Acrylic Print vs Canvas: Which is Right for You?

Acrylic print vs canvas print - which one should you get?

You’ll probably find yourself answering this question with both ideas or either idea depending on your needs or wants at the moment. So, how does one decide about ordering a canvas print vs acrylic prints?

I have a few ideas for how to make that decision of acrylic vs canvas prints, plus some recommendations of how and where to order yours.

Acrylic Print vs Canvas - Similarities
Differences of Acrylic Print vs Canvas
What Style of Image for Acrylic Print vs Canvas?
How to Decide on an Acrylic Print vs Canvas
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Acrylic Print vs Canvas - Similarities

First off, let’s see what’s similar in an acrylic print vs canvas print.

Both styles are considered a specialty printing process as opposed to printing on paper. Both will look great in almost any size you choose, depending on where you’re going to display them. Both will stand out and capture attention and admiration.

Since these types of prints are different from your average photographic paper print, using a printer that’s capable of delivering extremely high quality is important.

When a specialty process print is made by a top-tier company, it really shows off your beautiful images. I have found Printique to be one of the best printers of any type of print from wood to metal to paper, and they make excellent photo canvases and acrylic prints.

Differences of Acrylic Print vs Canvas

Some of the differences of an acrylic print vs canvas print are totally obvious.

An acrylic print is made on high-quality photographic paper and is sandwiched between two layers of completely clear acrylic. Printique makes their acrylic prints in two thicknesses - a ¼” with an aluminum backing and 1” blocks with a sleek cardstock on the backside.

A canvas print is printed on high-quality canvas material stretched onto a 1 ½” pine wood frame, as shown above.

The canvas print is ready to hang up on a wall as is. You can also choose to mount it in a simple frame for a more elegant approach (though you'll need to do this as a DIY project). Just about any canvas print vs acrylic print will cost less since the material is different and the process is simpler.

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What Style of Image for Acrylic Print vs Canvas?

Now that you have a pretty good idea of what is an acrylic print vs canvas, the next natural train of thought leads to what types or styles of images will best fit into either specialty?

While there really isn’t any set of standards for this, there do seem to be a particular subset of image stylings that work for one more than the other.

Since an acrylic print vs canvas has a depth to the image in color and in sharpness, any image that has those qualities already present will be further enhanced by making an acrylic print. An acrylic print will also be glossy and somewhat shiny, so it will have a modern appearance.

You could use acrylic printing for any portraits, especially images that have vibrant color and maybe lots of contrast. Some landscapes will absolutely pop when printed as acrylic (especially those with water or brilliant skies), as will architectural photography and any modern-ish subject matter. Black and white imagery can also stand out in an acrylic print, depending on the subject matter and contrast.

A canvas print will be naturally matte since that’s the nature of the material being used for printing. So, while an acrylic print vs canvas will have a sleek, modern appearance or feel, a canvas print vs acrylic print will come across as more traditionally artsy, with an air of romance or even nostalgia to them.

This quality makes a canvas print a perfect fit for softer styles of portraiture or more traditional types of landscape photography. Many subjects developed as black and white images will come out absolutely fantastic as a canvas print.

How to Decide on an Acrylic Print vs Canvas

Sometimes, all of the talk about a photographic subject, such as this one concerning acrylic print vs canvas, simply won’t be able to accurately convey all of the details and subtlety about how a finished photograph will look. You just have to see them.

Printique photographic enlargements are reasonably priced. You can choose a couple of images from your portfolio that you think would work well for an acrylic print vs canvas and have them printed to see what would be better on canvas and what would excel as an acrylic print.

Also take a visit to the gallery examples on Printique for each of their processes and observe what appeals to you. For the decision concerning acrylic prints vs canvas, you might end up more interested in their amazing wood prints, or perhaps a standout print or metal print is more your personal style.

Some of the options from Printique are very special and their ultra-high standards of material, technique, and workmanship are absolutely amazing. They also provide extremely high standards of customer service. And, to top it all off, these prints are reasonably priced, especially if you're part of their Pro Service or Design Trade programs. Try them out!