints like that but i couldn't find anything, not even similar to it !! Great help , THNQ a lot .

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  26. Thanks for this, its great I will be trying it tonight,I have shared it on my blog too x

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  27. Wonderful tutorial, thanks so much for taking the time to show this technique.

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  28. I wonder if it would work on a oil painting ?

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    1. Once the oil paint has dried, it might, using mod podge or another sticky medium. I doubt it would with the oil paint still wet as the oil would just seep in and prevent it from peeling off the top layer of the print.

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  29. Please help. I tried and it's not working. It's an old book. I put some mod podge down, press and then roll a marker over it to burnish. Barely a few words came off and I did it several times. Should I wait a little longer before peeling? I'm new to mod podge but not to crafting. Feeling pretty inept right now.

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Birgit Kerr