Adhesive cloth!

At USA on Canvas we now have an exiting new product for designers and crafters. It is called Removable Adhesive Cloth and it is unlike anything I have ever seen.

This material has the texture and durability of cloth, but has a self-adhesive backing like a sticker. It can be stuck to most surfaces, and even better, can be removed and re-positioned without loosing it's stickiness. It is also water resistant and very flexible, so it can be Wrapped around corners.

It is great for sticking to:

• Walls
• Windows
• Plastic
• Metal
• Enamel

Of course, the best thing about this material is that it is receptive to the Giclee process. It can be run though our fine art printers, so we can print it with any image you can imagine in beautiful full colour. 

Interior Design Applications

One great idea for this material that would be of interest to people designing beautiful interiors is that they could be used to create wall decorations similar to vinyl cuts. It could be a simple and original way to ad interest to many surfaces. One creative customer is planning printing some self-adhesive images and mounting them on old wake-boards for an original display idea. 

Business Applications

Removable Adhesive Fabric can make a great advertising solution. We have already had an order a full fridge door sticker, with a beautiful full colour image telling a brand story. The great thing about this material is that it can be used to turn any surface into an opportunity for delivering a message.

Craft Applications

• Placed on the front of a light fixture or lamp shade for a personalized back lit image.
• Made into stickers to hand out in gift bags at events.
• Used for decorations on computers and personal electronics.
• But my favourite idea comes from my own love of bookbinding. With this material it would be easy to design and create custom cloth book covers – think the old fashioned Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books, but in cloth! With a little measuring and cropping, and some text, any journal, note book, old, beloved hardback, or hand-bound book project can have custom designed cover art! No gluing required! I for one can't wait to try this.

I am also really exited to see what you will come up with!

Pesonalized Greeting Cards!

It has been said “T'is better to give than receive”, and judging from our customers, this is certainly true! Or customers love to give gifts, especially personalized gifts. Since we know no gift is complete without a card, you can now order personalized cards from Usa on Canvas!

With these cards, you can send out family or business Chrismas cards with a special image. This added touch is sure to make the reciver smile. They can be used as wedding invitations or birth announcements, party invitations or thank – you cards. We always include envelopes, you just need to add the address!

Personalized cards are great to include with gifts, as it is a little something extra to remind the receiver of you! Because you are using your own image or design, you will never have to agonize over the racks of cards at the store, and your gift will always be unique.

For artists, gift cards are a wonderful way to give your work some exposure. People who love your work will be happy to have a copy of the beautiful images to keep, even if they can't buy the whole painting. Many artists Find that art cards are a great way to supplement their income. At Usa on Canvas we always use pigment based inks and high quality paper, so you know that your cards will be bright, sharp and long-lasting.

Ordering is not easier than ever with our online order form. The only hard part is choosing the picture!

Digital Painting

It is interesting what advances in technology has done for artists. The combination of digital editing programs like photo shop and illustrator that are powerful enough to allow artists to create art right on the computer, with touch technology allowing the use of drawing tablets, have combined with Giclee printing technology to create the new field of digital art. Giclee printing not only allows for print runs of as little as one print, but also offers a choice many exiting new materials for printing on.

In the past, people would hire painting to create one of a kind portraits of themselves and their families, now, many people hire digital artists to do the same thing: create one of a kind art peaces that represent loved ones. There are many professional artists who offer this service, so specialize in a certain style or technique, while others focus on a subject matter, like pets or couples. These artist are just as talented as the painters of the past, but their medium is different. They have recognized the change in the way art is produced and distributed, and offer services to suit the modern taste.

Many of these artists work over the internet, and it is often possible to get personalized work created entirely online, from you own photo. You can then get the artwork printed at Vancouver on canvas, and have it delivered right to your door. At USA on Canvas we work with many talented digital artists and their patrons, and we are very exited about the quality and originality of the work produced in this new medium.

