When most people are looking to give a photograph as a gift, or to hang prominently in their homes, they’re typically used to first having their photos blown up and printed on photo paper, and then framing it themselves or having it framed at a shop. This is the same process that people have been using for decades to store and display precious memories, and while it can look very classic and beautiful sometimes its nice to go for something completely different. One way to accomplish this with photographs is to get a gallery wrapped canvas print.

Having a photo printed on canvas is comparable in price to traditional photo framing, but can be cheaper depending on what you do with it. Because of the way canvas is gallery wrapped and sealed it doesn’t actually require a frame or glass to be considered a finished work, or to be preserved for generations to come. If you choose to leave the canvas print without a frame, then the vast majority of the time you will find that they are much more affordable than classic framing. However, if you’re particularly enamored with the framed look go right ahead, it will usually cost about the same as a photo paper print. Remember though, a gallery wrapped photo on canvas will still last decades longer than a traditional print whether it’s behind glass or not.

In addition to all that, though, canvas has a unique texture that gives your photos a rich and artistic look when they’re printed onto it. Incidentally, the process is quite simple. Unlike typical photo prints that are made from negatives, you don’t actually develop a photo onto canvas. Instead, you digitize the image (if it is not already in digital form) and print it onto the canvas using a very high quality printer. Because of the digital form, or digital conversion of the image, you can make any adjustments to the original photograph to ensure that what gets printed on the canvas is exactly what you want.

Part of this process involves picking a canvas printing specialist that will use the highest quality products. This helps to ensure not only the quality, but also the durability of your canvas photo. Firstly, you have to choose a printer that knows how to optimize images for canvas – working out color saturation and minor exposure touch-ups that may be needed (at your request). Once that’s done, the photo is printed onto the canvas, which has to be museum-quality rated – not some junk that is going to crack at the corners when it is being stretched, or shortly after. The ink used to print it should be archival, and very high quality. This is the primary factor in determining how long your image will last before there is any sign of fading. After the ink is set, the whole canvas is sealed with a special protective sealer, making it moisture or water resistant, UV resistant, and generally protected from environmental factors.

The last step in making a photo on canvas is wrapping it, and this is the part that truly sets it apart from traditional prints. When a canvas print is gallery wrapped, the image is used to wrap around the sides of the canvas stretcher bar. This gives the canvas a very unique look, as if the photograph became 3D and was popping off of the wall. However, this does trim inches off of the front-facing part of your photograph, which many people do not want. In this case, an attentive photo to canvas producer can instead use a mirror wrap. Mirror wrapped canvas prints take the very edges of the original image and mirror them to create extra inches around the photo that still blend with the print. This extra printed area is what is used to wrap around the edges of the canvas. While not as convincing as a gallery wrap, it preserves the original front-facing photo while still allowing the canvas to show its unique facets.