Canvas Prints In All Sizes

Cheap canvas printing services cut corners to keep prices down and while they provide you with what you “ordered”, they will still disappoint you. So what makes a quality canvas photo printer? What are the hallmarks of quality that you should look for when shopping for a canvas photo print?

With the advent of large format printers, printing digital photos on canvas has become very popular and affordable. However, the quality of the canvas prints varies enormously.

You may have to do a little research before you find the company you want to upload your photo to, but here are a few tips to help you separate online professional printing companies from cheap, discount printer factories.

Corners Cut By Cheap Canvas Printers

One of the easiest ways to make more money as a business is to cut corners to reduce your cost of goods sold. For canvas printers, this is quite easy to do as there are less expensive options throughout the production process. Cheap printers will often skimp on things like:

• Poor quality subframe – Using low-quality wood or cheap construction, the subframe to your canvas can look great when it’s delivered but soon become weak and lose its shape.
• Cheaper canvas – The thread count of your canvas will determine how tightly it can be woven together and the overall quality of the canvas, cheap canvas will let pinholes of light through even after the printing.
• Old inkjet printers – Technology has advanced considerably over the past five years, older inkjet printers can’t offer the same fidelity as newer versions using the same technology.

If you’re looking to save money on a canvas print, you’ll likely see one or all three of these things when you order your print. Every print looks good online, leaving many purchasers disappointed when their discount canvas arrives looking just so-so.

What Makes A Quality Canvas Photo Printer?

Not all canvas printers are trying to cut corners, ArtisanHD spends the time and money to produce the highest quality canvas prints:

• Custom-crafted subframes – We spec and build each subframe so we know the wood and craftsmanship will last for decades.
• High-end canvas – Canvas with a high thread count will last long, is stronger, can be stretched tighter, and won’t suffer from pin-holing like cheap canvas.
• New inkjet printers – Though expensive, new commercial inkjet printers are some of the most advanced printing technology available and provide the highest levels of clarity and vibrance of color.

To print digital photos on canvas while delivering high-quality results, the printing company should have the best and most technologically advanced inkjet printers available.

Also, the materials matter greatly. When a true professional is printing digital photos on canvas, a high-quality canvas is essential. If you decide to upload your photos to a company with cheap prices, you will probably get a poor canvas reprint. The total effect will be much less pleasing than with the superior poly-cotton canvases we use.

To print digital photos on canvas you want sharp, crystal-clear reprints. This requires the use of the finest inks in the market. The ink used should be the ink specifically manufactured for the specific printer used. Other ink brands may be available for a particular printer, but only the manufacturer’s ink can be trusted to produce high-quality canvas reproductions.

When comparing prices, don’t go the cheap way unless you want substandard results. Besides, printing digital photos on canvas with an established, professional printing company is absolutely affordable. When you upload your photographs online with professionals, you can be sure you will get a gorgeous result.

Customer Service You Can Count On

If you have questions, make sure the company has a way for you to contact them. And research what types of personalized customer service they provide. Do they have a customer guarantee for full satisfaction? Digital photos printed on canvas should be finished with a UV-protective coating that will protect the canvas from fading and scratching. Does the company make this a part of their workflow?

Make sure that when they print digital photos to canvas, they allow for previews of the reprints before purchase.

When printing digital photos on canvas, the printing company should offer you a completely finished product, including finish and mounting options.

The printing process used is very important for optimal resolution. If their printing process is giclée or high-definition, you’re in good hands.

You’ll be happy to know that ArtisanHD meets all of these standards!

The vast majority of our customers prefer to let us do the canvas stretching for them. We source the wood, make sure the frames are built up to spec, and have trained experts on staff to accomplish this.

For our customers who have the know-how and tools to stretch canvas themselves, we also provide unstretched canvas without a subframe. Should you consider stretching the canvas yourself? Is it worth the time and effort to stretch canvas or are you better off getting it ready to go?

We’ll cover the advantages of stretching your own canvas and whether or not you should consider doing it yourself.

Advantages Of Stretching Canvas Yourself

There’s really just one big advantage to stretching your own canvas that you can apply in many different ways: more choice over the final product. Most places that provide pre-stretched canvas have a productized offering for you to choose from without many customization options. When you stretch the canvas yourself you can control:

• Choice of subframe material – Choose the type of wood or metal you want to build your subframe out of
• Choice of the type of canvas – If you’re in control of the print you can determine the texture, weight, weave, primer, and final quality of the canvas
• Choice of custom sizes – You can build your frame to any non-standard size you wish

Why You Should Or Shouldn’t Stretch Your Own Canvas

Our staff suggests anyone who likes working with their hands and wants to try should attempt to stretch their own canvas. However, they also caution that you may want to consider a few things before starting as it may not be for everyone:

• Space to stretch – Stretching canvas in a small room or on a standard-sized table is a lot like playing pool in a small room, possible but not ideal.
• Tools – While not very expensive buying new tools like an upgraded staple gun, canvas pliers, clamps, etc., may be necessary.
• Time – Both learning to stretch canvas and actually stretching canvas can take some time.
• Ability – If you’re not very handy, building your own subframe or stretching your own canvas can be even more difficult to learn.

How Much Does It Cost To Get Canvas Stretched?

