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Canvas Prints

When you look up Canvas Printing or Canvas Prints on the internet there is a huge selection of companies offering this popular product. The selection you make may be based on many things not least on cost. But quality should be a major consideration, both quality of printed image and quality of build. But buying good quality does not necessary mean buying the most expensive. The intention of these short notes is to act as a guide as to what to look for when choosing your canvas prints.

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A short History
Inkjet Canvas for Canvas Prints
Inkjet Coating for Canvas Prints
Optical Brightners
Acidity
Inkjet Printing of Canvas Prints
Printing Canvas Prints
Stretching Canvas Prints

The actual word canvas is derived from the Arabic word for cannabis, a Latin word for hemp. Hemp originated in Central Asia where it was cultivated as a fibre and food crop. People in China were making cloth out of hemp fibre around 3000 B.C.

By 1500 BC., the natives of India were weaving cotton into fabrics. In the eight century cotton was brought to Europe from N Africa by the Saracens and Moors. At the beginning of the nineteenth century hemp production went into decline with the flood of cotton from North America. It is only in the last hundred years that cotton has begun to outsell linen for artists canvas.

Modern canvas is usually made of cotton, linen or synthetic materials. Canvas has a very simple weave - the weft thread just goes over one warp thread and under the next.

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Inkjet Canvas for Canvas Prints.

Traditionally the two most common inkjet canvas options are 100% cotton inkjet canvases and poly/cotton blend inkjet canvases, a later addition to the canvas range, although not used for fine art is the polyester canvas. The 100% cotton inkjet canvases used to be the first choice amongst the majority of fine art printmakers because of its perceived higher quality and natural look and feel. However consistent and high quality polyester-cotton blend inkjet canvases (or “polycotton inkjet canvases”) have become the most widely used inkjet canvas base in the fine art industry. Polycotton inkjet canvases are not inferior in print or longevity quality, but do lack the natural look or feel of the 100% cotton inkjet canvases. However, polycotton inkjet canvases are typically free of cotton seeds and do not shrink or sag after long periods of time. Inkjet canvas is often lighter and stretchier than the traditional artists canvas and requires a little more care during the stretching process.

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All quality inkjet media is coated with an ink receptive layer. The coating for inkjet papers and canvas are designed to enhance a desired effect like better image quality, better binding with the inks, higher colour gamut, less ink bleeding into the substrate, greater brightness and so on. For paper substrates the coating is usually arranged so as not to influence the texture of the substrate. With a canvas the coating is far thicker and probably has also to be far more flexible. The surface effects are therefore subtle. The final finishing effects, the way the canvas looks; the surface morphology (detailed structure at the particle level) effects the diffusion rates of the different inks and the gloss effects the depth of the black that is measured and sometimes observed on the canvas prints.

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Optical Brightener Additives (OBAs) – These are artificial brightening agents commonly used in many inkjet substrates to make them appear “brighter” or whiter than they actually are. OBAs absorb ultra violet light rays, fluoresce and emit rays of a different colour. Usually they produce a crisper, cooler look to a canvas print and a cooler grey (i.e. more blue). According to the most recognized inkjet print permanence testing organization, the Wilhelm Research Institute, OBAs should be avoided because they compromise the longevity of fine art canvas prints by causing yellowing, and by causing the colours of a print appear different under differing lighting conditions.

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One primary determinant of longevity is the acidic content within a inkjet canvas. The introduction of acid to an inkjet canvas print will cause it to quickly yellow and deteriorate. Finding a inkjet canvas that is completely acid-free and ph-neutral is extremely important in preserving the longevity of your prints. Most inkjet canvas suppliers will boast an acid-free product but in actuality they are referring only to the raw inkjet canvas material, conveniently leaving out the acidic content of the inkjet receptive coating applied on top, which completely negate the initial claim. In order to maximize and ensure longevity, printmakers should therefore make sure that a inkjet canvas has both an acid-free raw inkjet canvas base and an acid-free inkjet receptive coating.

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From the information already discussed, it is quite obvious that there are may issues to consider before selecting a suitable canvas for canvas prints. It may appear to be quite confusing but the main point to all this information is to highlight the issues that all reputable canvas print suppliers should be aware of concerning their canvas products.

Delving further into canvas prints we now turn our attention to the actual printing of your canvas photographs or canvas artwork.

There are many excellent inkjet printers on the market capable of printing incredible quality canvas prints and it is not the intention of this discussion to recommend one printer over another printer. However how the printer is used or the inks selected can influence the appearance and the longevity of your canvas prints.

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All major printer manufacturer produce and sell their own inks that are normally very expensive. One way to save money is to purchase third part inks and there are many suppliers of these third party inks. Many are a poor substitute to the original equipment manufactured inks. The Wilhelm Research Institute has done many tests on various third party inks and many will start to fade over quite a short time period. There are however some manufactures who do offer third part inks which offer reduced costs but also offer increased colour gamut and good longevity. But the important point is, many suppliers of canvas prints main reason for third party inks is to cut costs while sacrificing quality and longevity. If the decision has been made to utilise third party inks the supplier should be well aware of the main issues involved in using these inks.

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There are really two main ways to stretch a canvas print, that is ignoring the issue over machine over man. The options are stretcher bars with wedges or stretcher bars which have been pinned in the corner. The main advantage of wedges is that the canvas can be re tensioned if required. As already mentioned, Inkjet canvas is often lighter and stretchier than the traditional artists and requires a little more care during the stretching process. But once you get your canvas home it is impossible to predict whether your canvas print will require re tensioning. If the corners are pinned, and the canvas starts to sag and becomes loose, you will have to remove the canvas and re stretch. If you opt for a Canvas print with wedges it is extremely easy to just tap the wedges to re tension and make it look as good as new.

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