I have an idea... and it involves getting a canvas print. Trouble is, I've never printed with canvas before, so while I've developed a pretty detailed approach to sharpening and texture massaging for inkjet prints to get exactly the kind of organic feel I want, I have no idea how that translates to canvas prints. I'm thinking of going with West Coast Imaging, and going big (30x40 or so, from 5D and 5DII files). Any tips? Sure I can send out for a 'crops' of smaller parts of the image to test out some settings... and will likely do so, but a good starting point would be nice Thanks!
Posted by Tom Nevesely on July 15, 2009 at 10:23 AM
Canvas prints have so much texture that any fine detail will be lost anyway. I've only printed a half dozen or so photos on canvas (13x19") so my experience is fairly limited. I used my standard sharpening technique - Photokit Sharpener set to Matte and 300 or 360dpi and I've been pleased with the results.
Posted by Keith Bauer on July 15, 2009 at 12:52 PM
I've only printed up to 13x19 on canvas (Moab Anasazi Canvas). I chose to sharpen a bit more than my usual settings for printing on a standard matte surface. It seemed to work well for the images I was working with. I think it depends a lot on the specific image how much (or little) sharpening may work for a canvas print.
I have been printing on canvas for many years now and I don't sharpen any different than I would if printing to paper. The canvas is quite forgiving and will create a different look than paper, especially if you print to 30 x 40 (I assume inches, not mm). Maybe for that size you would bump sharpening a bit but the difference would likely not be noticeable, all depends on your subject matter. In most cases I sharpen on a separate layer then apply a mask so that only sharp areas are sharpened and the soft areas remain soft. I use NIK Sharpener Pro 3.0 and set it to 110%. The program is set up for canvas and does sharpen different if I select paper but I can't notice it in the final image.
A couple things to keep in mind about canvas. The print will have a slightly lower dynamic range when compared to paper. Areas of shadow with very slight detail may loose the detail. This may bother you but the viewer may not realize the difference. Difference is very subtle and not always noticeable. Problem is that we are more critical of our work than the viewer as we know all the flaws, even the ones not visible....
Second thing to think about is protection. Most places offer liquid laminate that they spray or roll on, depending on the quality of the print house and the size of the print. This provides UV protection and a limited amount of surface protection. It is not scuff resistant which is an issue when the final product is being handled. However, it is pretty well standard in industry and a suitable coating for most environments.
Better solution is film laminate which is applied with vacuum press (5 minutes at 205 degrees F). The film is 3 mil thick so just thicker than Saran wrap and the heat makes this very pliable. The vacuum press sucks the softened film into the weave so that it is not noticeable when finished but provides a near bullet proof surface. However, this service is tougher to locate and the size of the print is important as it needs to fit in the vacuum press. Brand is also important as some like DRYTAC Mattex have UV resistance which you will need. If you have ever had canvas transfers done then the look and feel (and surface protection) will be the same.
The canvas print will be larger than the image size by about 4 inches all around to give enough room for wrapping around the stretcher bars. Here you have two options for bar thickness being 3/4 inch and 1 1/2 inch (called gallery bars). When wrapping you can have just a portion of the image wrap around the bar (about 3/8 inch) where the rest of the visible edge is either left white or printed a unique color, usually black. In this case you would set canvas size 4 inches large than the image surface and set background to black. I would also make sure that image size is 0.6 inches larger in both directions so that a portion still wraps around the edge, making it easier to center the work i=on the stretcher frame. So for 30 by 40 you would actally set image size to 30.6 x 40.6 and canvas size to 34.6 x 44.6 ; for the printer you would add 2 more inches all sides so you end up with enough canvas to grab with the pliers for stretching. Hopefully this makes sense.....
A more common method is to stretch the image itself around the frame so that the visible imgae also shows up on the sides. This is called gallery warp and may or may not suit your taste (does not suit mine). You have to be careful that you do not ruin the composition when this type of wrap is used. Often times the image is increased in size by using rubber stamp to clone a larger size but this is tricky and not always successful. You should see examples of this on the printers website.
As mentioned before, if you are thinking of film laminate you need to know the press size and then think about the size of the final canvas compared to final image size to make sure it actually fits in the press. The largest size I can laminate is 28 x 36 which is a canvas size of 36 x 44. There are larger presses but tough to locate who is using them.
Careful about the term film as the print shop may assume that you are looking for cold rolled (applied in a press as the image and film are rolled together). This is less than idea as the film will not be pressed into the weave and you will loose some of the canvas texture look.
Regarding large canvas prints, they are very appealing to the public and look great on the wall. Often times the larger sizes do not need a frame. If you know that you will frame then then select the 3/4 thick stretcher bars for frame on print and select 1 1/2 inch for a shadow box.
I forgot to mention upsize as this is easy to do and the files from your camera will easily stretch to 30 x 40. I have tried several routines but best result is from the simplest...
In PS click image / image size and set....
- document size to final size you are looking for in inches, larger if you will then crop to a specific size making sure that second dimension changes automatically (check constrain proportions and scale styles)
- set resolution to 360 dpi
- set resample Image to Bicubic Sharper (this goes against the grain of many people...)
Click OK. After I do this I then select the crop tool from the side bar and set the two image dimensions I am looking for and resolution to 300 dpi. Click OK and you're done.
