The present invention is drawn to the thermal transfer overcoating of images printed on porous media, and methods of overcoating images printed on porous media. Upon use of the systems and methods of the present invention, a thermally coated print is generated that can comprise a porous media substrate (22) having printed thereon a digitally produced image. The digitally produced image and the porous media substrate is thermally coated by an adhesive protective layer (16,18), wherein the adhesive protective layer has a tangent d that is greater than 1 and melt viscosity less than 1x10 5 Pa.·sec. as applied above its phase transition temperature. Thus, the voids in the porous media substrate can be substantially filled, and further, substantially no tags remain on the print.