5 Tips for Caring for Your Canvas

There's no better feeling than unboxing a beautiful piece of art and hanging it just so on the wall. But now that you have this fantastic piece of valuable canvas art, how to maintain it? We have 5 tips below for caring for your canvas print.

1. Keep It Out of the Sun

All of our canvases are sprayed with a special UV resistant coating that sets the ink within the canvas. However, it is still best to keep it out of direct sunlight and fluorescent lighting, as continued exposure can degrade through the coating over time.

2. Clean with a soft, microfibre cloth, or feather duster. 

No force is necessary; just gently wipe to dust, or dampen the cloth with a little water if need be. Make sure not to press as you skim over the center, as this is where the canvas is most vulnerable. Do not use any chemicals when cleaning, as this can react with the UV coating and damage it. Dusting daily is also recommended, as it helps prevent dust buildup that may eventually be harder to clean.

3. Keep It Out of Hot and Wet Environments

Humidity, heat and air pollutants can damage the canvas and inks. To avoid this, keep your canvas out of kitchens, bathrooms, or heat sources such as air vents, air conditioners, and radiators. For bathroom and kitchen decorating, we recommend framed fine art prints, which are protected by plexiglass. In general, keep such artwork out of heat, sunlight and moisture as much as possible.

4. Hold Onto the Sides When Moving

Sometimes canvases have to be moved, and in which case we always recommend holding the print by the wooden stretcher frames inside. Do not lean anything against either the front or the back of the canvas, as it can stretch the fabric, create a dent, or worse, tear it.

5. Spray Behind the Dents

In the event that dents are unavoidable, there is a simple solution to minimizing it. Simply spray the back of the canvas with a bit of water where the dent is, and leave it overnight to 24 hours. By then, the moisture should help reset the fibers and sooth out the dent.


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USAOnCanvas is a printing, framing, fine arts and reproduction company. Our speciality is canvas printing, both for personal home décor as well as fine art reproduction uses. All our canvases are printed with archival inks and hand stretched over pinewood stretcher frames built by hand, finished off with black or white linen tape on the back. Best of all, we do nearly any size to fit your space! Call us today!

KeenArt Media Ltd. Toll Free: 1-88-533-6278

www.USAOnCanvas.com

Working Hours:

8:30 AM to 5:00PM Monday to Thursday

8:30 AM to 4:00PM Friday

Why You Should be Printing with Inkjet Printers

With the rapid sophistication of modern printing, it's becoming harder and harder to discern differences in quality when it comes to comparing the various methods one can print fine art. On Etsy alone, fine art and design prints can be found on laser-printed cardstock, off-set printed fancy paper, or inkjet-printed on high-end 100% cotton rag. But while digital laser and offset printing can be appealing due to their lower cost, inkjet printing is still by far the best choice for artists and photographers, and here are our reasons why.

An example of an inkjet printer - the Epson SureColor 

More Precise Printing Process / Higher DPI 

Unlike laser and off-set printing, inket printers do not make colors by layering one on top of another. Instead, inkjet printers print using precise nozzles connected to colour cartridges. These nozzles are activated by little electrical pulses that activate the nozzles to put out a single dot of color in a certain area. This is why inkjet printers often will advertise their high-resolution capability – this means that the higher number of dots per inch (dpi) they advertise, the smaller the dots each nozzle is able to print, resulting in a much more accurate and rich color combination than other printers. 

Photo sourced from http://www.dp3project.org/

Wider Color Gamut / Smoother Continuous Colour

Although technically inkjet printing operates on the same principles as CMYK, unlike laser and offset-printing, inkjet printers have a wider range of inks in which to print. While laser printer and off-set printers have 4 different color rolls or drums (one for each color: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black), inkjet printers often have secondary inks available in various shades of the main colors. 

CMYK Rollers for Off-Set Printing

Laser printer showing the 4 CMYK drums inside

For example, rather than having one cartridge for black (K), some inkjet printers may have matte-black or gloss-black. They may even have several different shades of gray, light cyan or dark magenta. Having a wider range of precise ink colors means inkjet printers are able to replicate a wider color gamut with more accuracy. This also results in more natural, continuous shades of color, which is why inkjet printing is often used to feature black-and-white photography.

This is why some fine art printing companies will ask files to be supplied in Adobe RGB rather than CMYK. A 6-color or 12-color inkjet printer, therefore, can create color gradations with more precision than 4-color offset or laser printers. 

