Easiest Design Transfer Method You’ll Ever Find

July 15, 2009

Posted in: Your Home, Your Way

In the middle of a new project that I am working on, I realized that I had a problem. I needed to transfer a very large design (think 4 feet by 4 feet!) than I want to paint onto a primed piece of wood, and I couldn’t figure out how to do it.

I laid the printed design out on the wood and thought I could just trace the design on the paper with firm pressure and a little impression line would be left on the wood that I could just go back and trace. Um, nope.

Then, I tried a ballpoint pin. Nada. How about the tip of a butter knife? Nah. A bamboo skewer? No way.

I was getting pretty desperate at this point. I knew I could run out to the store to buy transfer paper, but my son was napping and that’s prime crafting time as any of you other moms know. I had to use something I had on hand.

Then a light bulb went off in my head: Newsprint! It always rubs off on my hands, so maybe it would rub off on the primed wood. Egads! I was right!

This technique will be especially helpful if you have a very intricate design, a very large design, or you just don’t want to take the time to cut out your design and trace like a stencil. I think this is going to be my go-to tracing technique from now on. It is so easy.

How To Transfer Designs to Wood Using Newsprint

1. Print out your design and cut away the excess white space. Tape the top of your design to the painted or primed wood in the location you want to transfer the design.

2. Lift up the design and slide a page of newsprint underneath it. The classified pages and stock market pages work best, as there is a lot of small newsprint all over the page. Make sure that the entire design is underneath the newsprint.

3. With a pen or pencil (preferably a pink one with your name on it like you are 6 years old) , trace the outline of your design directly onto the paper. Press firmly, but you don’t have to go overboard with the pressure.

4. Remove the taped design and newsprint to reveal a light transfer underneath! I have turned up the contrast on this photo so that you will be able to see the transfer.

5. With your pencil (or with a paintbrush if you are way more talented than me), trace the transfer directly onto the wood.

6. Admire the beauty of your transfer, and then get busy painting!

Try this technique the next time you want to transfer a pattern or stencil a word onto a piece of wood. I’m pretty sure this would work on your walls, too. You’ll be amazed at how quickly and easily you can transfer that design. I’d love to know how it works out for you!

I’m adding this to Kristen’s Works For Me Wednesday blog carnival over at We Are That Family. Head on over there to check out some other great tips!

1 Sherrie July 14, 2009 at 9:19 pm

What's that they say about the necessity of invention. Marvolous idea! I will be using this one!
Can't wait to see what it is you are making…
Sherrie

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2 ilovemy5kids July 14, 2009 at 11:07 pm

That is awesome! Great idea!!!

Blessings to you!

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3 Molly Green July 14, 2009 at 11:24 pm

That's a great idea!

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4 Julianne {chasingsnails} July 15, 2009 at 1:07 am

Well! Aren't you a clever cookie : ).

Awesome idea, thank you for sharing, I am sure this will come in handy many times over.

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5 Centsational Girl July 15, 2009 at 1:45 am

Are you kidding me? That is the most brilliant blogggy thing I've read since you painted your laminate. I am SO impressed with your ingenuity. You clever clever girl. I am bookmarking for sure.

Smiles and gasps,
Kate

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6 Cindy @ Chalk it Up! July 15, 2009 at 5:23 am

What an excellent idea!
If you don't have newspaper around the house you can also rub your pencil on the back of the design, but that requires a little more time than your brilliant technique!
Thanks for sharing I will definitely being using this!

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7 Amanda @ Serenity Now July 15, 2009 at 7:58 am

Neat trick!!! :)

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8 Songbirdtiff July 15, 2009 at 9:19 am

This is a brilliant idea! I need a good use for all the newspapers floating around my house.

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9 3XMom July 15, 2009 at 9:59 am

oh my gosh! So awesome! You are a genius!!!

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10 Jenny July 15, 2009 at 10:10 am

that's pretty nifty. :) I should try that out on the wall area above my desk.

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11 the BLAH BLAH BLAHger July 15, 2009 at 11:01 am

Hmmmmm, can't wait to see how this turns out!!!

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12 Michelle July 15, 2009 at 11:54 am

Looks like a great technique…thanks for sharing! I already have a project in mind :) Love your blog, by the way!

