Transparent Image Tape Transfer Tutorial for ATC, Collage, and Altered Art

Transparent Image Tape Transfer Tutorial for ATC, Collage, and Altered Art

After an exhausting search for good quality yet low priced transparency sheets, I pulled out my Mixed Media binder and found a clipping I made of a technique a lot of collage artists use called “tape transfer”.  I am obsessed!  It is quite simple and fun, and it’s always a surprise to see the finished transfer! Using this method you can make any laser printed image into a transparent one to use in your art! *I have only tried this with a laser printer so far!

Ingredients: 1 laser printed image on plain paper, cut down to size. (You can use cardstock as well, it needs a longer soak! Bone folder or some blunt edge tool Clear packaging tape Bowl of warm water Clip for hanging to dry Directions:

Find the image you would like to transfer, and edit it so it is the size, color, and shape you want. You can make black and white images, the white will be completely clear, or you can make color images which will be transparent but still hold its color. Print out on plain paper or cardstock (cardstock will take longer to soak) with a LASER printer. Roughly cut out the image to prepare for the transfer.

On a clean work surface, lay out a strip of clear packaging tape sticky side facing up. Take your image, face down, and lay on top of the tape. Essentially you are just sticking the tape to the image, like a laminate.

Grab your bone folder or other tool (ruler, bottom of a handle, anything that can apply hard, even pressure) and rub from top to bottom, bottom to top, and side by side. Do this a few times to press the image into the tape.

Once the image is secured to the tape, place in a bowl of warm water to cover. For plain paper, let sit anywhere from 20 minutes to 1 hour (or more) depending on your image. For cardstock, test at the 20 minute mark by peeling a little corner to see if it removes easily, but to be safe give it extra time.

After the soaking period, gently remove the image from the water. Pat the front image side with a piece of cloth and get ready to remove! There are two different ways I remove the paper. For plain paper, I take my index finger and slide it side to side on the paper and it just rolls off. For cardstock, I grab a corner and pull off (like a sticker) and then rub my finger side to side.

Once most of the paper is off, give it a quick dip in the water and rub off remaining paper. Do not wipe with a cloth, you will get lint and paper parts on your transparency. Clip a clothespin to the top and hang to dry.

Now that you have a transparent image, you can treat It just like any other transparency! Have fun!

(Drying the transfer using a suction clip, I let this one dry for about 15 min.)

Two cards I made using this technique.

Comments

[Mer]

That's really cool. Thanks for the step-by-step pictures. I found this very interesting. :0)

[even-star]

That's amazing!

[Madame Zenobia]

Very informative. Thanks for posting.

[Ani]

this is awesome!

[Blue Castle]

Thank you for the tutorial and the GREAT idea! I've never seen anything like this and now my mind is reeling with the possibilities. :)

[Natalie]

Wow! Thank you for sharing this great tutorial. It looks like a fun project to share with children.

[Kate]

Love, love, love this idea! Very creative and a much better alternative that trying to find a sticker similar to the design you like. Just curious- where did this mermaid come from? I adore it! I have such a hard time finding old fashioned looking mermaids. Thanks for the great blog and ideas!

[Grou]

Is this only possible with laser printed images? does someone tried with inkjet printed images?

[ducky]

awesome! Thanks so much for sharing the idea!

[Fulvia]

It works just as beautifully with images from magazines, making the possibilities truly endless. I have incorporated this technique in some of my fiber art. Good job!

[Melissa]

Mother used this technique to decorate gift candles for weddings, birthdays etc. You can try it with greeting card art,too.

[michael]

i gotta try this, sounds awasome, thanks for sharing this craft.

[michael]

i gotta try this, sounds awesome, thanks for sharing this craft.

[Abigail]

So very nifty! Thanks for a great tutorial.

[Kerri]

This is splendid!
Thanks you muchly for the wonderful tutorial; I am now going to go and get my hands on some packing tape!

[Bettsi]

What a cool technique! I can't wait to try it. Thank you for sharing this.

[Hanna]

great tutorial and beautiful images, thanks for sharing!

[amanda]

great tutorial! thanks for sharing, im def going to have to try this :)

[Diane Cook]

Thanks for the tutorial. Nice pictures and step-by-step.
What about inkjet? What do you use?

[Lisa H]

So cool! I am going have to try this!

[alisonmaude]

I am also curious to know if this will work with ink jet printers. Sounds like a really great techinique with lots of possibilities. Although, for me, only if it will work with inkjet printers.

[Lisa]

Can't wait to try this! My scrapbook table is loaded down with new pictures and things to create with!

[Whitney]

Wow that's really cool! I only have an inkjet printer, but I'm going to try it anyway :)

[Sheryl]

I tried this and it worked great but now I don't know what to do with it.

[Modern Lunacy]

Great explanation and illustrations! I recently learned how to do this in a mixed-media class. For those who are asking about using laser-jet images - you can't achieve good results using images from an inkjet printer because inkjet printers use water-based inks, which will run when exposed to the water. That's why laser prints/copies (which are toner-based) work best.
Have fun!