Inkjet Inks, in various colours for smoother gradients 

Larger Choice of Paper

Example of Hahnemule paper, showcasing continuous grays in a b/w photo

In addition to offering a larger gamut of color in their inks, inkjet printing also offers a wider range of paper choice. This is because certain inkjet printers are built to take specific types of paper that laser printers cannot. For example, an archival 100% cotton rag paper would be too thick and textured to run through a large format laser printer.

While offset printers are able to print on a variety of paper as well, they are not usually of archival quality, and therefore do not offer the same width in color gamut. Archival papers are often acid-free as well, and photopapers are made only to receive inkjet inks. Outside of archival papers, injkets can print on virtually any other type of material as well - canvas, transfer paper for dye-sublimation printing, textiles, etc.


At KeenArt Medida, we use the Epson Surecolor inkjet printer for all your print needs. It carries a 12-color cartridge capability for stunningly smooth results. We also carry a wide range of substrates, including fine art paper, photopaper, canvas, textiles, etc - check out our selection our website today!

Fine Art

• Fine Art - Hahnemuhle, Photo Rag 
• Fine Art - Hahnemuhle, Textured German Etching 
• Fine Art - Hahnemuhle, William Turner 
• Fine Art - Hahnemuhle, Fine Art Baryta 
• Fine Art - Moab - Entrada Rag Bright 
• Fine Art - Moab - Entrada Rag Natural  

Photography

• Photographic Paper - Metallic Paper 
• Photographic Paper - Premium Luster 
• Photographic Paper - Premium Glossy 
• Photographic Paper - Premium Semigloss 
• Coated Paper - Enhanced Matte

Synthetic Textiles

• Fabric - Satin Cloth
• Fabric Removable Adhesive - Peel n' Stick
• Canvas

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KeenArt Media is a family-owned printing company specializing in fine art prints, framing, canvas and  dye sublimation (onto metal or wood!) printing. Whether it's for the home or for the gallery, we have you covered.  Inquire today!

KeenArt Media Ltd. Toll Free: 1-88-533-6278

www.USAOnCanvas.com

Working Hours:

8:30 AM to 5:00PM Monday to Thursday

8:30 AM to 4:00PM Friday

Happy New Year, everyone!

We hope everyone's had a great holiday and rest these past couple of weeks. With the holiday rush out of the way, we can now breathe a big sigh of relief and return to our regular turnaround times:

Product/Service	Super Rush	Rush	Standard Turnaround Time
Canvas Gallery Wraps/Transfer	1 day	2 days	3-5 days
Custom Made Picture Frames	1 day	2 days	3-6 days
Dye Sublimation - Metal & Wood Printing	1 day	2 days	3-4 days
Dry-Mounting, Stretching & Coating	1 day	2 days	4-6 days
Rolled Canvas / Fine Art Prints	1 day	2 days	2-4 days
Restorations, Collage & Popart Designs & Image Effects	1 day	2 days	3-4 days
Artwork Scanning	1 day	2 days	3-6 days
Plexi Face-mounting	2 days	4 days	6-8 days
Resin Coatings	2 days	3 days	4-6 days
Plaque Mounting & Greeting Cards	3 days	4 days	6-8 days
Handmade Oil Paintings	2 weeks	3 weeks	4-5 weeks

In the joy of the new year, we also have a few new dye-sublimated products, launching soon! For example...

11oz Pearl Coat Mugs A high quality premium AA+ grade polyester coat ceramic mug available in bright white gloss finish. These mugs are coated with our super white pearl coating allowing images to be brighter and more vivid. Perfect for colourful images, photos, or brands. Also comes in 15oz  or 11 oz Black with White Patch

• Dishwasher Safe - Rated for up to 3500 cycles
• Microwave safe and heat resistant
• Lead and cadmium free
• FDA Compliant
• CA Prop 65 Approved
• Ceramic Platinum 32 Handle Strength Test

Follow us on Facebook for more updates on when these will go live! --- KeenArt Media is a family-owned printing company specializing in fine art prints and reproduction services, such as framing or dye sublimation (onto metal or wood!). Whether it's for the home or for the gallery, we have you covered.  Inquire today! KeenArt Media Ltd. Toll Free: 1-88-533-6278 www.USAOnCanvas.com Working Hours: 8:30 AM to 5:00PM Monday to Thursday 8:30 AM to 4:00PM Friday