Canvas print
Encyclopedia
A canvas print, also known as a stretched canvas or canvas art, is the result of an image printed
Printing
Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....

 onto canvas
Canvas
Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame...

 which is stretched, or gallery-wrapped
Gallery wrap
Gallery wrap is a method of stretching an artist's canvas so that the canvas wraps around the sides and is secured to the back of the wooden frame. The frame is usually 1.25" thick. As a result, the hardware used to secure the canvas is not visible. The sides of the canvas are prepared and primed...

, onto a frame and displayed. Canvas prints are often used in interior design, with 'stock' images, or customised with personal photographs.

Printing methods

Reproductions of original artwork have been printed on canvas for many decades using offset printing
Offset printing
Offset printing is a commonly used printing technique in which the inked image is transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface...

. Since the 1990s, canvas print has been associated with either dye sublimation
Dye-sublimation printer
A dye-sublimation printer is a computer printer which employs a printing process that uses heat to transfer dye onto medium materials such as a plastic card, paper, or fabric. The sublimation name is applied because the dye transitions between the solid and gas states without going through a...

 or inkjet
Inkjet printer
An inkjet printer is a type of computer printer that creates a digital image by propelling droplets of ink onto paper. Inkjet printers are the most commonly used type of printer and range from small inexpensive consumer models to very large professional machines that can cost up to thousands of...

 print processes (often referred to as Repligraph and Giclée
Giclée
Giclée , is a neologism coined in 1991 by printmaker Jack Duganne for fine art digital prints made on ink-jet printers. The name originally applied to fine art prints created on IRIS printers in a process invented in the late 1980s but has since come to mean any high quality ink-jet print and is...

 respectively). The canvas print material is generally cotton, or a cheaper alternative plastic based Poly Canvas  often used for the reproduction of photographic images.

Modern large format printers are capable of printing onto canvas rolls measuring 1.5m (60") or more. Modern examples of inkjet-based printers capable of printing directly onto canvas are the HP
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...

 Designjet z6100 and the Epson Ultra Chrome 11880. Printers such as these allow artists and photographers to print their works directly onto canvas media, with slow print speed settings available to ensure print quality is not diminished.

Printed canvas for wall art is generally of a weight around 400gsm and should be 100% pure white cotton for a more exact colour representation.

Construction methods

After the image is printed, the canvas is trimmed to size and glued, or stapled to traditional stretcher bar
Stretcher bar
A stretcher bar is used to construct a wooden stretcher frame used by artists to mount their canvases. They are traditionally a wooden framework support on which an artist fastens a piece of canvas...

s, or a wooden panel and displayed in a frame, or as a gallery wrap
Gallery wrap
Gallery wrap is a method of stretching an artist's canvas so that the canvas wraps around the sides and is secured to the back of the wooden frame. The frame is usually 1.25" thick. As a result, the hardware used to secure the canvas is not visible. The sides of the canvas are prepared and primed...

. The frames are usually constructed from solid pine and underpinned for added strength. A print that is designed to continue round the edges of a stretcher frame once gallery-wrapped is referred to as full-bleed. This can be used to enhance the three-dimensional effect of the mounted print.

Uses for Prints

Canvas prints are commonly used in home decor, either chosen by professional interior designers, or by the home-owner. Canvas prints can be mass-produced and available through high-street retailers and home-improvement stores, such as Ikea
IKEA
IKEA is a privately held, international home products company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture such as beds and desks, appliances and home accessories. The company is the world's largest furniture retailer...

, or personalised one-off canvas prints produced from the individual's own photograph, or drawing, usually uploaded via the internet, or ordered direct from social media websites.

Canvas prints are often used as a cheaper alternative to framed artwork as there is no glazing required and the pine frame is not usually visible, so do not need to be varnished, or treated.
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