Drawn

You use a solvent to transfer toner from photocopies/laser prints onto another surface. There’s a couple of different options – like blender pens, which contain xylene, or certain kinds of thinners. I’ve heard of wintergreen oil, and cleaners like citrasolve working too. I haven’t tried those, but they’re probably less toxic.

You use a solvent to transfer toner from photocopies/laser prints onto another surface. There’s a couple of different options – like blender pens, which contain xylene, or certain kinds of thinners. I’ve heard of wintergreen oil, and cleaners like citrasolve working too. I haven’t tried those, but they’re probably less toxic.

i used to do a lot of solvent transfers. i always knew them as xerox transfers.
my way was perhaps not the healthiest, but it’s pretty simple.

you get a photocopy of an image, and then rub acetone on it. it takes some trial and error to get the right amount of acetone. sometimes it will just bleed, and sometimes the image will not transfer at all. then you put the acetoned xerox face-down on the substrait you wish to transfer to, and rub it evenly. i didn’t have a printmaking roller, so i just used the back of a wooden spoon or pieces of rag. besides that, all you need are rubber gloves and a well-ventilated space.

i have only ever done transfers on paper and cardboard, but i’ve been told you can do it on fabric as well. a quick search found instructions for photo transfers here:
http://webmonkey.wired.com/webmonkey/99/23/index3a_page10.html?tw=design

i used to do a lot of solvent transfers. i always knew them as xerox transfers.
my way was perhaps not the healthiest, but it’s pretty simple.

you get a photocopy of an image, and then rub acetone on it. it takes some trial and error to get the right amount of acetone. sometimes it will just bleed, and sometimes the image will not transfer at all. then you put the acetoned xerox face-down on the substrait you wish to transfer to, and rub it evenly. i didn’t have a printmaking roller, so i just used the back of a wooden spoon or pieces of rag. besides that, all you need are rubber gloves and a well-ventilated space.

i have only ever done transfers on paper and cardboard, but i’ve been told you can do it on fabric as well. a quick search found instructions for photo transfers here:
http://webmonkey.wired.com/webmonkey/99/23/index3a_page10.html?tw=design

Good toxic fun! I did a few of those in college.

Good toxic fun! I did a few of those in college.

I just looked at those. Mine were never that good. Very sweet stuff!

I just looked at those. Mine were never that good. Very sweet stuff!

yeah we called these xerox transfers and either did them with gum arabic on the printing press, or using xylene (color less blending markers) on the back of a toner/photocopied source onto a surface that could take the transfer… usually acrylic paint.

It’s a great way to get nice text onto an otherwise traditional media drawing/work.

yeah we called these xerox transfers and either did them with gum arabic on the printing press, or using xylene (color less blending markers) on the back of a toner/photocopied source onto a surface that could take the transfer… usually acrylic paint.

It’s a great way to get nice text onto an otherwise traditional media drawing/work.

I used to do this with varsol and images from newspapers and magazines.

I used to do this with varsol and images from newspapers and magazines.

I use paint-thinner as a solvent. Here we call these transfers ‘thinner-prints’. Photocopies and/or laserprints work best. Some magazines work fine too. I guess you need magazines which are printed using rotation-printing. Mostly these are glossy magazines or magazines that have a lot of copies printed. Just offset will not work.

But I can’t print on acrylic paint. The paint thinner dissolves the paint.

I use paint-thinner as a solvent. Here we call these transfers ‘thinner-prints’. Photocopies and/or laserprints work best. Some magazines work fine too. I guess you need magazines which are printed using rotation-printing. Mostly these are glossy magazines or magazines that have a lot of copies printed. Just offset will not work.

But I can’t print on acrylic paint. The paint thinner dissolves the paint.

Any none-toxic alternatives to this technique?

And, those are some awsome transfers, definatly very cool stuff!

Any none-toxic alternatives to this technique?

And, those are some awsome transfers, definatly very cool stuff!

Papilionoidea-

I used wintergreen oil in a class. I was told it was non-toxic, just don’t drink it.

Just use that instead of solvent and go by the tutorial provided by rhp in this list of responses.

Papilionoidea-

I used wintergreen oil in a class. I was told it was non-toxic, just don’t drink it.

Just use that instead of solvent and go by the tutorial provided by rhp in this list of responses.

One way I used to do xerox transfers without using acetone was by hitting the Off button on the laser copier before the copied image’s sheet passed through the heat rollers inside the copier. If you watch the light inside the copier roll across your original image (with the copier lid down, of course), when the light finishes travelling across your image, that’s a good time to hit the off button. It will take a little experimentation, but it’s fun. The toner on the copy image won’t be heat set, so you can open up the copier and pull the copy out. Then you just put the copy face-down on another sheet of paper and rub the image onto it.

One way I used to do xerox transfers without using acetone was by hitting the Off button on the laser copier before the copied image’s sheet passed through the heat rollers inside the copier. If you watch the light inside the copier roll across your original image (with the copier lid down, of course), when the light finishes travelling across your image, that’s a good time to hit the off button. It will take a little experimentation, but it’s fun. The toner on the copy image won’t be heat set, so you can open up the copier and pull the copy out. Then you just put the copy face-down on another sheet of paper and rub the image onto it.

Lisa nice tip, i’ll try this…

Lisa nice tip, i’ll try this…

…thanks for the mention on DRAWN!…quite a suprise…thanks for the nice comments.

the3robbers

…thanks for the mention on DRAWN!…quite a suprise…thanks for the nice comments.

the3robbers

Thanks, BadHandBud & Lisa! I’ll experiment a bit and see what I can do! :)

Thanks, BadHandBud & Lisa! I’ll experiment a bit and see what I can do! :)

These are soooooooooo pretty.

These are soooooooooo pretty.

I’ve been doing a lot of research into this area over the past six months. Most things that disolve platic/toner are going to be toxic if inhaled over long periods of time, so take the right precations. Although wintergreen is supposed to be good i haven’t tried it.
Another thing that works is permanant fixitive, just spray on the back of a copy and either rub, or better still, put through a press for a nice even transfer.
Thanks for the tip for turning the copier off, I hadnbn’t thought of that

I’ve been doing a lot of research into this area over the past six months. Most things that disolve platic/toner are going to be toxic if inhaled over long periods of time, so take the right precations. Although wintergreen is supposed to be good i haven’t tried it.
Another thing that works is permanant fixitive, just spray on the back of a copy and either rub, or better still, put through a press for a nice even transfer.
Thanks for the tip for turning the copier off, I hadnbn’t thought of that

Thanks a lot Anthony, I’m going to give the permanant fixative a try tonight! :)

Thanks a lot Anthony, I’m going to give the permanant fixative a try tonight! :)

We just did these for a class with wintergreen oil and it works well, I just can’t stand the smell and it stays with the paper so you will probably want to do it in a well ventilated place or outside. Also, it’s about $8 a bottle, a very small bottle! A tip…apply it on the back with the qtip and let it sit for at least a minute…then apply it to your paper for a clearer image and it will eat through plastic and take paint off of a table :) Learned the hard way!

We just did these for a class with wintergreen oil and it works well, I just can’t stand the smell and it stays with the paper so you will probably want to do it in a well ventilated place or outside. Also, it’s about $8 a bottle, a very small bottle! A tip…apply it on the back with the qtip and let it sit for at least a minute…then apply it to your paper for a clearer image and it will eat through plastic and take paint off of a table :) Learned the hard way!

[...] 2.) Drawn! has a nice example of a solvent transfer on moleskine. [...]