Father's day is approaching, and when June 19^th comes round, I am sure all of us who were blessed with good dads will get a little nostalgic for that first and most important man in our lives. Not everybody has a good dad, but that fact just makes those of us who do all the more grateful for the family we lucked in to. I personally had a really amazing father. He was, and is, totally supportive and caring, and even if he can be a bit of a jerk sometimes, he always made it completely obvious that he loved me and my sister more than anything else in the world. And I forgot to call him on his birthday.

This is the thing about fathers. Somehow, even though they know you love them, and you know it means so much to them, they seem to rarely ever get told. Maybe because they are men, and men are supposed to be less demonstrative than women, we think it would be better for these things to remain unspoken. It seems like we never forget Mom. We all make sure we have a gift, or at least a phone call for mom on mother's day. But we often let father's day pass unmarked. This June, maybe it is time to make up for past silences and make sure dad gets the message loud and clear. No mater how much we think something is understood, however, it is always good to let someone know for sure how special and important they are to us.

Loud and clear does not have to mean unsubtle or not beautiful. At USA on Canvas we can create a personalized canvas print or fine art print that will be all the more meaningful because the subject matter is chosen by you. Find a picture that you know dad will particularly like, I could be of him, or of you of the kids, but it could also be of that perfect day at the cottage, or the old car he drove until he couldn't drive it anymore. Whatever it is, we can have it printed on paper or canvas and delivered to dad's door with a message from you.

We can also create a custom collage on canvas of pictures from the photo album or of his grand-kids. This is a great way of sharing and preserving memories in a beautiful presentation that will last for years and years.

At USA on Canvas we can also create a piece of text art for you. This is a new service that we have just put in place. If you send us a file with a list of memories, a poem, or words that you think of when you think of dad, we can design an art piece that will convey how you really feel. I have created an example using the text of the first page of this post to show you what I mean.

You know what dad would like best, Just be sure not to forget him on June 19^th, Father's day.

Choosing a Picture Frame

Picture frames are one of those necessities of design that often gets overlooked. This is because like all good design, if done right, the picture frame will compliment the both the artwork and the room without drawing attention to its self. A frames job is to compliment, so if it does it's job right, becomes part of the decor so seamlessly that it does not stand out.

It is not always easy to choose the right frame. There are a couple of major points to consider when choosing a picture frame:

Factory or Custom Frame

Traditional frames are made of wood, and where hand-carved and hand joined. They where expensive and time-consuming to manufacture and often works of art in themselves. Modern technology has mechanized this process, and picture frames are now available in wood, metal, plastic, fiberglass, and particleboard. You can purchase ready-made frames at many art supply and interior design stores that have been mass produced. The advantage of these frames is that they are less expensive than custom frames. However, the disadvantage is that they are usual only available in certain standard sizes.

Custom picture frames, as the name implies are created to order by a professional framer, such as those at Usa On Canvas. The chosen wood or metal molding is cut to order and joined using special machines. A framer can also cut a matt to fit your artwork. A matt is a piece of archival art board that acts as a margin or buffer between the art and the frame. It is cut to fit the frame, and then a window is cut to display the artwork.

Color:

Frames are available in every colour of the rainbow. Traditional frames are often wood or wood veneer, or gold or silver leaf for the more elaborate variety. Metal frames are either enamelled, or exposed polished, brushed, or antiqued. The colour of the frame needs to compliment both the artwork and the room. Often natural wood or more neutral color will make the image stand out better, and not detract from the colors or details of the image. People often choose frames a little darker than the colors in the image. Usually gold and silver frames are used for more detailed images with lots of color, which can hold their own against the richness of the frame.

Shape:

Shape refers usually to the shape of the cross-section of the molding. It can be anything from flat with a small bevel, to an elaborate scoop with ornate carvings and edgings. Like color, the shape of the frame needs to compliment the picture. Ornate frames are often used for representational, detailed images like traditional paintings or portraits. Abstract work is often framed with something very modern and streamlined, with little ornamentation.

Giclee prints are sometimes frames using a floater frame, which is shaped like a staircase on the cross-section. This frame type is unusual because it is front-loading, and rather than having a rabbet, there is a gap between the edge of the canvas and the frame, creating the effect of the canvas “floating” int he frame. This is a very contemporary type of frame that is well suited to giclee prints of photographs.

