How to Choose a Photo On Canvas Supplier

Now that it's possible to create a professional looking artist canvas from your own photograph using modern printing technology, personalised canvas products are becoming much more widely available.

What was once a rare and expensive product has become much more widespread, with many canvas art suppliers and photographers offering the service on the internet for low prices.

But what sets them all apart? Will the end result look the same, and does it matter which supplier you choose? These are questions we often receive from our customers, and we know that not all photo on canvas services are equal!

Obviously it would be expensive and impractical to all the suppliers out there, so we thought it would be useful to offer a guide to choosing a quality product, including the kind of questions you should ask a supplier.

Of course, once we've armed you with the information you need to make an informed choice, naturally we hope that you'll choose Canvas Republic for your Photo On Canvas!

The key to choosing a great supplier and product is assessing the information they provide and asking the right questions. The best suppliers of personalised canvas art will provide full details of the materials used and how your image is processed. When assessing the materials the supplier uses to create the personalised print, you should judge using the same criterior that you would when choosing any canvas art.

Frames should be of the adjustable stretcher frame type, as opposed to the easily-warping, DIY cut-timber variety. On the larger frame sizes, the stretcher bars should be 'finger-jointed'. This means that rather than being machined asof one long piece of wood (which will be prone to warping), the frame is made of several tightly jointed lengths of wood. This means that the finger-jointed frame will resist bowing and warping, keeping your print straight and squared. Further details on the frames, as well as the canvas we use can be found in our Quality Guide.

The other main factor in creating a quality photo on canvas print is digital processing of the original image. Many factors in the computer processing stage can affect the overall quality of the print, such as how the image is colour managed, and how well the original image is retouched for sharpness, colour, exposure, contrast, etc.

Perhaps the most important point affecting print quality is how the image is interpolated, or enlarged. To scale a digital camera photo up to a large canvas size can mean interpolating by 1200% or more. Imagine stretching a postcard up to the size of a billboard poster.

This is a huge enlargement and means that any flaws or quality issues in the original image will be amplified and made worse, resulting in a blocky or bad quality print.

To enlarge, specialist interpolation software should be used, rather than a common graphics program. Programs such as Photoshop aren't designed to handle interpolation at these percentages. Ask your photo on canvas supplier how they will interpolate your image.

As with other canvas prints, you should check how your supplier will colour manage your image. It is also important to calibrate your monitor, as this will ensure you are viewing consistent, neutral colour on your screen. Good colour calibration helps a printer achieve a consistent result, going from your image, then onto computer, and finally to onto print.

You can find further information on the importance of colour management, and how we implement it on the Quality Guide.