How to Transfer Inkjet Prints to Wax

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Yes… you can do photo transfers with inkjet prints.

I hear it all the time—“You can’t transfer images from an inkjet print. It has to be a laser print.” And honestly, I’m not sure where this myth began, but it’s one of the most persistent misconceptions in photo encaustics.

But here is the truth….both my Epson R2880 and Canon Pixma inkjet printers work beautifully for image transfers. These are the exact printers I use in my workshops and the results are consistently clean, crisp, and reliable.

Laser prints do work, of course, but I often prefer inkjet transfers because I can remove more paper fiber during the rubbing stage. That means less haze, less residue, and a cleaner image on wax.

If you’re exploring image transfers (or learning photo encaustics for the first time), this is exactly the kind of technique I teach inside The Artistic Image, my comprehensive online encaustic photography course:

To begin, when you prepare your board, there are two equally important things to remember.

• Your surface must be smooth. Any divots will prevent the ink from burnishing into the wax.
• Your wax must be free of oils or acrylics. Transfers only work on pure encaustic medium—oil paints, pigment sticks, and acrylic gesso all interfere with adhesion.

Flip your image horizontally before printing so it reads correctly when transferred.

After I’ve ‘flipped’ the image I print it on an inkjet printer using Epson’s Ultra Premium Presentation Matte photo paper.

Here is an example of a board with a gold wax finish on it.

The wax on your substrate should be slightly warm. If it has been sitting for a period of time, hit it again with the heat gun or torch.

Make sure your wax is slightly warm—just enough that it accepts the print, but not so warm that it dents under pressure.

Lay your inkjet print face-down and burnish it well. You can use the back of a spoon or, if you get hooked on this process, a printmaker’s burnisher.

There’s no exact formula for pressure or time—this part is learned through feel.  If you don’t burnish enough the ink will lift when you remove the paper.

There is no harm in burnishing too much.

Now put water on the back of your image….enough to cover the image, but not too much. Let it sit for 30 to 60 seconds.

Begin rubbing firmly with your fingers. If the paper is too dry add a little water with your fingers. The paper will rub off slowly at first, but once you get it started it will remove much easier. The amount of pressure you use will have to be trial and error on your part. Rub too hard and the ink will lift up with your force. Rub too softly and it will take too long and the inks will start to break down with the water.

I’ve found that using a photo paper allows me to remove the paper easier than toner prints with copy paper.

Once it’s dry you will need to put a layer of medium over the image and fuse.

And then the fun begins—texture, pigment, scraping, sculpting, and all the expressive parts of encaustic that make this medium so captivating.

 

 

Hints: If you get a bunch of pot marks where the image didn’t transfer, rub your finger lightly over it and see if you can feel the davit. The ink jets from the print will not be able to be burnished into divots. That’s why you need an incredibly smooth surface to begin.

Also, for this to work make sure your printer uses pigment inks and not dye based inks. Technology is always changing (as I’m sure we all know) but generally dye based inks consist of colorant that is fully dissolved in a liquid. These inks are lower in costs with the disadvantage that they are water soluble, where a drop of water could ruin a print. And the prints fade faster and are therefore not considered archival.  Pigment ink consists of very fine powder of colorant in a liquid carrier, is archival, and stands up to the small amount of water used to rub off the paper from a photo transfer.

To find out if your printer is pigment or dye based, you’ll want to do some research online or contact the manufacturer of your printer directly.

 

 

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So tell me, what has your experience been with using ink jet prints for photo transfers? Do you prefer one process over the other (toner based vs inkjet)?

Be well….be creative,