/ˈtræns.fɜːr ˈpeɪ.pər/

Transfer paper

noun · transfer material

What it is

Transfer paper is a carbonless carbon paper for drawings. One face carries a loose layer of graphite or coloured wax; the other stays clean. To use it, the artist stacks three layers: the reference design on top, the transfer paper coated-side down in the middle, and the working surface at the bottom. Drawing over the top lines with a stylus or hard pencil presses the coating off the middle sheet, leaving a matching line on the surface underneath.

Graphite transfer paper leaves a pencil-grey line that erases and blends like ordinary graphite, which is why painters favour it under watercolour and coloured pencil. Wax-based or carbon types leave a firmer, more permanent line better suited to fabric, wood, or gesso. Unlike rubbing graphite onto the back of a drawing, the coating is manufactured evenly, so lines are cleaner and the reference itself is never marked.

Etymology

"Transfer" comes from Latin transferre, to carry across, describing the movement of the coating from paper to surface. The material is a descendant of carbon paper, patented in the early nineteenth century for making copies of handwriting; graphite-coated versions were adapted for artists, who wanted a mark that behaved like pencil rather than typewriter ink. It is sold today as graphite paper, transfer paper, or, loosely, "artist's carbon."

Examples in use

A watercolourist transfers a detailed botanical drawing onto paper too delicate to erase repeatedly. A woodworker uses wax transfer paper to lay a carving pattern onto a blank. A muralist scales a study, prints it in tiles, and transfers each tile with graphite paper. Transfer paper is the analogue answer to the same problem the free Grid Maker Pro web tool solves digitally — squaring a reference for hand copying, free forever in the browser — while the separate paid AR app skips paper entirely and registers the reference over the real surface through the phone camera.