Width:

Frames come in a range of widths, from1/4 of an inch to 4-6 inches wide. For a larger picture, a wider frame is more sturdy, and will also look proportional to the size of the picture. The wider the frame is in comparison the the size of the artwork, the more the frame becomes part of the work. It can be a bold choice to frame small pieces with a wide, ornate frame. However, it is more common to choose frame width that is more proportional to the artwork size.

Rabbet:

Rabbet is a technical term for the space behind the lip of the frame. This space needs to be big enough to fit everything that is being framed, the work, the backing, matting and glass. When framing three-dimensional objects, like fabric or souvenirs, the size of the rabbet is an important consideration. Selecting a frame with an appropriate rabbet is an important part of the work of a professional framer.

These are just some considerations to keep in mind when choosing a frame. The final consideration is of course your own taste. No-one can tell you what looks good to you, and it is most important that the frame you choose suites your taste and style. A professional framer can give you good advice and suggestions on what frame to choose, but remember, you are the one who will be living with it!

Classic Art giclees

At USA on Canvas we understand the importance of art. Art can brighten a room, it can be like a friend that you greet everyday, and it came make you happy, calm your mind, or make you think. USA on Canvas knows that artistic ability is not restricted to a few 'geniuses'. We know this because every day we create stunning canvas pieces from photos and images created by our customers. We also host an Online Art Gallery of American artists, a place where artists can display their work on line and have it printed on demand by us. We believe that the single best thing about Giclee printing is that it can help make art available to everyone.

We know that art, specifically painting and drawing, has a long history and glorious history. Painters like Klimt, Van Gogh, and Renoir are still loved today for the striking, beautiful, and sometimes unsettling images they created. Many of these images have become iconic, like William-Adolphe Bouguereau's "First Kiss", but there are many many more images by these same artists that are more obscure, but just as interesting and just as beautiful.

To view a selection of some of the best classic art of the past, visit the Classic Art Gallery at USAoncanvas.com, where we have a of high resolution images of many great artists. The best part is, all of these images can be ordered as a giclee canvas print in a variety of sizes for only the price of the print. Because we use the highest quality of inks and canvas, and high resolution files of these classic art images, the canvas prints we make for you are as close as possible to owning the original painting.

Of course not everyone can own an original Monet or Cezanne, in fact, most people think it is better for these treasures of mankind to be kept in museums, so that everyone can enjoy them once in a while. But at the same, time, a treasured painting is somthing you want to be able to see every day, not just once in a while. Fine art printing can let you own the painting for a tiny fraction of the the cost, and also allows and unlimited number of people to own the same painting, without taking away from the enjoyment of others. This is made possible due to fine art scanning technology, which convert the colors and brush strokes to digital information so that it can be reproduced digitally. The power to convert and image to digital has greatly increased the availability of fine art to its audience. A great example of this is the Google Art project, which has digitized and mapped dozens of galleries and thousands of artworks.

Digital images are great, but no one wants to look at a painting on a computer screen for very long. This is where giclee printing comes in. Before it was possible to print on canvas, the only way to hang a classic art piece in your own home was either to be a millionaire, or to purchase a poster print of the classic work. Paper, however, lacks the physical presence and texture of a classic painting. The giclee process has allowed printers a much greater choice in the materials they print on, and many companies not make canvas for the giclee process this canvas can be stretched in exactly the same manner in which artists and their assistants once stretched the canvas on which they worked. A canvas print is one step closer to the look and feel of the original and for this reason it has become a popular choice for art reproduction among artist and art lovers.

To view our Classic Art Gallery and order prints, please visit USAOnCanvas.com

Storing your Digital Photos

As digital cameras and memory cards become better and cheaper, We have all started accumulating a lot of pictures. This is not a bad thing, but it does come with some problems. What can be done to prevent potential precious images from being lost on a hard-drive with millions of others, or lost forever in a catastrophic device failure? As with most things, image storage is both more convenient and more complicated than it was in the past.

