DIY Canvas prints.

[Marvin]

Dunno if anyone has tried these but saw them and thought "gotta try it". Company called "Photofuse" do a kit to make your own. I found several retailers including Firebox (http://www.firebox.com/product/2221/Create-Your-Own-Canvas). For £9.95 (+ about £3 p&p) you get the whole kit - blank pre-stretched 10"x8" canvas, applicator tools and the "smart film". You print onto the smart film and then stick it to the canvas. The applicator brush then makes sure that it takes on the texture of the canvas. Is this how the pro printers do it?? I suspect so. I have mine here ready to try, I'll let you know how it goes. Watch this space. ;)

[munchycarrot]

Ohhh very interesting Nigel, take a pic of the process for us :top:

[Hicarrumba]

Yeah that would be good to see the results.

I just found a canvas print bloke in Whitby that does them for £38 for a 8x5ft unmounted though

[kooky]

Sounds good Nigel, will watch this space

[Marvin]

Ohhh very interesting Nigel, take a pic of the process for us :top:

Better still - HERE (http://www.firebox.com/product/2221/Create-Your-Own-Canvas#videos_h) is a video from the Firebox site :)

[Marvin]

Yeah that would be good to see the results.

I just found a canvas print bloke in Whitby that does them for £38 for a 8x5ft unmounted though

What! :shocked: £38 for a 8ft x 5ft... You sure that's right??? :eek:

[Hicarrumba]

What! :shocked: £38 for a 8ft x 5ft... You sure that's right??? :eek:

Yep, I know I had to ask again, although he says he can only print cmyk, which I think will make a difference.

[Marvin]

OK, I finally got round to printing one... The results are really impressive, even with a cheap printer and inks. The procedure is just as easy as the video shows. I'll be doing a lot more of these!! :top:

[Sarah]

Cool Nigel,

Do they look as good as a real canvas print (when the print is printed directly onto the canvas)?

[munchycarrot]

That's my next question too Sarah...

[CPU]

Just done my first one, not bad, not bad at all for a £10. You have to look VERY closely to tell its not 100% canvas, otherwise it feels and looks the business.

[Marvin]

I now have some proper printable canvas to compare with, watch this space.. :o

[Marvin]

OK, after having some problems getting proper canvas to feed through my printer, I managed to print one. Yes, the real canvas is better - but not by a lot! I still feel that the Photofuse kit is well worth it and a lot easier than the alternatives.

[munchycarrot]

hey thanks for the updates to this, i am definitely going to try it :top:

[Marvin]

Hobbycraft sell the canvases cheaper than Photofuse, The Works even cheaper still. :top:

[jrampton]

I know i'm a bit biased but it looks like a horrid product, printing on a film and then sticking it onto a cheap canvas.....yuck i wouldn't waste the money better off just buying a few sheets of nice photo paper instead.

[Marvin]

It isn't a waste of money at all. Paying for "real canvas" prints could well be a waste though and I am not biased.

This has to be seen to be believed, don't rubbish it just because it is competition, that will get you the wrong reputation.

[munchycarrot]

I doubt that a DIY is any competition for the real deal Nigel. Spending a tenner to try it, fair enough, i'm game but if I wanted to produce a canvas for a client, I wouldn't for one minute consider it.

I rate my printer & it got me thru on a degree level as far as prints go, but to offer this as a product is only for the manufacturer of the product in question. It certainly wont be something I will look to with clients in mind. I will look for professional quality to sell on, to represent me & my work, not Asda price, cheap as chips stuff that will last the client 3 months before it degrades & looks poop.

I will still try it out of curiosity & come back and post my opinion, but to slam a professional service in favour of this is (in the words of Duncan Bannatyne) ludicrous :D

[Pipeman]

I tend to go along with Nigel on this one.

For the professional, as well as getting a "professional" job,(and as we all know, "professional jobs can vary greatly in qualtity), then the time factor comes into the equation - much faster by a dedicated machine than by hand. Remember that for most of us photography is a hobby where one wants to do things for oneself, just for the pride of doing it, in the same way that serious amateurs used to enjoy doing their own D and P in film days.

Canvas printing must be very profitable - there are so many shops offering them, even a kiosk in our large shopping centre.

[Marvin]

Thank you Ron. You have correctly identified the point of the original thread.

...that will last the client 3 months before it degrades & looks poop.