Have a wonderful day!
~Michelle
(Treasure the Moment)

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13 sam enriquez July 15, 2009 at 1:23 pm

These Craft Ideas are great! Can these be done by those that are not as artistically talented?

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14 mub July 15, 2009 at 3:59 pm

Wow that is so cool! I don't think I would've thought of that myself =)

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15 Ali July 15, 2009 at 4:46 pm

Brilliant! I love, love, love it when these moments of sheer genius happen!

Ali T. @ My Little Kingdom
alitaylorbloginvite@yahoo.com

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16 Dawn July 15, 2009 at 7:40 pm

This is GENIOUS!!!! Thanks so much for sharing!

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17 Amy {The Red Chair Blog} July 15, 2009 at 7:53 pm

Clever, clever! As a previous poster said, necessity truly is the mother of invention! This is better than transfer paper, because it's recycling!

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18 Kimm at Reinvented July 15, 2009 at 8:36 pm

Fabulous, another use for newspaper! Love it, such a "green" idea!

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19 Rachel@oneprettything.com July 15, 2009 at 10:17 pm

That is WAY cool! I love learning new techniques and I super love your pencil. =) I'll be linking.

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20 Living With Lindsay July 15, 2009 at 11:40 pm

Thanks, guys!

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21 Jaclyn July 16, 2009 at 2:07 am

That is such a great idea!!! Thank you! I am planning on making some wood signs in the near future, and I'll be using that technique for sure!
I gave you an award on my blog: http://madebyjaclyn.blogspot.com/

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22 RootsAndWingsCo July 16, 2009 at 9:25 am

I love it! I had never thought of doing that before. My in a pinch way to transfer something was to scribble on the back of the template with a pencil or chalk. Voila, instant transfer paper. But this is even more simple! Great idea and thanks for sharing. BTW, I love the new look on the blog.

Anjeanette of the R&W; girls

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23 Rebekah July 16, 2009 at 9:44 am

Ingenious! Love the new look of your blog, too, though my first thought was, "What's with the hairdryer?" A second glance cleared that up. Glue gun! Duh! :)

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24 JennTRC July 17, 2009 at 7:54 am

Great idea!! :)

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25 Carol J. July 17, 2009 at 10:08 am

That is a great idea! Plus, I'm thinking that once the transfer and painting is complete, the lines will erase easily. I find that the graphite transfer paper lines don't erase…thank you so much!

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26 HomeSpun Threads July 17, 2009 at 10:20 am

my art teacher in high school showed us to use a pencil and do a rubbing on the back of something we wanted to transfer, then lay the transfer and trace over it, the rubbing transfered over to the object, it was really great for alot of reasons

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27 Vone July 19, 2009 at 7:40 am

Saw you on One Pretty Thing
Great idea – I've done the same as HomeSpun Threads but this seems even easier.

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28 Kimba July 27, 2009 at 8:20 am

This is a really brilliant idea! Transfer paper is actually kind of difficult to find (around here, anyway). You can get the spendy Graphite Paper for real artist type people but not the cheapo stuff that I want.

Kimba

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29 Gwen July 29, 2009 at 12:05 pm

I am going to try this this week!

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30 Melissa January 27, 2010 at 9:29 am

You are my new hero.

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31 Jessica June 22, 2011 at 10:05 am

Here’s something else: If you ever need to REVERSE a design like that, trace over the whole thing with a really soft pencil (6B is my preferred), flip it over so the pencil is against what you need to transfer it on to and rub the back with a hard object (6Bs are usually eraserless so I usually use the other, flat end of them). Nifty idea, btw!

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32 Lindsay June 23, 2011 at 9:32 am

Oooh- you are a smart cookie! Thanks for that tip!

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33 Melody June 30, 2011 at 10:33 am

Clever!

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34 A FabuLESS Home July 8, 2011 at 10:46 am

Brilliant! I will definitely be using this tip in the future!

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35 Carrie July 22, 2011 at 8:13 pm

I’m SO going to try this technique this weekend! I want to transfer large words to a wall for painting. This is GENIUS!

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36 Catherine dee Auvil July 24, 2011 at 9:05 am

Very useful, thanks!

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37 jubilee August 9, 2011 at 3:47 pm

Brill-yant! Love it. Thanks!

