Whether a Photo Will Look Better on Canvas than Paper

[richterjw]

<p>I somewhat recently photographed an iconic statue of Vulcan that is a landmark in Birmingham, Alabama. I was stuck in traffic, early one morning, on my way out of town, when I see the scene that is depicted below. I really love the mood of the photograph, but it was taken at a high ISO and is somewhat noisy. We have opened up some space in my office and there is some sentiment that we should use this photograph as one of the decorative pieces. I don't think this photograph would look particularly good as a large (24x36) paper print, but I think that it might translate well to an alternative medium like canvas.</p>

<p>Does anyone have experience with photographs that look better on one medium than another? Or particularly any such thoughts as it relates to this photograph, specifically? Thanks.</p><div></div>

[Bill J Boyd]

<p>Jeremy,<br>

There seems to be a bit of noise / grain in this image, so I think this is a good candidate for canvas printing. I tend to print lots of my images on canvass, but my reason is primarily cost. I have found a canvas print to be less expensive than all the mattes, glass, and frames required otherwise. BTW, I get my gallery wraps printed at MPIX. </p>

[richterjw]

<p>Thanks, Bill. I have used MPIX on a number of occasions and always been happy with their printing and packaging. I was planning on using EZPrints on this occasion, since I also have a large panorama to have printed, and they do that well. Any experience with EZPrints canvases?</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>For a preview, try <strong>Photoshop>Texture>Texturizer>Canvas</strong> and play around. ;)</p>

 

[alan_cox3]

<p>The problem with canvas is that the roughish (glossy) surface catches a lot of light and refects in all directions causing what should be very black to go dark gray. It's the same issue as matte papers lack of a good black, but on a different scale. <br /> If it were me, I'd try Epson Exhibition Fiber or similar paper that is basically glossy, but has a nice surface texture. A paper like that will give you the blacks and deep dark colors that this particular print deserves. I have seen great dark images like this lose a lot of their impact when printed on canvas. <br>

After printing (and a day or two for drying), I'd spray the print with Print Shield to also deepen the dark colors (and protect from UV). Also consider lighting the finished piece with a spot light or two in an otherwise darkened environment.</p>

[Tim_Lookingbill]

<p>The airbrushed soft glow appearance of your image would probably aesthetically render better on a matte like finish IMO.</p>

<p>I don't print much except for a few 8x10's on my $50 Epson NX330 which at first I favored Ultra Premium Photo Glossy until I tried Epson Premium Presentation Matte (50 sheet pack on sale at Target) and was quite surprised by its color gamut and smooth chalk pastel results that I felt would be perfect for your image. </p><div></div>

[MathewDH]

<p>Besides the issue of lighting hitting the texture of the canvas, keep in mind that dust will slowly build up in the valleys of the texture. Cleaning it after months or even years might be damaging to the print, or a pin in the a--.</p>

[charles_wood]

<p>I've printed over a 1000 images on canvas. Gloss issues can be addressed by printing on matte canvas rather than glossy canvas and in fact most glossy canvas, advertised as not needing a final coating of varnish, does not work well, in my opinion.</p>

<p>There are numerous manufacturers of canvas and the appearance of the surface weave varies greatly among the various suppliers. Some weaves are so tight as to make the issue of dust filling in the weave a non-issue. The coatings can range from matte to lustre to gloss. My preference for display is to print with a Canon printer on Epson matte canvas with a fairly visible weave that mimics canvas used by painters and gloss coatings from Lexjet or Breathing Color. Others may prefer a tighter weave that exhibits less 'irregularity'.</p>

<p>In the home, when illuminated from an angle, elevated above the print, shine/reflections are virtually a non-issue and far less so than displaying a paper print through glass. If a customer wants a mural sized print and I regularly print some of my images in excess of six feet wide, then canvas is far easier to deal with on all fronts than paper prints, matted and framed.</p>

<p>If you have an online firm print the canvas you might do well to contact them to determine what type of canvas they will be printing on? Does the canvas have whiteners in it? The answer should be no. What type of coating? Some firms, unbelievably, do not coat the canvas for protection. What type of printer? Some firms use high speed production printers, often limited to six colors rather than one of the 'fine art' printers from Canon, Epson or HP that are twelve color pigment systems.</p>

<p>There also exists a myth that canvas won't reveal fine detail and that simply is not true. But canvas surfaces and coatings will change the look of the detail and most canvas prints do not look quite like a photograph nor do they look like a painting. You will have to decide if the image is a candidate for being reproduced on canvas.</p>

[richterjw]

<p>Thanks for all the information here. Many issues and nuances of canvas I was previously unaware of were brought out here. Now I have more to digest before making my decision.</p>