Methods of transferring nanostructures from a first substrate to another substrate using a copolymer polymerized from one or more non-crosslinking monomers and one or more comonomers bearing crosslinkable groups as a transfer medium are provided. Relative to a poly(methyl methacrylate) homopolymer, the crosslinkable copolymers bond more strongly to the first substrate and, as a result, are able to transfer even very narrow nanostructures between substrates with high transfer yields.