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38 Mac August 10, 2011 at 1:05 pm

Found you on Pinterest! This is so simple, and somehow makes me want to go out and buy pencils with my name on them. I love the quick nap time solutions we come up with as mommas, and I keep thinking I could use this transfer method for some sort of inexpensive kid craft… Maybe those new plain chipboard notebooks that I keep seeing for back to school? I loved it so much, I featured you on my own blog!

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39 C5 @ Global Recycled Products September 12, 2011 at 3:17 am

It sure is better than carbon paper which tends to darken other places that should not be.

Great discovery! :)

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40 Ashley September 17, 2011 at 1:38 pm

You could also rub the back of the paper your design is on with a colored piece of chalk or a pencil and then just trace the front. It will have the same effect as transfer paper.

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41 Kris Savage September 24, 2011 at 10:02 am

This is a life saver!!!! I have been wanting to paint a very intricate design on my 2 leaf dining room table and was getting bummed thinking about cutting out and tracing! Ha! Thank you thank you!

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42 Amanda October 6, 2011 at 9:45 pm

That is fricken awesome. Thanks for the useful info, I am going to try using that right now!!! Yeah.

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43 Gwen@theboldabode October 18, 2011 at 2:20 pm

Now, that’s NEWS to me…woka, woka, woka…

Fabulously fabulous ideeeyuh!!!

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44 Gwen@theboldabode October 18, 2011 at 3:10 pm

O.K. so I had to get back on Facebook to figure out how I could say (again) that this is awesome, cuz I was littttrally sittin down to print off a graphic to paint on my table…like right now… when I saw yur teknique on Shabby Creek… I’m, like, stoked.. And if this wurks I’ma totally line my house with newspaper and trace graphics evrywhur and everybody’ll call me that Crazy Graphic Lady… Watch out, cat…

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45 gertie @ The Old Block House October 19, 2011 at 1:13 pm

What a wonderful idea! I love free uses for things that we already have one hand.

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46 Dollie October 27, 2011 at 10:59 pm

This is awesome! You have alot of great ideas :) Adding you to my google reader.

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47 KimK October 28, 2011 at 11:06 am

OH MAN! I had everything but my name pencil. *fail* ;)
<3 AWESOME! thank you so much!

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48 Kimanh November 3, 2011 at 8:58 pm

And it’s ideas like this that keep the world turning around.. Thank you!

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49 Betty November 11, 2011 at 10:01 am

“I love it”! …I bought a package of tracing paper at Staples a few months ago and it cost “$18.00″ !!! …Believe me I’ll be using newspaper from now on…Thanks so much for sharing.
Hugz ..Betty
PS…I found you on Pinterest.

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50 Robin April 3, 2012 at 11:59 am

If you have a restaurant supply store or a smart and final or even possibly a costco. They have the paper you wrap sandwiches in not the white the thin almost waxy kind.(but not waxy) anyway you can get 1200 sheets for $12.00. I use it in my classroom all the time.

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51 Wendy @HerBallistic Garden November 16, 2011 at 3:43 am

That’s a great idea! I’ve been searching for a great cheap idea and hope I’ve just found it! I’m going to try that…will let you know how it goes! Found you through pinterest…xo

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52 Denise November 17, 2011 at 10:02 pm

Love the idea, and the humor!! Sometimes the simplest methods are the best way to go!!

PS. I also have stationery w/ my name on it. Ha ha!!

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53 Brittany December 10, 2011 at 9:57 pm

You are a god send. Totally just saved my project :D THANK YOU

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54 Jamie December 20, 2011 at 12:40 pm

How easy! I can’t wait to use this method! I was thinking I would have to whip out the messy carbon paper. Thanks.

You have an awesome blog…I’m following now! :)

jamie @ sewrockin.com

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55 darlene December 22, 2011 at 6:47 am

This is such a brilliant idea! I’ve been wanting to transfer a vintage design but hesitated. Now I’m ready to do it.

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56 Cathe Holden December 29, 2011 at 8:37 pm

Thanks to Suzonne Stirling’s Pinterest I found your tracing brilliancy! Good grief this is going to save a lot of time on projects. Thanks so much for sharing it!!!

Cathe

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57 Jamie @ SewRockin' December 30, 2011 at 10:47 pm

This technique rocks! I just wanted to let you know that I featured this today on You Sew Rock Me Fridays. Here’s the link if you want to check it out: http://wp.me/s1VAkT-1183.

