print to canvas...birthday present

[sandik17]

I am hoping to get my husband a canvas print for his birthday....either two..one of each child. or one, (of the 2 children).
I will be asking advice of photos later.

Firstly though. Has anyone had any printed off onto canvas professionally?
I have a 3.2 mp camera and have been told I could go up to 24’’ x 36’’

Any comments would be appreciated?

[kayser]

I've had something printed at canvas at Shutterfly- it was a gift for my husband of a picture he's taken. It turned out great, and he loved it!

Good luck!

[msbrad]

Oh, I will be anxious to find out how the canvas turns out. Please let us know.
Yesterday I uploaded a pic to Shutterfly to do an 11x14, that I had to re-size. Oh, golley, I hope I did ok. (5% at a time...:eek: )
m

[Cmcburnett]

Sandra, after you have printed it on canvas please let us know how it turns out. I would like to have a picture on canvas also but have been a little hesitant.

[sandik17]

I have found two photos I'm going to print...I think, see how they turn out I guess.
But....I'm after some inspiration on what to do to 'improve' them before I do.

I am going to put them in my gallery

The first I'm only going to do on about a half A4 size for my girl-friend. It's a photo of her son with my daughter's hand in hand. I love it. Any ideas for improvement. What about frames? Do you do frames before you get it printed onto canvas....not a formal frame...but I was thinking a rough edge or something.

The second photo is going to be for my husbands birthday. I want to do a black and white conversion on it. Maybe some selective colour.
Any thoughts would be GREATLY appreciated.
ps I've put them into my gallery now...thanks

[kayser]

Sandra,

Great pictures!

On the one with the mountains in the background, I wonder what it would look like if you selected the background and then played around with blend modes only affecting that part. I think you might be able to really bring out the mountains--if you want to do that.

[sandik17]

yes, sounds good. It was taken on a family 'trip of a lifetime' and although I don't think it's the best photo of the children...it is at least natural ....just like they are. And it reflects where we were at the time....so many good memories.
I'm really excited about this project.
Thanks, I'm trying to get the jobs done so I can 'play!'

[sandik17]

[/URL]I had a go...but it looks like the kids are sort of cut out and stuck into a background? What am I doing wrong here?

I quite like a black and white version too...would need more work...but I thiink I'd like the result?

[url]http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1s4uCca5rasziulGulHSHs0gqOXFyz0 (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1s4uCca5rasziulGulHSHs0gqOXFyz0)

here's the black and white one
http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1quAW5emQZlbOhYkkNCQDYiPl7i6uy1

[MizzLee]

Hi, Sandii

Why is it that we never seem to get the "perfect shot"---God knows we take enough photos on vacation that there should be at least one! It's funny though, whenever I settle on one because it is the best of what I have, I usually find that it grows on me and many of these are my favorites now.

I think that the photo you picked is really sweet. It looks like they are sharing a private joke, although I find it more powerful if the photo is cropped tighter (if you are open to changing the content).

http://www.pixcentral.com/viewer.php?id=321486sandis%20kids.jpg

[kroberts]

The pic is so cute!:) I love the black and white!

[sandik17]

thanks guys I appreciate the feedback.
I had originally thought of cropping the photo...but then looked into highlighting the background.
there are just so many options with pe4. I am loving playing around with it all.
thanks again for your advice.

[BrianZero]

But I have used canvas to print via a Canon i965, which turned out quite reasonable
Why not try that first ?

Since my first attempt using 'Office Depot' canvas [Brought back to UK]

I have realised that there are many different 'Canvas' qualities to consider
and Office D canvas is not best
[Try to get better material - sample packs should be available from specialist suppliers, each canvas should be labelled Type / Name / Weave / Coating etc]

Only by seeing printed samples will you know what is good and what is not
[Ask your preferred Pro Printer to provide samples]

Its the 'Eye of the beholder' that counts every time

If you try printing canvas yourself, treat it as Matte for a start
Your printer will have some sort of weight limit it can handle.
With canvas being relatively heavy compared with paper.
The weight of the canvas is offset to some degree with its thickness [Usually thinner than equivalent weighted paper] and is flexibility

I have noted that where there is a concentration of colour [Solid] there is a tendency to produce a shine to the surface
Pastel / softer colours tend to look much better [To me]
Watch out for burned out colours as canvas doesnt always look good by itself

[Still learning on this, as opportinity / need and the extra cost are seldom justified]

Hope my comments help

[twoaussies]

I have also printed on canvas via my HP6540 and loved the results. Used BestPrint by Chartpak canvas. I would suggest that you print the photo on canvas on your printer before having it enlarged. Canvas paper runs under $2 a sheet.
What I really like about the canvas is that you can then paint on it. For instance I had a photo of a waterfall taken in summer. When I returned to the falls in autumn there weren't any colourful trees around. So I printed the summer photo on canvas and added the fall colours. Looks great. Not that you need any more colour on this delightful photo. Jean

[sandik17]

I am such a novice...I really appreciate all of your comments. I'm going to look into printing onto canvas. I dont know if my brother dcp110 could do this...but will look into it.
thanks for the comments.

[Cmcburnett]

Sandra, good luck. I love the photo.

[AngelicKim]

Sandra, the images you have chosen are so adorable. I have not used Shutterfly for canvas but have for other things and love the results. I have used canvas paper on my own printers with very nice results. However, it has been awhile and don't remember the brand the paper was. Whatever way you go I would love to hear the results. I am sure your husband is going to love the gift.

[sandik17]

I have just called our 'officeworks' store...where you buy printers/cartridges/paper/ ....basically office stuff I guess.
And they said they don't have any canvas sheets?
Where would I buy these sheets from. I'm assuming you're talking about A4 size as that's the maximum for my printer.

[BrianZero]

Hi Sandra

Just do a Google for

'Inkjet canvas' -
and
Inkjet printing on canvas

There is a lot of useful info attached to some of the sites

Dont forget to add the more useful sites to your 'favourites' for easy reference til you get sorted out

Should keep you busy for a while