Depending on where you live and the experience of the person, it can cost $8-$20 per linear foot. So you would be saving money by stretching it yourself – provided you don’t spend money on new tools and it only takes you an hour or so to do.

Custom Stretched Canvas Prints

Unless you choose and tell us otherwise, we professionally stretch your photos on canvas over a 1.5? wooden frame. You can choose to have a plain stretched canvas so that you can frame it yourself, or you can choose a gallery-wrapped canvas, a process that requires no frame. With this type of mounting, we wrap the photograph around the edges of all four sides of the frame, giving it a totally finished and gallery-like look.

We guarantee that our custom stretched canvas prints will go beyond your expectations. Added to that, our personalized service will never let you down!

For high-quality canvas prints that use a sealant for the ink and a UV-protective coating, like those offered by ArtisanHD, there’s nothing special you need to do to care for your canvas image. Cheap canvas print reproductions will require greater care and maintenance in order to preserve the print.

Good canvas prints only require a little bit of dusting, however, there are three guidelines for general canvas care you should know to retain the print’s original vividness long-term:

• Avoid long-term exposure to sunlight
• Avoid hot and humid areas
• Dust regularly with no chemicals

Canvas Care Tip #1: Avoid long-term exposure to sunlight

The protective UV coating on Giclee canvas prints protects canvas images like never before against solar radiation. Compared to old or cheaper canvas prints, a good UV coating will help your canvas last much longer. That said, it’s generally not recommended to hang canvas prints outside or on a wall that gets consistent and sustained exposure to direct sunlight. It’s best to display canvas in a room with ambient indoor lighting.

Canvas Care Tip #2: Avoid Hot and Humid Environments

Because canvas is a natural fiber, it can be affected by the environment around it. So walls in rooms that are hot for extended periods of time or outside and subject to outdoor heat are not ideal for canvas. The same goes for humid or wet environments, given enough time, moisture will decrease the vibrancy of the canvas print. Canvas does better in dry and cool environments and should be hung.

Canvas Care Tip #3: Dust Regularly With No Chemicals

Dust and dirt build up on everything, even paintings. Use a feather duster or a soft cloth that’s slightly moistened to clean your canvas regularly. Only use a fine linen cloth that is not too wet to avoid scratching or damaging the canvas. You should never use household cleaners or chemicals to clean your canvas, this can break down any protective coating or even ruin the image.

With decades of canvas printing experience, ArtisanHD has seen all sorts of different custom requests so we often get asked: What are the most popular canvas print customizations requested?

5 Types of Canvas Customization Options

As you’re ordering your canvas print, you’ll have five basic options for customization:

• Edge finish
• Glossiness
• Stretched or unstretched
• Subframe thickness
• Size

Our in-house canvas professionals will print and stretch the picture you upload so that you can create a custom print to your exact specifications. By using our high-definition processing, we can turn your photo into a custom work of art.

Edge Finish – Mirrored Gallery-Wrap

Of the three options, mirrored gallery-wrap, black gallery-wrap, and white gallery-wrap, mirrored gallery-wrap is by far the most popular. This is because most canvas prints we sell are hung directly onto the wall, with no outer frame and the look of the mirrored gallery-wrap generally looks better than plain white or black. The edge of the image reflected and wrapped around the subframe gives the canvas almost a 3-D look.

Glossiness – Semi-gloss

Most people prefer their canvas to have a little bit of gloss but not too much so they land on semi-gloss. While they each have their virtue, semi-gloss canvases are more versatile than gloss or matte in that they can be hung in a greater variety of lighting and still look great.

Stretched Or Unstretched – Stretched With Subframe

Because stretching the canvas yourself requires space, tools, and know-how, the vast majority of people order their canvas prints already stretched over the subframe ready to hang. We’d encourage anyone who can stretch their own canvas to do so, but we also recommend you learn on a blank canvas, not a Giclée printed canvas print.

Subframe Thickness – 1 1/2″

With three options, 9/16″, 1 1/2″, and 2″, most of our customers choose 1 1/2″ because it works with all canvas sizes. Smaller canvases typically opt for the thinner subframe of 9/16″ while extra-large canvases choose the 2″. All subframe thicknesses work with all sizes, it’s typically more of a question of preference and proportion.

Canvas Size – Around 36′ – 48′

The average wall height is 8′ the average piece of furniture is between 3′ and 4′, so once you know the width of the space you’re trying to take up, you can calculate a ratio to your liking as to the best print size. Most of our customers are trying to cover a space that’s around 4’x6′ and opt for a canvas print that measures between 36′ – 48′ on each side.

Custom Canvas Prints: 3-step process

ArtisanHD only uses the highest quality artist-grade canvas and inkjet printers to reproduce beautiful custom canvas prints of your photo that are easy to order. The process for creating your own canvas print that is uniquely your own is as easy as 1, 2, 3!

1. Upload your Photo from your phone, tablet, or computer
2. Customize your image by cropping and choosing size and canvas wrap options
3. Place your order and leave the rest to us!

With our large format printers, we can take your digital photograph and turn it into a gorgeous, high-definition art canvas. And using our Giclée method, we can deliver museum-quality reprints — as big or as small as you wish to cover the wall space you want to fill.

Remember, Canvas prints are a beautiful alternative or addition to any room in your home, big or small. Or even in your office! Canvas is actually much more durable than paper. The material also gives an incomparable depth and quality to a photograph.