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58 Nancy December 31, 2011 at 4:53 pm

You can also take a #2 pencil and rub the lead on the back of your pattern in a close zigzag , just where you will be tracing. The lead will leave a mark where your tracing pen put pressure on it. You can also use chalk the same way if you need to see the “tracing” on something dark.

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59 Simplymade January 7, 2012 at 10:32 pm

one other option is to trace the design with a pencil on the back and then trace it from the front. better than tracing paper won’t get anything on your project except what you want. . .your design.

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60 Michelle@Faith, Trust & Pixie Dust January 15, 2012 at 9:10 pm

Thank you so much for sharing this tip. I’m not artistic, so I’m always looking for ways to get around that! This is so easy!

Warmly, Michelle

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61 Debbie Harris January 24, 2012 at 6:40 am

I had the same problem. I used the pencil method. Check out my blog: http://dinxdeb58.blogspot.com/ There you’ll find what I mean by “pencil method”.
I enjoy your blog very much.

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62 Clair February 8, 2012 at 2:32 pm

Very handy idea. Thanks for sharing!!!

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63 Karen February 12, 2012 at 1:09 am

this is another method but it will be a mirror image.

Draw the item with pencil.

Flip it over onto what you want to trace it on and rub it real hard with a bone folder or an old card of some sort. The design will transfer and you only had to do it once.

That is if a mirror image is what you want or is ok.

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64 April February 13, 2012 at 10:20 am

Oh, how I love you!! I keep seeing easy ways to transfer and then I read them thinking ‘how is that easy!?’. Thank you for changing my crafting life :)

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65 Kin February 14, 2012 at 4:35 pm

So simple! Makes me want to get up right now and print something on my wooden bread board. Thanks for sharing.

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66 Melissa February 15, 2012 at 10:47 am

It’s because of the carbon. Regular carbon paper can also be used or a soft pencil. With the soft pencil you turn your design over and rub a light layer all over the back of your design, then you lay the design down, rubbed pencil side down, and draw over it like you did. The graphite from the pencil will transfer. Learned this in art in elementary school!! Looks great btw!!

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67 Dyani March 12, 2012 at 9:02 pm

This does not work on canvas, I found that out today…. SO, I was only experimenting and finally came up with what I thought was a great idea…until I saw it on the comment above the one I am about to post…. Today has definitely been a live and learn day. However, I feel like I have the tools, thanks to your blog and my trial and error, to get the stupid design I want finally onto the stinkin’ canvas. AT LAST I can get to the fun part! Thanks so much for your ideas. I really enjoy your blog. I found you via pinterest, of course. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with next!

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68 Lindsay March 19, 2012 at 3:15 pm

I would have totally thought that it would have worked on canvas. Good to know!

Yeah, the rubbing the pencil on the back trick is an awesome one. I remember doing ti as a kid. It’s hard to do that for really large transfers, though. That’s why I love the newsprint trick!

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69 Judy March 26, 2012 at 7:01 pm

Great thinking. Here’s another method is to hold the design onto a window with the right side to the window. Trace the backside with a lead pencil. You then may transfer onto the surface by securing the tracing in place and tracing it onto the surface. I’ve also used a credit card to run pressure over the tracing. Hope this helps! Any extra lead lines showing can be removed with clean paint thinner.

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70 Lindsay March 26, 2012 at 11:09 pm

Very smart!

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71 Becca March 31, 2012 at 6:43 pm

Great idea! I wonder if carbon paper would also work for you?

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72 Taryn April 14, 2012 at 12:15 am

I want to see the whole project this went on. Looks so cute!

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73 Kim April 14, 2012 at 10:05 am

Oh thanks for this great idea. I have a textured wall that I tried to rub a stencil on, but it wouldn’t stick. Now I can transfer it and paint! Thank you, thank you!

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74 Lindsay April 17, 2012 at 8:46 pm

Perfect!

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75 Pauline April 17, 2012 at 5:12 am

wow what a neat idea thanks for sharing :O)

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76 Lindsay April 17, 2012 at 8:46 pm

Thanks, Pauline!

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77 HatsyT May 5, 2012 at 9:08 pm

A very clever solution.

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