Printing Photos on Canvas By Yourself

Since ancient times, canvas has been used as a playground by painters and in recent years even photographers have got the knack of printing images on canvas. During early years, using the canvas in place of a paper was a big roadblock. But now there are many techniques involved in printing pictures on canvas. Also, these days, in order to put photos on canvas, many DIY kits are easily available. But, for thorough practical understanding, let us first understand about canvas photos.

What are Canvas Photos?

Making photos on canvas is the process of transferring a digital image on to a canvas sheet, using some photo printing technology and not by conventional hand sketching or painting. Black and white photography to colored digital images, all can be transferred on to a canvas sheet. A canvas print can last much longer and the material is many times more durable, which helps preserve all memorable moments that are considered invaluable and cannot be relived. Printing pictures on canvas holds a distinct advantage over normal photo prints. Normal paper prints are vulnerable to sunlight, moisture, heat and wear and tear, and even if tendered with utmost care, they do not last for more than 50 years. On the other hand, canvas photos can last for at least a hundred years.

The Printing Process

The first prerequisite is a good quality digital camera which captures images at sufficiently high resolution. In case you possess a hard copy of a photo i.e. the one printed on a conventional photo print, then using a scanner you need to scan the image and convert it in to digitized format. If you already have a soft copy i.e. a digital image, then make sure to save it in a high resolution .tiff or .png format and at resolution more than 300 dpi. Using photoshop or any other image editor, make whatever changes you wish to make in the image.

Next, you need a canvas printer and canvas sheet. Most of the canvas printer manufacturers also trade in canvas sheets, so you can get most of the material from a single place. Manufacturer's possess a stock of various sized canvas, to work best with the printers they deal in. Remember to purchase a stock of extra canvas, as successful printing may take couple of attempts. Some people prefer to approach professionals as this method appears to difficult. But, even if you fail a couple of times while learning, it can turn out to as a great hobby by the time you gets the knack of doing it yourself.

Now, it is time to load the canvas in the printer, but first start by printing a sample image, may be a couple, before printing your main image. There is an option on the printer menu that says 'print sample' or 'print demo'. While printing the main image, it is very important to remember that canvas paper has only one print side, and so always load the sheet correctly before the final print command is given. This practice will help save cartridge ink.

Now, open the image on the computer and on the print preview option, keep the image quality setting on the highest possible quality. With all settings done and with demo images getting printed according to your settings, you can proceed by printing the main image. As the photo laden canvas comes out of the printer, give sufficient time to let it dry. Use an electric hair dryer to let the wet ink settle. With the canvas dried and the image settled, the sheet is ready to be framed on a gallery.

In case you're wondering about how much cash you need to shed, the canvas costs generally around US $12 for an unframed 8 x 10 sheet to US $95 for an unframed 30x40 canvas. In case you choose to have a framed photo canvas it may cost you anything between US $50-55 per sheet of canvas.

That was the process to make photos on canvas. How to print images on canvas may seem a bit easier now, isn't it! However, if you wish to make a frame of memorable pics and don't wish to make this a hobby, it is strongly advised that you take help of a professional.