Canvas printing

[Alter_ego]

I have been doing some color art/ Warhol type artwork for a friend, and have been asked if I could do some canvas prints for her. I have never done it, and know nothing about the process.
Could anyone enlighten me as to how its done, what type of printer and inks are required and how you feed a piece of canvas through a printer?

[Mr. Pickles]

Beats me, but MPix and a few others offer Gallery Wrapped prints now that are suppose to be great.

You're in the UK, so MPix might not be for you, but I'd think the big "print firms" in the UK would have them, or get them pretty soon.

[Alter_ego]

There are a few online places that will do canvas printing, I just wondered what the proccess involved, and whether it was possible to do at home.
I am still intrigued to know how you get canvas through a printer.

[Mr. Pickles]

Someone told me that Canon had a "kit" that you could buy to do it. I never looked for it or verified. Said they say the kit, so it must exist.

I'd wonder if it was just canvas with a paper border that is perforated for removal. Also, wonder if it uses the normal ink...

[KenC]

How to get canvas through a printer....well you feed it in like you would paper. Of course it depends on what printer and what canvas material. Does your printer handle rolls? If not you'll need to cut the canvas into sheets and feed via the manual load (front, back or top depending on printer). This is assuming you have an inkjet printer, you should be using canvas material meant for inkjet. I've used various canvas materials on both my epson 2200 and 9800, but without knowing what printer you have and what your size needs are etc it's hard to be more specific.

[FocusingOnFlorida]

I've seen some Photographers in the local area have prints on Canvas. I like the look and feel of it and it set them apart from other photographes.

[Alter_ego]

At the moment, I print on a Canon iP6600D A4 printer. Doing some research it seems that in order to do framing as well, you need stretcher bars, a tacker and canvas pliers. Then the canvas needs varnishing with
Sounds like a lot of expense for not much return unless you have a decent volume to do. I think my friend was thinking more on the lines of A3 print size so that would meen another A3 printer as well. I think it better if I just charge her for the artwork and let her get the canvas prints elsewhere.

[ezekiel]

First, there are two different types of canvas prints available today. One type, is actually a traditional print mounted to canvas to give it the look of canvas. The other type of canvas print is directly printed on the canvas using an inkjet printer. I prefer the latter of the two options. Also, Mpix offers both. There gallery wrap prints are the inkjet variety.

I print my own canvas prints on an Epson 7800. I also spray all of my canvases with a water based coating. I've also spray lacquer. But, I don't recommend the lacquer. It stinks and is somewhat dangerous.

If anyone has questions about canvas printing, I'd be glad to try to answer them to the best of my ability.

[Alter_ego]

Thanks Ezekiel, if I reconsider doing the canvas prints I'll be asking many questions.