Explanation needed for client. How to Best Print This?

[rons]

I need an explanation for my client on why this won't work.

 

My client has canvas painting that she want's photographed. She wants that image to be printed on canvas

thus creating a duplicate of the original. To try to reproduce the texture of canvas on canvas means that

there is a lot of detail lost (at least with my experiments). Her desire is to have the print on canvas but I

think the best results would be on a satin, or matte paper to preserve the texture of the canvas. Does this

make sense?

 

Thanks!

[david_dorcich1]

Ask her when she prints portraits if she has them printed on human skin so it will have the correct detail.

[tibz]

Your best bet to canvas would be using an inkjet printer (pigment inks, etc etc), but you're definitely not going to get anywhere near the same detail of the original painting. That doesn't really happen. Just photograph and print to canvas with an inkjet, that works fine. I'm not sure on the comparison of detail that you would get from canvas versus photopaper, but I do know that they're an entirely different look, and the look may be more important than physical resolution in that case.

[craig_shearman1]

Take her money, print it the way she wants it. The customer (or at least their money) is always right.

[sg_adams]

I just stumbled on to your question by chance. I believe there are a couple products available through art supply places (and maybe check the big online photo stores) that can be applied over a print, with a brush, that will add the look that might solve your problem. I haven't tried it so can make no further advise other than to try and find what I think exists, and test ona couple different papers. The issues mightbe how wellit adhears tothe paper coating. There are canvas papers for injet printing and some stuff a friend of mine has printed looks really nice. Probably take a couple steps to get to something acceptable by the client, but just charge a lot!

[tibz]

Yeah, do what the customer wants. The "relative sharpness and resolution" is probably not terribly relevant to Joe Shmo. In general, follow this equation to photo life: A customer, given what he (OR SHE) wants is a happy customer, who may even come back

[steve_vanslow]

Find a place that uses a Cruse Scanner. This type of scanner can capture an amazing amount of texture in a painting. Try www.pictureelement.com

 

-Steve

[bob_osullivan]

The problem with this (other than your clients missconceptions) is that your image may capture the texture of the canvas and then be applied to yet another canvas with it's own texture. Unless you are able to "register" the image exactly so that the threads line up perfectly, this image will suffer. And it is extreamly unlikely you will be able to do so.

 

I would try to explain to her that an image captured by a camera is designed to be printed on flat paper. Now if you photographed an image of the scene in the painting rather than the painting itself you wouldn't have the canvas texture in the first place and then it would make sens to print on canvas for the artistic effect. It's like she's doubling up on the canvas texture which will look wierd.

 

Now a possible solution if she won't budge. You can minimize the texture effect in your inntial capture by managing the light properly. As a copy artist you probably already know what I'm about to say.

 

hard side light will of course bring out that canvas texture depending on the reflectivness of the paint uses. I would use very soft diffused light from all directlions to minimize the texture coming through on the inntial capture. If you are getting glare try a polarizer. If you are still getting glare try polarizing both the light source and the lens. I think you need two things here, no direct reflection/polarizaiton and no texture coming through.