Easy Mod Podge Photo Transfer

In today’s post: Learn THE BEST (and fastest) way to do a mod podge photo transfer and put one of your favorite pictures on a wood pallet!

Chances are you’ve seen tutorials that show you how to use Mod Podge to transfer a photo onto wood before. And maybe you’ve even tried it. If you have, you realized that it’s a bit of a fiddly process – it’s not the fastest thing in the world and it’s pretty easy to mess up, and maybe you were even frustrated enough that you gave up. Or threw your project across the room. It happens.

Today I’m sharing a foolproof method for a mod podge photo transfer. Follow these simple steps to create your very own artwork!

Well, I’m a little obsessed with transferring photos to different surfaces and figuring out which methods work best. And I’ve had a breakthrough when it comes to the mod podge photo transfer that makes it faster, easier, and just about foolproof!

Frustration Free Photo Transfer

Here’s the main idea: you start with a color copy of your photo and a wood plank or pallet. Paint the wood with mod podge, place the color copy down on it, and let it dry. Then get the paper wet and rub it off, leaving the ink behind. Your photo is magically transferred onto wood with the pretty wood grain showing through. So cool!

However, this project can be frustrating: as you’re rubbing off the paper you have to be very careful to make sure you don’t also rub off the ink. That means you have to go slowly and carefully, and hope you don’t rub anyone’s head right out of the project, because that will ruin the entire thing. But don’t worry, I have a simple trick that solves this problem.

Supplies

First you will need a piece of wood to transfer your photo onto. You can use a variety of wood surfaces: plain piece of wood, a wood slice, or a piece that looks like a pallet (this technique works on canvas too!). I found this 12×16 inch wood pallet at Walmart. Sand it until it’s nice and smooth, then wipe off any dust.

You’re also going to need a laser print of your photo. It should be printed on regular printer paper (not photo paper) and must be reversed. My local copy shop can print color laser prints on normal paper up to 13×19 inches in size – check with your local copy shop (Kinko’s, Office Max, etc) to see what size they can print at before your purchase or make your wood piece. Be sure to crop your photo to the size of your wood piece, and then send it to the printer. Remember your print must be printed:

• on a laser printer or as a laser color photocopy
• on normal paper
• as a reverse image
• the size of your wood piece (mine is 12×16)

The copy shop should be able to do all of that for you. Be aware this project will not work with actual photographs or with a picture printed on an inkjet printer.

Finally, you will also need Mod Podge. Some wood photo transfer techniques use gesso or another type of gel medium, but I just use Mod Podge matte. It’s easy to find in any craft store and most big box stores.

NOTE: there is a Mod Podge Photo Transfer medium made specifically for photo transfers, but I prefer NOT to use it. The photo transfer mod podge will transfer the whites in your photo, whereas using normal mod podge turns the whites in your photo clear, allowing the wood grain to show through any white space.

Paint the Piece with Mod Podge

You may want to protect your work surface with newspaper or a plastic tablecloth. Begin your mod podge photo transfer by painting an even layer of mod podge on your wood pallet. Use enough medium to completely cover the entire wood piece. I used a cheap foam brush to do this.

Adhere the Photo

Immediate place your printed photo with the image face down on the wood pallet. Use a credit card or brayer to smooth the paper down, smoothing out any air bubbles. Wipe off any excess medium that squeezes out the sides.

Dry for 72 Hours

Ok, here’s the important part: Leave the piece to dry for 72 hours. Most photo to wood transfer tutorials recommend waiting 8-24 hours at this point, but the next step is much easier if you wait three full days!

Remove the Paper

After 72 hours, you can start removing the paper to reveal the mod podge photo transfer. To do this, you’ll begin by spraying the piece with water or dampening it with a wet sponge. As the paper gets wet, you will be able to see the picture through the paper.

Start rubbing the paper with your finger or a damp towel. The paper fibers will begin to roll up and you’ll be able to peel them off.

Continue to rub and peel off paper. As the paper dries, you’ll need to spray it again and keep rubbing off fibers.

As you rub off paper, you’ll see more and more of the photo. But as the photo dries it will get hazy again, showing you where some of the paper remains. Spray any hazy spots again, and rub them off. You’ll have to repeat this process 3-4 times. If you’d like to see a video that shows this process, click through to this post.

If you did not let your project dry for 72 hours, you run the risk of rubbing the ink off during this process, and have to be very careful not to do so. But letting it dry for a full 72 hours makes the ink transfer fairly permanent and so you can get all the paper fibers off more quickly. Just pay attention to what you are doing, though, because I cannot guarantee none of the ink will come off if you are rubbing really hard.

So just be careful and continue the process until all the paper fibers are gone. It’s so much fun to see the photo transfer appear!

Seal with Mod Podge

As a final step once all the paper fibers are removed, paint a thin coat of mod podge over the entire image and allow it to dry. Then your final project is ready to display!

If you like photo projects, be sure to check out these posts:

40 of the best photo crafts

20 DIY photo gifts

Easy photo transfer with tattoo paper

Heart family photo display