Photo and photography lovers will often spend the extra time and money to ensure that their precious memories are commited to a form that will last as long as possible on display. Pricey frames, mats, and glass are used to both protect the image as well as add to its beauty and display value. With all the energy and money that goes into preserving photos, it’s not at all surprising that more and more photographers and consumers are gravitating towards putting their photos on canvas.

Canvas prints have been proven by Wilhelm Imaging Research to last up to and over 100 years without signs up fading when displayed under “reasonable” conditions – basically anywhere that doesn’t have excessive humidity or UV rays. That’s 10 times longer than typical traditional photo prints. Many people accustomed to framing photos and shielding them behind glass have wondered if the same steps need to be taken to preserve canvas prints.

While it is completely possible and not unusual for canvas prints to be framed, it actually is not a necessity. In fact, part of the draw and novelty of printing photos on canvas is that a wrapped print is considered a completely finished product. Canvas prints from ZaZa Gallery can be taken from their packaging and hung directly on a nail – there’s no more to it than that.

When ordering a picture on canvas you’ll come across different wrapping styles and options that effect the way your canvas print looks. Gallery wrapped photos on canvas are the most common style, and the one acredited most often as being “finished”. With this style the edges of the photo print are wrapped around a ¾ – 1 ½ inch stretcher bar. With no additional frame, this gives the print an almost 3-D appearance. The edges of the stretched canvas actually become a part of the overall display look.

Gallery wrapped canvas prints are not always the best choice for every photo, however. You see, the image itself is used to wrap around those edges which can be as wide as 1.5 inches. So, thats a full 3 inches of the images width and height that are no longer displayed on the face of the image. For photos like portraits, or small prints that may only be 8×10 inches to begin with this can make up a considerable loss of front-facing photo. With portraits this often means that the subjects extremeties might become “cut off”, and that just doesn’t look good.

If you still want the uniqueness of a gallery wrap without the loss of precious image inches you can instead opt for a Mirror Wrap. ZaZa Gallery is the only leading canvas print producer that offers this option. With this, the photo editor actually takes the edges of your image and mirrors them. Then, “weird” looking extras like hands and fingers (sometimes even whole people) are edited out of the photo to make it look much more clean and nice. You get the look of a gallery wrap without your image being cropped. There is no additional fee for this service.

So, as you can see, a gallery or mirror wrapped photo on canvas from ZaZa Gallery really is a finished product, meant to be displayed “as is”. There is no need for a frame or glass because the wrap style itself is part of the beauty of the print. Black or White wrapped prints (sometimes referred to as “museum” wraps can also be displayed as finished products, and can give your print a very classy and clean look. These styles are also well suited to framing, if that is something you really would like to do. There is no harm or added difficulty in framing a canvas print – in fact it can make your print even more beautiful.

Just remember, most frames won’t accomidate a 1.5 inch stretcher bar (essentially the print is 1.5 inches “deep”) but the standard ¾ inch wrap works just fine. Whether you choose to frame or not to, canvas prints will still last years longer than photo print equivilents and have a unique and stunning appearance.