[/img]I like this photograph a lot. So I decided to get it printed on canvas. This was prompted by a coupon code – fday11 – promising 55% off and free shipping at www.canvaspeople.com that a website I trust – The Digital Picture – had featured.
So I logged onto CanvasPeople and selected the largest available size they were offering at the time, 18" x 24" (they are now featuring 24" x 36" and if they had when I ordered the frame, I would have selected that) and worked on my picture.
The print wraps around the edges of the canvas which may not matter if you have dead space on the edges of your picture, but needs to compensated for if you want to feature your photograph without cropping. I added a black border using Gimp to my image and uploaded the photograph to the site.
This took several attempts to get it just right. Fortunately, you're given a view of how your photograph will look on the canvas. It took me about four uploads with borders of differing widths before I had a satisfactory image.
I then ordered the canvas – costing about $44 in all – and waited.
It arrived today, eight days after I ordered it.As you can see, the color balance is slightly shifted towards peach, but by no means excessively so. In fact, I expected a far more unsatisfactory color balance, so I was pleasantly surprised by the result. (The shadowing you see on the canvas is natural and not a quality of the print!) Contrast was good and sharpness excellent. The canvas is of a lightweight quality and wouldn't stand up to that much maltreatment but the frame was well made and the canvas stretched satisfactorily. The picture was well centered.
So I'm pleased. I would prefer a more heavyweight canvas, but I suspect that would push costs up considerably judging from a survey of alternative canvas printing operations that do offer more robust material but also cost three times as much.
sanshan said:
That gives me an idea! 🙂
sanshan said:
…wedding photo..Oh, and those power lines, when I was little I used to think they looked like a woman's fancy dress. Driving down the highway on a family outing , I would imagine the giantess who would wear that gown. 🙂
musickna said:
That's worth knowing, San!
sanshan said:
Hate to promote Walmart, but I do have a budget…
musickna said:
🙂 I really like that mental image, San! Very cool!
sanshan said:
You know, I've had excellent results with our Walmart online service here. Very nice quality for prints. And cheap!
musickna said:
Yes, very pleasing, Star. It looks great on my wall.:)
Stardancer said:
Wow. That is gorgeous. You picked a very good photo of yours to spotlight like that, too.Glad you were happy with the results. I'm skittish with online stores of that type. I'll remember this one.:up::smile:
musickna said:
😆 Don't we all? You'll find me there too.
musickna said:
Excellent! 🙂
CultureSurfer said:
I like it! Where are you going to hang it?
musickna said:
Not sure yet, Naomi – I'm looking around the house for a good spot!
CaptainPenguin said:
Had a e-mail about a special offer on canvas today so I my just give it a go
musickna said:
Hope you get a satisfactory canvas, Nigel. They do look good, I must say.
musickna said:
Yes, Ed, I probably could compensate slightly for the color balance but it really wasn't that far out at all. I have had worse results printing myself using my own photo printer! I was expecting CanvasPeople to pump up the saturation and produce one of the artificially over-saturated images that are so popular these days (and is applied to many prints), so I was very pleased that they kept it subtle.
edwardpiercy said:
I had Naomi's question about the spot. :pIt's great that you have it. And great too that the color balance was close. Of course if it regularly goes that direction, maybe you can compensate beforehand if you do another one. ????:up: :up:
edwardpiercy said:
Excellent!
studio41 said:
very nice! I can see why you are pleased. is it hanging up, yet? or will it rest on a table or other surface? I have a friend who tried Gimp and said she got some spyware from it- what has been your experience with it? also, did you add the black frame so as not to lose part of the image in the wrapping around frame? and then, didn't it scrunch up the photo to a smaller image? seems when I add frames at photoshop the image is reduced from the original to accomodate the frame.
musickna said:
Hi Jill – thanks. It's currently hanging on our bedroom wall – looks good there.Never had any spyware issues with Gimp, but I always download direct from the Gimp site and not through any third party. Yes, I did add a black frame. I know exactly what you mean in Photoshop – it cuts into your image. Gimp, though, using the 'Decor – Border' filter, adds the border to the image increasing its size as it does so, but not altering your image in any other way. It's much preferable to the Photoshop method.:)
studio41 said:
I bet the sunset serves a relaxing denouement of any stressful day. I'm making a note of 'Decor-Border' filter if I go to Gimp sometime. I looked at the canvas site and think of a particular picture of mine that would work well with this type of application/frame. thanks for sharing the site & info. it's helpful to receive a recommendation from someone who has experienced firsthand- and to see an end result.
musickna said:
My pleasure, glad I could be helpful! 😉
vandrew said:
Glad it turned out well for you. Never heard of printing photos on canvas, but looks like a good idea!
musickna said:
Thanks, Andrew. It really does look good!:)