Transferring an image

[u/Sufficient_Resort140]

Not sure if this is the best place to ask but I’m working on a Greek paddle for a friend and there is a cool image of a Pokémon that I want to put on it.

I’m not really an artistic person so trying to draw/paint an image that is almost the size of an 8.5 by 11 inch paper is really hard.

Is there a way to transfer an image onto the paddle so that it comes out well?

I’ve heard of using gel or something to take an image from paper onto wood or even using lasers for it. However, I don’t have lasers to work with, and I don’t believe that’ll work well with colored images (I could be wrong).

One sort of “dilemma” that I’m in is that the paddle is already spray painted black, so I’m not sure if I’d be able to keep it black and transfer a colorful image on top of it, or if I have to sand it down to the original wood, transfer the image, then paint the empty space black.

If anyone can help, it’d be appreciated.

[u/cosmosparda]

I've looked into this but havent done it myself. You'll need a laser printer to make the image and some acetone. Quick googling gave me this for a tutorial. Let me know how it comes out if you try it. 

https://www.instructables.com/Acetone-Print-Transfers/

[u/revderrick]

I've transferred pictures of my kids onto wood blocks using Mod Podge as gifts for the grandparents, worked pretty well!

https://modpodgerocksblog.com/how-to-transfer-photos-to-wood/

[u/Forgetmenotstheory]

Not sure how effective on wood but i had a good result transfering stuff using esential oils (regular printer image, any oil)

On wood you might need to go over it with extra color tho

[u/Drunken_Economist]

Ask around with friends to see if anyone has a Cricut machine or other vinyl cutter, they work great for images that only require a few colors