The above is from Steve Kelby and it works great for all of the images that I print on canvas......
Thanks Steve! Really appreciate your detailed advice. I'll probably go for a small one at first to make sure everything's going right, but I definitely think a nice big 30x40 would look pretty sweet. More than half the time that people see my prints they mistakenly think they're paintings... so I figured I'd go with the flow and get a canvas done, and then do a little something to it (if it turns out well I'll share the idea!). Thanks again!
Be sure to talk to West Coast Imaging and get their recommendations. Our lab wants them unsharpened, preferring to do it themselves for canvases for example, and their results are stellar.
Yes, very good point. I should have mentioned that the printer usually knows best the amount of sharpening required for their set up. In this regard, I always ask for unsharpened files and not up-sized. This way I have better control over the final result. So, best to ask for the right submission requirements.
Steve
Discussion
8 repliesI have been printing on canvas for many years now and I don't sharpen any different than I would if printing to paper. The canvas is quite forgiving and will create a different look than paper, especially if you print to 30 x 40 (I assume inches, not mm). Maybe for that size you would bump sharpening a bit but the difference would likely not be noticeable, all depends on your subject matter. In most cases I sharpen on a separate layer then apply a mask so that only sharp areas are sharpened and the soft areas remain soft. I use NIK Sharpener Pro 3.0 and set it to 110%. The program is set up for canvas and does sharpen different if I select paper but I can't notice it in the final image.
A couple things to keep in mind about canvas. The print will have a slightly lower dynamic range when compared to paper. Areas of shadow with very slight detail may loose the detail. This may bother you but the viewer may not realize the difference. Difference is very subtle and not always noticeable. Problem is that we are more critical of our work than the viewer as we know all the flaws, even the ones not visible....
Second thing to think about is protection. Most places offer liquid laminate that they spray or roll on, depending on the quality of the print house and the size of the print. This provides UV protection and a limited amount of surface protection. It is not scuff resistant which is an issue when the final product is being handled. However, it is pretty well standard in industry and a suitable coating for most environments.
Better solution is film laminate which is applied with vacuum press (5 minutes at 205 degrees F). The film is 3 mil thick so just thicker than Saran wrap and the heat makes this very pliable. The vacuum press sucks the softened film into the weave so that it is not noticeable when finished but provides a near bullet proof surface. However, this service is tougher to locate and the size of the print is important as it needs to fit in the vacuum press. Brand is also important as some like DRYTAC Mattex have UV resistance which you will need. If you have ever had canvas transfers done then the look and feel (and surface protection) will be the same.
The canvas print will be larger than the image size by about 4 inches all around to give enough room for wrapping around the stretcher bars. Here you have two options for bar thickness being 3/4 inch and 1 1/2 inch (called gallery bars). When wrapping you can have just a portion of the image wrap around the bar (about 3/8 inch) where the rest of the visible edge is either left white or printed a unique color, usually black. In this case you would set canvas size 4 inches large than the image surface and set background to black. I would also make sure that image size is 0.6 inches larger in both directions so that a portion still wraps around the edge, making it easier to center the work i=on the stretcher frame. So for 30 by 40 you would actally set image size to 30.6 x 40.6 and canvas size to 34.6 x 44.6 ; for the printer you would add 2 more inches all sides so you end up with enough canvas to grab with the pliers for stretching. Hopefully this makes sense.....
A more common method is to stretch the image itself around the frame so that the visible imgae also shows up on the sides. This is called gallery warp and may or may not suit your taste (does not suit mine). You have to be careful that you do not ruin the composition when this type of wrap is used. Often times the image is increased in size by using rubber stamp to clone a larger size but this is tricky and not always successful. You should see examples of this on the printers website.
As mentioned before, if you are thinking of film laminate you need to know the press size and then think about the size of the final canvas compared to final image size to make sure it actually fits in the press. The largest size I can laminate is 28 x 36 which is a canvas size of 36 x 44. There are larger presses but tough to locate who is using them.
Careful about the term film as the print shop may assume that you are looking for cold rolled (applied in a press as the image and film are rolled together). This is less than idea as the film will not be pressed into the weave and you will loose some of the canvas texture look.
Regarding large canvas prints, they are very appealing to the public and look great on the wall. Often times the larger sizes do not need a frame. If you know that you will frame then then select the 3/4 thick stretcher bars for frame on print and select 1 1/2 inch for a shadow box.
Hoepfully this helps, all questions welcome....
Steve (also in Calgary)
I forgot to mention upsize as this is easy to do and the files from your camera will easily stretch to 30 x 40. I have tried several routines but best result is from the simplest...
In PS click image / image size and set....
- document size to final size you are looking for in inches, larger if you will then crop to a specific size making sure that second dimension changes automatically (check constrain proportions and scale styles)
- set resolution to 360 dpi
- set resample Image to Bicubic Sharper (this goes against the grain of many people...)
Click OK. After I do this I then select the crop tool from the side bar and set the two image dimensions I am looking for and resolution to 300 dpi. Click OK and you're done.
The above is from Steve Kelby and it works great for all of the images that I print on canvas......
Cheers,
Steve
Yes, very good point. I should have mentioned that the printer usually knows best the amount of sharpening required for their set up. In this regard, I always ask for unsharpened files and not up-sized. This way I have better control over the final result. So, best to ask for the right submission requirements.
Steve
Mark