How to Create Image Transfers Using Your Gelli Plate

DIY & Tutorials

May 19

If you know me, you know how much I love using my gel plate to create beautiful works of art. When I initially started making gelli prints using my gel plate, I struggled to get successful image transfers. After testing and practicing, I have finally figured out the best way to get beautiful image transfers. Before we dive in, let me give you a quick disclosure...image transfers are quite unpredictable and often take trial and error to get it right. You will have failures, but it is my hope that you will view these failures as a necessary part of the learning process. Ok...let's dive in!

What is a Gelli Plate?

A gel plate is a printing surface that is made from a gelatin-like substrate. However, it does not contain any gelatin or organic materials. One of the reasons it is called a gel plate is because these can be made using gelatin. However, it is a worthy investment to purchase one instead of making your own because they last for years and years. And...they're super fun to play around with.

So...what does a gelli plate do? Gel plates function as a printing surface. Using a gel press, you can make monoprints which simply means that each print is a unique, one of a kind work of art. The thing I love most about gelli plate printing is that you can use the surface to experiment with a variety of materials including found objects, feathers, string, stencils, wax, paint pens, inks and acrylics. The possibilities are endless. When you add images to a gel plate, they can be transferred to both fabric and paper. And voila! You've got an original piece of art.

If you want more information about gelli printing, check out my complete beginner's guide.

How to gelli plate image transfers work?

It might seem like magic, but there is actual science behind the process. The ink on both the magazines and the laser prints act as a resist. This means that wherever there is black ink on your image, the ink will not be transfered to the gel plate. This is why having such a high contrast image is important.

Gelli Plate Transfer Techniques

how to create image transfers using your gelli plate

I've watched videos and practiced this technique and I have found what gives me the best results. Remember, you might have a different experience, so test out each technique and see what works best for you! There are two types of image transfers that work best: Magazine transfers and printed transfers. Let's break it down:

Printed Image Transfer

A printed image transfer is exactly what it sounds like. It consists of using a printed image and transferring it to a gel plate. There are 5 must-haves to successfully transfer an image from a print out:

Printer type: The print out must be created using a laser printer. This technique will not work with an ink jet printer. I have this printer and it is a workhorse!
Printing technique: You will need to double print your image. By this, I mean that you will print out your image on your laser printer and then you will feed it back into the printer and print it again.
Image: Your image must be black and white. Use your phone's editing platform to turn any image into a black and white image. Make sure it is high contrast so that the black ink is as dark as possible.
Paper: Use cardstock or another strong, smooth paper like bristol. I find that high quality cardstock works best because I can feed it easily into my printer.
Paint choice: Use the right paint. I have found that the only two inks that really works well for me is the Golden Carbon Black Liquid Ink and Amsterdam. Other artists might have other brands they prefer, but I haven't really had consistent luck with other brands.

Magazine Image transfer

This is the kind of transfer that happens when you use a high contrast image and transfer it to the gel plate. Magazine transfers work similarly to the printed image transfers in that the black ink on the magazine page, will repel any water based paint that is applied to the gel. plate. This means that you can use not just black for your ink, but any color will work. These are some things to keep in mind:

Magazine type: This method works best with higher quality magazines like National Geographic or Vogue or another magazine on that level.
Paper: You want to either use cardstock or I have found a lot of success using this paper.
Image: Make sure the image is very high contrast and has black and white. You can use images and you can also use typography from a magazine.
Paint choice: Paint choice matters when it comes to image transfer from a magazine. I like these two acrylic paints the best: Golden Carbon and Amsterdam

What's the best acrylic paint for image transfer on a gelli plate?

Doing an image transfer can be incredibly rewarding. It can also be incredibly frustrating! When it comes to acrylic paint on a gelli plate, the brand does in fact matter tremendously. And like all things scientific, it doesn't always go according to plan. To set yourself up for a successful image transfer, you want to be sure you have the best paint for the job. And, well, the paint choice is different with magazine transfers vs laser printed transfers.

The best paint for laser-printed gelli transfers

With laser gelli transfers, you will want to work with wet paint. Do not overbake. Go in a few directions and then apply your paper. Do not press or rub too hard. You will want to move your hand in circular motions for 10-15 seconds, and do not use a lot of pressure. Many artists use the analogy of applying sunscreen or lotion - that is as much pressure as you should need.
Golden fluid acrylics work best followed by Amsterdam.
If you get black dots all over your paper, that means there were air bubbles and the paper didn't make contact with the gel plate. You cannot make a second print if things do not go smoothly. Reprint and try again.
Remember, you want to be sure to print twice! Put the page back into the printer and print on top of your print.

The best paint for magazine gelli transfers

Transferring magazine pages onto a gel plate takes patience. It does not go according to plan each and every time. Think of this as a fun challenge and do not get too attached to the page you've torn from the magazine.
When applying paint to the gel plate, you want to work slightly dryer than with the laser prints. You want to apply the paint and bray the paint until it has a velvet appearance. Little paint is needed.
Using the highest quality paint for this process yields the best results. My preferred paint for magazine transfers is the Amsterdam followed by the Golden. This is the opposite of what is recommended in laser image transfers.

What's the best paper for image transfer on a gelli plate?

There are several brands of paper that work very well with gel plate printing. This paper has been a huge success for me. I also love using bristol paper, but the HP paper has worked really well for me. There are other papers that work well for regular gel plate printing, but when it comes to image transfer, the paper does matter!

Once you have all of the above in place, now you can start making a transfer. Here are the steps:

Print out your image using your laser printer. Then feed it back through and print again. Remember, paper matters. I have tried and tested many papers and while card stock works best, this card stock is a step ahead of all other card stocks.
Add your ink to the plate. Move the ink in all directions to get a smooth coat.
Place your print out face down onto the black ink.
Using your hands, very gently rub the paper all around. Do not apply much pressure at all. The more pressure you apply, the more likely you are to have an unsuccessful transfer.
Peel your print out from the plate to reveal your image on the plate.
Let dry completely.
Once the transfer is dry on the plate, you can begin painting from behind in layers. After each layer is dry, add a coat of gel medium and place a fresh piece of cardstock or bristol to the plate. Place a few heavy books on top and let dry for several hours.
Very slowly and gently peel the paper to reveal your art. I find that it helps to peel the paper from a diagonal.

Magazine Image Transfer

The other method for image transfer onto a gel plate is to use a magazine. Again, this technique takes trial and error and the results are unpredictable. Here are some things that might help you to succeed:

Only use cardstock to pull your image off of your gel plate
The magazines that work best are the highest quality magazine pages from magazines like Vogue and National Geographic.Very glossy pages don't seem to work as well. The magazine pages make a big difference so make sure you're working with a fashion magazine that has good quality paper.
The acrylic paint that you choose is important, so choose wisely. For this, I like to use the Amsterdam brand acrylic black paint.

Once you know the rules, its time to make your gelli plate monoprint. Here's how to do it: