Printing on Canvas!

Looking for a really cool gift for Valentines Day or another special occasion? You should consider printing on canvas! Don’t worry, you don’t have to try to stuff the fabric through your desktop printer … you simply send your digital file out to a firm that specializes in printing on canvas. Their highly-tuned over-sized ink jet printers will turn your digital photographs and other artwork into family heirlooms faster than you can flash your plastic.

Once the canvas has been printed with your image, it can be mounted and matted or stretched on a wooden frame, just like a real, honest-to-goodness masterpiece. When the artwork is hung on the wall in your humble abode, it will bring you years upon years of enjoyment. (Just remember to hang the printed piece so that it is not directly struck by sunlight, to avoid fading.)

There’s a good chance you’ll want to tweak your images to suit the method of printing. While there’s nothing like a real artist to impart real brush strokes to invoke a painterly appearance, you might not have that luxury or skill. There are a number of Photoshop plug-ins that can help to achieve a painterly effect. SNAP Art, Alien Skin’s recent and very enjoyable entry into the field offers “one-click natural media” … whether you’re going for the look of the old masters, the impressionists, or perhaps something more recent.

One caveat … you can’t get away with a small file if you want to make a big juicy print. The canvas printing shop should provide you with the exact specs (DPI and dimensions) necessary for a successful print.
[tags]printing on canvas, canvas printing[/tags]