Canvas

I have mentioned several times this new printer that I have to work with. I love this thing! When I purchased it, I wanted something that would print fairly big. This one prints up to 17×22 inches. But I also wanted one that would print on a variety of materials. Up until now I have printed on a variety of papers, high gloss photo paper being my favorite, simply because the images are super crisp and clear. Art paper, cardstock, and basically any type of photo paper that is a matte finish doesn’t lend to the same crispness that high gloss paper does in the printed image. The semigloss photo paper is the only one that comes close to the gloss finish. I have also tried a variety of weights of paper, from plain copy paper, to cardstock, to papers that are even thicker than cardstock, the printer never having a problem pulling the paper through or printing on it.

Recently I was able to find and order canvas sheets. I was super excited when I ordered the printer to try the canvas sheets, not realizing how hard they would be to find in a big enough size to make it worthwhile. However, through the magic of the internet and a lot of research, I found a couple of companies that carry the canvas in sheets larger than 8×10 inches. The other day I got my canvas sheets in the mail and decided to experiment. Amazing!

I printed a family photo and my purple Iris painting. As with printing on the semi-gloss and high gloss papers, the quality and detail from this printer is amazing (not that the quality isn’t amazing on regular paper as well compared to a regular printer). The picture turned out beautifully. In the second photo, you can see how flexible this is. It is a canvas fabric and feels like fabric rather than paper in how it bends. I’m sure it would crease if I really tried to bend it, but you get the idea. Printing on canvas however requires a different kind of mounting than picture framing. I will have to make a custom size wood frame to stretch and staple the canvas to.

I am amazed at how much technology has changed over the years. I tell my kids I was born before google. When they were little, they didn’t believe me. Printing anything bigger than an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of normal weight copy paper at home was almost unheard of just 8 or 10 years ago. Now, an artist like me, running a very small business out of my home, can buy a printer capable of printing on all kinds of backing, with archival ink, at a much more affordable price, not cheap mind you, but more affordable in the long run. I am super excited to get some of my art on canvas this summer. I have people request this option on a regular basis because it’s a lot easier to ship than a frame with glass in it. Canvas is also a lot easier to hang as it is a lot lighter than a framed piece of art and doesn’t require the same hardware on the back of the picture to hang for the most part. Do you have a piece of equipment that wasn’t available 10 years ago, that makes running your business a lot easier and more affordable?