What to Look for in a Canvas Print

If you’ve never purchased a canvas print before, you might think that it’s a simple matter of Googling “where to get canvas prints,” uploading a photo to the selected printing company, and waiting with bated breath until your print arrives at your door.

But if you want to get the best canvas print, you need to take a few more steps. This guide outlines some of the things you need to look for in a canvas print.

To illustrate the points I make about getting a great canvas print, I’ll use my new print from CanvasPrints.com as an example.

Now, this is the first print I’ve gotten from CanvasPrints.com. I’ll admit that I wasn’t sure what to expect when the print arrived at my house. But, upon inspecting it, I found that this print ticks all the boxes of what you should look for when making your purchase.

So, without further ado, let’s get to the guide!

Are There Plenty of Sizing Options?
What are the Materials Like?
What to Look for in Your Canvas Print
Good Customer Service is Paramount

Are There Plenty of Sizing Options?

When purchasing a canvas print, one of the first things you want to evaluate is whether a printing company offers a good range of sizing options.

Sizing the print to the space in which it will hang ensures that you get a print that has enough visual “oomph” without being too big for the room.

At CanvasPrints.com, you can select from sizes that range from 8” x 8” up to 55” x 60”, so you’re sure to get a print that’s perfectly sized for the intended location.

What’s more, you want to work with a canvas printing company that offers different orientations and layout styles. This might include landscape and portrait orientations, triptychs, collages, or canvas wall displays, depending on the subject of your images and the look you’re going for with your canvas print.

What are the Materials Like?

The materials used to make a canvas print are another important consideration to make.

There are many budget canvas printing companies out there, but unfortunately, they often use cheap materials that not only look subpar but also don’t offer much durability. What’s the point of getting your image printed if the canvas isn’t going to last?

Again, I can look to CanvasPrints.com as a good example of what a printing company should offer…

They use cutting-edge printing technology to ensure that the printed image is clear and resolute, has accurate colors, and good contrast. This is made possible not just by the technology they use but by the materials as well - CanvasPrints.com uses materials sourced from here at home in the United States.

From the wood used to build the frames to the canvas on which your image is printed to the inks used in the printing process, you can rest assured that the materials used to create your print are top-quality and American-made. That’s why you get a 100 percent money-back guarantee with your print!

What to Look for in Your Canvas Print

As I mentioned earlier, not all canvas prints are made alike. Most are just fine, but some are truly terrible. Only a few have what it takes to be considered top-notch.

When looking for a canvas print, bear the following in mind as a guideline for quality:

Are the colors accurate? Do the inks the canvas printing company uses match the tonal quality of the original image you submitted?
Is the printed image clear and sharp? Look closely at the detail in the image above, and you’ll see that the image’s highly detailed townscape is beautifully resolute in the print.
What is the quality of the canvas that’s used? Is it thin and flimsy, or is it thick, durable, and archival quality? There is a vast difference between the two!

Something else to be aware of is how well the canvas stretches across the frame.

In the image above, you can see how the canvas is perfectly flat. There’s no bumps or dips because the canvas is pulled tight and secured to the frame. Lesser canvases can’t claim that!

Speaking of the frame, you want something that’s well built. It needs to be straight and square, with supports in the back that help maintain its shape and keep the canvas tight. Kiln-dried wood is preferred as it has less of a tendency to warp over time.

Don’t just look at the print and the frame, either. A good indication of the quality of a canvas print can be found on the corners…

As you can see above, the canvas is neatly folded to create a clean, crisp corner. This is exactly what you want when looking for a canvas print.

You wouldn’t think that having crisp corners would be a difficult task, but believe me when I say that more canvas printing companies screw this up than the ones that get it right!

Part of what helps maintain nice clean corners is having the canvas wrapped tightly. Having plenty of staples that connect the canvas to the frame is especially important in this regard.

As you can see in the image above, this canvas has a good number of staples running along each side of the frame to keep the canvas nice and tight.

Lastly, be sure to inspect the hanging system on the back of the print.

In this case, my CanvasPrints.com print has a wire hanger that’s attached to the frame with tabs and screws. The wire is a good gauge - not too thin but not overly thick - and is pulled tight between the two sides.

Some canvases come with sawtooth hangers (which I don’t like since they are seldom attached with much care) or no hangers at all, so this wire system is a nice touch for hanging this print perfectly level.

Good Customer Service is Paramount

Photo by Totojang via iStock

The quality of your experience isn’t just contained to the quality of the print you order. You want to work with a printing company that values your business and strives to make the best possible print for you each and every time.

CanvasPrints.com certainly fits the bill here - their dedicated team treats your images like their own. You aren’t just another customer or order number; instead, they view your image as a critically important part of your journey and one that they handle with care at each step in the process.

If you’re an amateur photographer, the folks at CanvasPrints.com will work with you to ensure you get the best quality print possible. And if you’re a professional, you can work with CanvasPrints’ white label service to incorporate canvas prints and other products into your business model or get special discounts and services through their wholesaler program.

No matter if you’re ordering a single small print for yourself or dozens of canvases for clients, CanvasPrints.com has you covered with a dedicated team of professionals. Now that’s what to look for in a canvas print!

Get your canvas print started today by visiting CanvasPrint.com’s online 3D product builder.