I just had a close look at one that has been on my living room wall since the original post here, 15 months ago and I can't see any degradation. Perhaps my eyes are getting really bad ... :confused:

... to slam a professional service in favour of this is (in the words of Duncan Bannatyne) ludicrous :D

Please read the post correctly. I am not slamming anyone. :rolleyes: It is the so-called :laff: "professional" :rofl: that has picked up on my post (dead for 14 months), slammed a product that I tried and reported on and used the whole situation just to get his name on the forum together with a free advert for his new company.

PS

IF anyone wants to add a meaningful opinion (biased or otherwise :D ), the Photofuse product mentioned above is now available for £9.99 with free postage from Firebox (http://www.firebox.com/product/2221/Create-Your-Own-Canvas).
You can also see comments on there and in this thread from people who have actually tried the product.

[munchycarrot]

i read correctly, the second bit from me that you quoted was meant as a joke, hence the :D

i give up...

[jrampton]

Thank you Ron. You have correctly identified the point of the original thread.



I just had a close look at one that has been on my living room wall since the original post here, 15 months ago and I can't see any degradation. Perhaps my eyes are getting really bad ... :confused:



Please read the post correctly. I am not slamming anyone. :rolleyes: It is the so-called :laff: "professional" :rofl: that has picked up on my post (dead for 14 months), slammed a product that I tried and reported on and used the whole situation just to get his name on the forum together with a free advert for his new company.

PS

IF anyone wants to add a meaningful opinion (biased or otherwise :D ), the Photofuse product mentioned above is now available for £9.99 with free postage from Firebox (http://www.firebox.com/product/2221/Create-Your-Own-Canvas).
You can also see comments on there and in this thread from people who have actually tried the product.


How dare you Nigel,

I didn't use this JUST to get my company name on the forum or the fre advertising, i point you too the discount offer to all the members of this forum and the fact that i have long since been a member of it ever since the 'other' forum closed down.

I also have had permission to post links and have the link in my signature from the forum mods.

As for the 'professional' dig - Whats that about then ? Have you TRIED my product or services ? No. so therefore please don't comment on how professional i am you don't even know me it's 'unprofessional'

I'll try the product, compaire it with my own and report back.

Thanks,

John.

[Marvin]

....it looks like a horrid product, .....yuck i wouldn't waste the money ....

.....I'll try the product, compaire it with my own and report back....

Make your mind up matey, are you going to have an empty dig at it or are you going to try it. :rolleyes:

A bit of common sense wouldn't go amiss here. I have no axe to grind, just reported (ages ago) on a product that I tried. I'm not selling it, or any other product.

You will do yourself no favours by rubbishing a product that you don't know of and have never tried. Smells strongly of desperation to me, not professionalism.

[jrampton]

Make your mind up matey, are you going to have an empty dig at it or are you going to try it. :rolleyes:

A bit of common sense wouldn't go amiss here. I have no axe to grind, just reported (ages ago) on a product that I tried. I'm not selling it, or any other product.

You will do yourself no favours by rubbishing a product that you don't know of and have never tried. Smells strongly of desperation to me, not professionalism.


Erm sorry no. I said 'It looks like a horrid product'...which it does (to me at least) and then you slated my professionalism for giving people an informed (i run a printing company) opinion, so you gave me no choice but to prove to the other people reading this post its a crap product, i've no doubt that i won't change your mind even when presented with the proof.

I love the way they don't have enough confidence in their own product that it 'should' remain colourfast for many years or to post specifications of the materials used. Frame depth and material, canvas gsm, canvas quality and material, film thickness etc etc.

[Hicarrumba]

Been using this product for a couple of my clients who wanted a cheaper alternative and they are more than satisfied with it, they have come back a second time, and at £100 for 3 I think its worth the little bit of effort it takes to make them.

I do use a pro too for large canvas, and my father in law mounts them for me.

and Just realized that this is ages old :)

[jrampton]

Been using this product for a couple of my clients who wanted a cheaper alternative and they are more than satisfied with it, they have come back a second time, and at £100 for 3 I think its worth the little bit of effort it takes to make them.

I do use a pro too for large canvas, and my father in law mounts them for me.

and Just realized that this is ages old :)

£100 for 3 !!!

I can print 3 that size for £60 !!

[CPU]

I'd much rather have a proper canvas print, less hassle, better quality, but for £10 it's OK. My problem is that the people I meet never have any brass-in-pocket :confuse:

[Gel403]

£100 for 3 !!!

I can print 3 that size for £60 !!

Wow i'll keep that in mind John :top:

[Hicarrumba]

£100 for 3 !!!

I can print 3 that size for £60 !!

I am on about £100 charge for three do it yourself, but also will bear you in mind

[jrampton]

I am on about £100 charge for three do it yourself, but also will bear you in mind

I don't understand :confuse: