New to printing

[shadepics]

Hey, I've been making pictures etc in photoshop for a while now and recently had a bit of interest in getting things printed. However, i've never gone further than doing an A4 print on photo paper!

I was particularly interested in canvas prints and after doing some searching found www.canvasrus.co.uk (http://www.canvasrus.co.uk) to be the best price. Although, i haven't the slightest idea whether this is the best way to go about things or whether they're any good quality or value.

I'd probably be looking at around the 20" x 20" size and would like any advice before actually going into it as I can't afford to be going wrong as such.

Any advice on this topic generally would be much appreciated, links too.

(I think im posting in the right place?)

[D-Frag]

canvas prints = 300dpi at final size

[shadepics]

So i'm creating at 300dpi full size? Just to make sure..

[PrintDriver]

No interpolation.
300dpi, D-frag?
Well, I guess this small, yeah, maybe. I bet that Canvasrus dumbs it down to 150 to print though. That would be production speed. Not art print quality.

Go local. You'll have more artistic control. You can talk to the owner or the tech and find out what is optimal for their machine.

You might want to go with a coated canvas inkjet type print (ie find someone who does art prints, like a gallery or photo lab that has branched out). You want art prints run at slooow speed, high ink dpi (600 or 1200 - if they'll do it and - multipass if they'll do it).

They have textured canvases now (for your tactile pleasure).

But if you are looking for cheap, more power to ya.

[D-Frag]

at my old shop, the only thing we ever printed at 300dpi was giclee canvas prints. but we also worked with artist who thought there poo smelled like roses

[PrintDriver]

Artists...

What did you print the "giclees" on? An Iris or an HP? I actually had someone fool me recently with a 1200dpi HP5500 print. It was excellent.

[D-Frag]

it was the hp5500 we were using, pretty nice eh

[shadepics]

I'll have a look round locally, however i'd doubt the availability, the closest i found online was charging closer to £100 for 20x20. Not really in my price bracket unfortunatly, cheaper the better. What would you charge for a similar print as a reference?

I think they're being a bit too vague saying "Images preferably need to be in RGB JPG PC format and a 1 meg jpg would be large enough for a 20” x 16” photographic image or a 40” x 30” abstract image" Hopefully i can find local!

[PrintDriver]

They are using an RGB workflow and letting the rip handle color.
Jpg format. Ugh. Tif or eps. Preferably .tif. and PC format just means you need to add the .jpg extension.
For the filesize they are talking about, they are running large format FAST at around 35dpi at final size. That would suck at such a small size. I only use 35dpi if the viewing distance is 10feet + and the piece is BIG.

Canvas is expensive. No two ways around that. What's £100? $150? for a 20" x 20" (50cm?) square? A little pricey. But maybe not for a rare commodity in your area. Also a printer can smell a first timer... Maybe you need to negotiate a bit.

(Don't forget your bleed to wrap a frame if that is how you intend to sell these).

Maybe instead of canvas you check out some of the finer scrim vinyls. Avery puts out a nice one called Saturn which has a nice tight woven finish on it. You might find a sign shop that prints to that and it might not cost you as much. (should be about 1/2 of cloth canvas).

Or try the online company. Get a proof first.

[shadepics]

Thanks for the advice, the nearest company producing canvas prints is http://www.photobloc.com who are slightly more expensive. I've sent an email to find out what dpi they use etc.

I'll have a search on scrim vinyls, 1/2 the price sounds very nice.

[DesignerScott]

I don't have any experience to contribute here, but I have a question.
Can we make a big sign on the forum saying "Call your printer first!"
Because that is really sound advice that get's repeated every 5 threads or so. I completely agree that for any print design situation, whoever might do the printing is the first person to call, and most are very generous with information and want to help. (at least if you go local and actually talk to a "real" person.)
Best of luck, let us know how your projects turn out.

[shadepics]

At 01:45 i think that calling them wouldn't produce the best of answers ;)

I found http://www.thedotfoundry.co.uk/printing.php, and at under half the price of the other company seem more like what I'm looking for. Also providing a free paper sample.

...Giclee is alright isn't it? :confused:

[DesignerScott]

At 01:45 i think that calling them wouldn't produce the best of answers True, but maybe at 1:45 it would;)
Just to clarify I wasn't raging about newbies, or criticizing your post, because I truly think that it is something that needs to be seen by everyone.

Real advice now - What's better than a free paper sample? a printed sample too! Maybe they would be able to hook you up with a small square of printed material too so that you get a real feel for the quality of printing.

[shadepics]

Ok, so I got an e-mail back and they said this,

"We prefer our images to be in Adobe 1998 colour space and sized ready for printing with a minimum resolution of 300dpi."

"We spray all our canvas print with a museum grade fixative spray developed by Hahnemuhle to safeguard against blemishes and air pollution. This spray does not distort the colours of the final print."

From what I understand, that sounds pretty good. Considering a 20" x 20" canvas print would be £32.91 + Shipping. ($59 + shipping)

They offer framing or lamination. Worth paying for lamination? I wouldn't want a frame.

[PrintDriver]

That's 300dpi at final print size.

I wouldn't laminate a canvas print. Unless they are offering a liquid lam that will extend the life of the print more than the fixative spray and doesn't add an obnoxious glare to the print.

Out of curiousity you might want to ask them expected "light fade" and "dark fade". They may not know the dark fade (a stored inkjet will fade over time) but should know the life expectency when exposed to ambient room light.

Be sure to convert to the color space, not assign it, if you aren't working in Adobe rgb 1998.

[shadepics]

Thanks for the advice. I just installed the printer profile they sent and the piece i would of liked printed has totally the wrong colours....so i'm going to have to redo it anyway! This company appears to be much more into customer satisfaction than the other ones and have offered to help with colour management.