Tell me about printing on canvas....

[Darin Boville]

O.K., I'll admit it. I used to hate seeing photographs on canvas, especially with the "gallery wrap" thing where the image continues on the edge. Ugh.

But now I'm thinking of trying it (the canvas, not the gallery wrap). I know there are other boards that have more canvas printers but this forum has the highest standards, and that is key for me.

One of the big attractions for me is durability. Inkjets on paper just seem so fragile. Are canvas prints more durable, as they would seem to be? Could my cat walk across one without me losing consciousness?

Coatings? I don't want sprays (my family is in the industrial painting business, only fools spray without masks, ventilation, and, indoors, without fire suppression). What do I use?

Can a large print be rolled for for storage? Will it hurt the print if it is kept that way long term?

Stretching? Alternatives to stretching? I just want the thing flat.

Regarding stretching, what if I wanted to do a single photo in multiple panels? Would I be able to get the edges to line up reasonably well?

I'm looking for the highest quality materials here....guidance is welcome!

--Darin

[Lenny Eiger]

There is a lot of very excellent canvas out there. I've used Frederix, IJ, Canson and Hahnemuhle. Hahnemuhle is excellent, but that could be that I've done so many profiles on Hahnemuhle products that I understand them.... All the top brands are very good.

When you stretch around an edge, I haven't found a way to keep the ink on the canvas, not perfectly, at least. I've tried different sprays, I have a nice spray unit. I experimented with lots of coats, mostly with a very nice, non-toxic Lascaux product, but there is nothing perfect (that I found). The only solution was a little acrylic paint if something chipped off... which worked. I should also add that I haven't tried for a couple of years..

The prints are a little more durable, but I wouldn't let the cat near it. I did a few very large banners and they were great for rolling up, but you don't expect much from them.

It isn't like a paper print.... Fine art reproductions work well but for photographs I don't think the collectors will like it (or pay you) as much...

Hope that helps,

Lenny

[polyglot]

I have a nice canvas triptych (3 of 20x40" verticals) stretched on wood; printed by Fuji in Australia. It looks good; not as good as a Cibachrome or optical C-print of course but still very good once you get a metre away. Your printer should be using pigment inks which have a pretty decent inherent longevity; I would expect that a varnish will only reduce the quality by providing a layer that will yellow well before the pigments fail. The frames mine are on have a 5mm radius routed around the edge and there is absolutely no issue with that bend radius and the printing. The surface feels kind of soft, slippery and very slightly rubbery, I would have no hesitation to give it a gentle wipe with a damp cloth.

The other thing is that canvas prints are very very cheap. Mine have been up for 3 years with zero degradation (well lit kitchen, plenty of cooking smoke/grease but no direct sun) and I expect that they will still look great after 10. Given that they cost me only $50 each, I'm pretty sure I will have replaced them by then.

I would not let the cat walk on them; the printing itself is tough enough but it's likely to stretch the canvas a bit or pull it around the frame (ask me how I know ) and you will end up with ripples that require re-stretching.

[sanking]

"Coatings? I don't want sprays (my family is in the industrial painting business, only fools spray without masks, ventilation, and, indoors, without fire suppression). What do I use?"

Consider over-coating your inkjet prints with a thin layer of gelatin. It would take some practice to learn how to do this, but the result is that you protect the pigment ink coating, give it a bit more gloss, the coating is traditional and archival, and is safe to apply. You would also distinguish your work from others because very few people are going to take the time and trouble to learn the procedure.

Sandy

[Jim Andrada]

I had two of them at my last show - would have preferred a "real" print but matting and framing a 3' x 5' print is - well, not so easy or affordable.

I found them to be really fragile and easily scratched, rubbed, stained, etc.

I didn't coat them because all the coatings I saw added too much sheen and seemed to emphasize the cloth pattern.

[Darin Boville]

I just dug up a few shets of canvas from variosu sampel packs laying about. I guess I'll do a little test run...thanks to all.

--Darin

[Kirk Gittings]

I have gone back and forth on this with tons of tests with a truly great printer here in town and have NEVER seen a test on any paper coated and uncoated that I would hang in a show of mine. Just saying.

[sanking]

I have gone back and forth on this with tons of tests with a truly great printer here in town and have NEVER seen a test on any paper coated and uncoated that I would hang in a show of mine. Just saying.

Just for the record, my suggestion for over-coating with a layer of thin gelatin was meant for inkjet prints on matte surface rag papers, not prints on canvas. I will leave canvas to others, it is definitely not for me.

Sandy

[Darin Boville]

I have gone back and forth on this with tons of tests with a truly great printer here in town and have NEVER seen a test on any paper coated and uncoated that I would hang in a show of mine. Just saying.

Do you mean canvas, not paper, or are you referring to the gelatin idea?

--Darin

[Kirk Gittings]

Canvas. He's does my large inkjet prints and we work very well together on those on mat and semigloss papers in B&W. I wouldn't leave him on his own without my direction. So he has taken my aversion to canvas as a personal challenge and has done numerous files of mine on a variety of canvas stock with and without coatings and I have rejected ever one of them but he keeps trying.