The advances in digital photography, as well as the affordability of giclee printing technology has meant that the market place for company’s offering to print your photos on canvas is growing at a rapid rate. So how do you choose the right company? Well there are a number of key factors to consider and I will take you through a few of them here.
The First is the Quality of Canvas Being Used
This sounds obvious but it is very easy to overlook, or more accurately, very easy to be mislead. There are three main canvases being used by printers. Cotton canvas is the best while polyester canvas is a cheaper alternative. The third canvas is a blend between the two and is known as polycotton canvas. The first thing to bear in mind is that if a company offering canvas printing does not mention which type, they are using then you can be pretty sure that it’s polyester.
Unfortunately, though it’s not as easy as looking for the first company who offers cotton as the quality of cotton canvas can vary massively. Ideally you would want to see a sample of any canvas prior to ordering, although we realize that this is not possible when ordering online. The one thing you can check when ordering online is how heavy the canvas is – you want a canvas that is a minimum 340gsm but ideally, for a really top-quality feeling product I recommend 420gsm.
The Second Point to Consider is Frame Quality
Ensure that any frame is oven dried pine wood to confirm that it doesn’t warp.
There are also two standard thicknesses when dealing with personalized canvas prints, 18mm and 38mm. 18mm is the cheaper option and tends to feel a lot more brittle when held, while canvas prints produced using 38mm frames look far more solid.
The third and probably most important factor to consider is how your image will be treated?
When we started on canvas prints it is crucial to prepare the image adequately as, even with the advances in digital photography, most images are not prepared to be blown up to the typically large sizes produced when printing personalized canvas prints. I need to point out at this stage that although it is possible to enhance any image prior to printing, the best prints will still be produced by images that are of high quality to begin with. It can be very difficult to gauge how a company will deal with your image prior to printing so have a read through their website to determine if you believe that they’ll edit and enhance your image before printing.
If unsure then contact them and ask! You will probably find that the level of attention they afford you when on the phone, will reflect the time and care that they will put into enhancing your image.
When deciding where to go for your photos on canvas prints, then by bearing the above three points in mind you won’t go far wrong. Your personalized canvas print should be something that provides you with a great deal of enjoyment as well as being something that lasts a lifetime. It is therefore worth taking that little bit of extra time when creating your work of art.
Craig is passionate about creating stunning art work from customers own images. He does work for many professional photographers and designers; however, he gets the most enjoyment from printing photos on canvas for the general public.
This can offer numerous challenges and he strives to supply the simplest print potential from every and each image.
