# Emulsion Transfers



## Sir Duke (May 23, 2006)

So I have recently gotten a Daylab, and have been getting into emulsion transfers.  Some of my images come out really watery.

Here are some scanned examles...

#1)







#2)






Some come out with more detail.  Like these ones...

#3)







#4)






I have tried different methods- Doing them both wet and dry, different water temperatures, and different papers(hot press/cold press). It seems that changing to a less rough paper helps, but I still have problems. Does onyone have any suggestions.


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## Karalee (May 23, 2006)

Welcome to the forum  I love 2 and 3 in particular. You might want to pose any questions about this stuff in our Alt Section: We have quite a few polaroid freaks and geeks round these here parts


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## terri (May 23, 2006)

oh....look! Image transfers in the critique forum. :love: An unexpected delight!

There are lots of things you can try. It's obvious you already have the basics down. :thumbup: Let's see if we can help you fine-tune it for better results. 

I'd like to move this to the Alternative forum, too.


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## Sir Duke (May 23, 2006)

Go ahead and move it. I posted a link to it there, but I don't know how to move the whole thread. Appreciate you taking the time to look.


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## terri (May 23, 2006)

Well, you don't have the access to move the whole thread, it has to be a forum moderator task. No biggie - I am moving it now!


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## terri (May 23, 2006)

Okay.....  

When you get really good with image transfers, that's when to try the (rougher surface) of cold-pressed paper. CP papers are somewhat less expensive than hot-pressed, though, so to save students money they are often recommended for beginners. But then you see these nubby results, and people get needlessly frustrated!

So....stick with the hot-pressed papers. You will be happier. :thumbup: 

I like these, anyway......IT's don't have to be picture-perfect to be nice pieces of art.  BUT - a couple more hints you might find useful.....

....only use distilled water. Not too hot, a comfortable 90 degrees is good.

....after you apply the brayer, you can slip the entire Polaroid print under the water to peel it apart. If I'm trying for a "perfect" transfer I'll do that. 

....not too much pressure on the brayer when you roll it. It doesn't take much to distort those inks and it gets muddy-looking. 

.....and don't forget to reverse any slide with writing, or it will come out backwards on the transfer. :razz:

Hope this helps.

Do you have some more? I'd love to see them! These are great images.


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## Sir Duke (May 23, 2006)

Here is the only other one that I have scanned. I will try to scann some of the ones I have done that I am happy with. This one was done on some matting board that I had laying around, so I thought I'd give it a try.







And here are some emulsion transfers I have done. (oooops. I was calling image transfers emulsion transfers. I tend to get them confused.)
#1)







#2)






#3)






#4)






#5)






#6)


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## terri (May 23, 2006)

I think they look great. I love the bride & groom!  

When I first started doing these techniques, I just forced myself to call image transfers "transfers" and, when transferring the emulsion, call that an "emulsion lift". 

In both cases you are indeed "transferring" the image from one substrate to the next, BUT!  It's too easy to get the wording confused. 

Would love to see some more. I haven't done any since last fall.


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## Sir Duke (May 25, 2006)

terri. Thank you so much for your input. I had never tried putting the image and paper back into the water to separate them. It gives a whole new look. Actually, my friend who had introduced me to the process had images that looked more "perfect" like you mentioned. I was always wonderong what I was doing wrong, and why mine wouldn't come out like that.  I did some last night with putting them in the water, and I was happy with most of them. Thanks again. I will scan some, and get them up soon.:hail:


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## terri (May 25, 2006)

awesome!! :cheer: 

I'm so happy that helped. Looking forward to seeing them!


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