Several years ago, I read an article that described how to transfer photo prints onto wood. The idea intrigued me, and I bought some gel medium on ebay. After laser-printing some mirrored photos, I followed the process described. After some bit of trial and error and some lack-lustre results, I was able to achieve pretty consistent results that I was happy with.

completed wood print on a 280x190mm piece of pine timber
boat on the Keizersgracht passing under a bridge

close up of corner, showing image detail in the wood print

The original tutorial on DPS uses an acrylic gel medium with a gloss finish. I used an acrylic gel medium with a matt finish, and was happy with the results.
I have since bought a gloss variation, but haven't tried it yet.

Some guidelines and lessons I learnt while during the process of making a number of wood prints:

• don't forget to mirror the photos before printing them
• use a light-coloured wood to ensure there is sufficient contrast between the wood and the print
• rubbing off the paper with water takes quite a bit of time and effort
• a surprising amount of detail is visible in the completed wood prints
• sanding the wood surface to a smooth finish results in a more even print transfer
• the process does work with colour photos, but the resulting print is very desaturated
• photos with higher contrast work better
• you can add text to the photo before printing, and it will transfer quite well onto wood (don't forget to mirror the text too)
• applying the gel medium too thinly will result in parts of the image lifting off the wood when removing the paper
• applying the gel medium too thickly will result in the wood grain being obscured
• if necessary, water down the gel medium to allow it to be more easily and more evenly applied
• applying varnish to a completed print improves the contrast, and provides a protective layer

If you want to try transferring your photos onto wood, read through the tutorial on DPS that I followed.
There is an alternative method that works for inkjet prints - which consists of printing onto a glossy surface so the ink doesn't dry, then pressing the wet print onto wood to transfer the ink.

two completed wood prints, after being varnished

A wood print is a unique and effective way to display your photos. In addition to the prints shown in this post, I have also made several other prints, consisting of a combination of a photo and words - and the results were also quite effective.
I was very happy with these wood prints, and am intending to do some more prints in the future.