Ready for my closeup? alwayz!

Your mom may have had a couple of shoe-boxes full of unsorted photos and negative strips in the closet, but at least she knew where they where, and they where not likely to disappear without notice. With digital cameras, we have the option of never printing our photos at all. There are advantages to making prints. They is not vulnerable to many of the factors that can destroy digital images. Physical prints are also easier to share with the people near you, which is why many people continue the tradition of making scrapbooks and photo albums. Digital images have in fact expanded the possibilities for photo-books and scrapbooks, and there are several services that will print them for you, but for a lot of people part of the pleasure comes from hands-on creation. The most important thing is to start with good quality printing. You should know how archival the materials your printer uses are, and the resolution they are printing at.

Although physical prints are important for archival purposes, a print, unless it is very large, is not going to contain as much information as a high quality digital file, so physical storage should always be used in combination with digital backup.

Digital Storage and Backup:

The two most common places that digital images are likely to be stored are on your camera's memory card and your computer's hard-drive. Unfortunately, these are also two of the worst places to store your images in the long term. Both of these places are for temporary storage. Use your memory card to store photos while you are out on a shoot or on a trip, but upload them to somewhere else when you get the chance. This will free up space on your memory card

to take more pictures, and will also prevent you from loosing what you have already shot in the event (knock on wood) that something happens to your camera.

I always think it is best to take photos in the highest resolution possible, and with the advent of the RAW image format, that it quite high. Shooting in high rez means the pictures are going to be more usable later for printing. It is very important if you want to get the best out of large-format printing of you shots. but it also means that you can't shoot for days without uploading.

TIP: delete photos that you KNOW are bad from the camera before uploading. It will cut down on your editing load later.

Organization:

There are any number of places that files can be stored, but with the sheer volume of pictures a lot of us take, the where can often matter less than the how. I often

just dump the images form my camera onto my hard-drive, without organizing or often even looking at the pictures. This means when I do want to make a print of a picture, I have to search through directories with inexplicable names until I find the one I want. It is important to have some kind of organizational system, the most obvious is to organize them in folders is by date or event (Visit to the beach, august 2011). But you can use whatever system works for you. The most important thing is to have a system, and use it.

Although hard-drives may seem to have a lot of space, most of us use a lot of space for our daily information needs. For this reason it is often not practical or possible to store a lot of high resolution photos on a laptop or even a desktop. Another reason that it is not good to use you computer's hard-drive for permanent storage is the possibility or device failure. If you images are not backed up in at least one other location, a virus or accident could cause you to loose everything.

Cds and DVDs

Cds and dvds make a convenient backup. They are relatively easy to store and organize, and they can be stored in another location than your computer. How

ever, there has been some doubt about the true archival quality of Cds and DVDs. There is also the issue that technology tends to become obsolete, so it may be necessary to transfer your image files onto a new media at some time in the future.

External Hard Drives:

These devices are great ways to store and back up data. There are many not very expensive ones on the market, and for between $150-500 you can get a drive that will hold all of your photos, and even back up your whole laptop. They are small and easy to store and carry around, and can be areal lifesaver if something bad happens to your computer.

Storing Images Online:

There are a wide verity of sites that allow you to store your images (and/or other digital information) online. These include sites that are primarily sharing sites, like flikr, and sites that are really just for storage, like SugarSync or Carbonite. Many of these sites have a free membership level, which allows limited storage, and a pro option that costs money but comes with multiple benefits. You will need to decide which option is right for you. The advantages of online storage are that you images are available anywhere you can access the internet, from any device. They can be shared easily, and they are managed by professionals, meaning you do not have to worry about the data maintenance.

However, be wary or sites that allow you to upload your photos for sharing, like facebook. They often do not store high resolution copies of your files, as the photos are meant for web use.

Sometimes our digital photos can become just an unwieldy mass of information, rather than a treasure trove of memories and beautiful moments. But if you do take the time to look back at what you have, I bet you will find some treasures that deserve to be put up on the wall!