Friday, August 7, 2015

print on canvas

I've availed the canvas print service several times and written about it already. I want to restate how impressed I am with this relatively new service industry. It is brilliant and they have their act down to a tee. Impressive to the very last step, packaging and delivery. I purposefully chose slowest of all shipping options because they're so brilliant, I checked progress for four days through production and noticed the hour it shipped, then hours later the notification of shipment with tracking was provided with the package arriving by noon the next day. Today. Directly to my door.

A coffee-table size book is pulled out from a shelf and the 32"X48" print placed on top the book with bookcase as backdrop.

Klicken Sie für große

The canvas is three bookshelves tall. The dimensions are important because they fit the aspect ratio of the Nikon so nothing is lost to cropping to fit the sizes of canvas that Photobucket offers at this width.

Sometimes cropping for a different shape rectangle would work to advantage, for example the dinosaur footprints a sign at the edge is eliminated, but it wouldn't work so well here.

The dimensions for the raw files are 4288 X 2848, a 3:2 ratio. This ratio in this width is not common among the various print on canvass outfits online that I looked through. I've tried only two, one offered through Flickr and this through Photobucket. For me, Photosbucket is the best choice but only when they are running a significant sale. Otherwise their prices are not competitive with other places more popular. When Photobucket has a sale, nearly always such as right now at 70% off, then they beat all the rest. Without the significant reduction then they come in last for pricing.

All other places offer reduced pricing too, except for a few. Each place I checked pretty much offers 30% to 50% off the order I would place were I to pursue it through them. That time.

I learned also they print on real canvas, apparently, they all keep saying so. I was wrong about it being paper that looks like canvas. I think. The most popular site discusses their quality canvas and criticizes the cheap imported Chinese canvas that other companies use.

I'm still skeptical about industry terms ever since uncovering at length the term "steam cleaning" carpets involves no steam, merely water hot as one's tap will go. It's a thing with them, they fudge ordinary terms to fake us out. It could be the same thing here with canvas. Paper made of real cotton cloth just as canvas is but still paper, a new photographic product allowing large industrial rolls that exists in the space between canvas and paper that industry decides to call canvas. I still don't know for sure what they're printing on but it is not the same stretched tarp stuff that I smear with gesso then paint on. It's some new material fascinatingly industrial.

The process cannot be made more simple. It is not possible for the price to be lower. I am amazed. It must be industrial and rely upon sheer volume. The whole thing, from uploading and adjusting photos, selecting from offerings, arranging the order, processing payment, production, materials, skill, packaging, delivery is truly impressive. The low cost of print to canvas service opens worlds of possibilities.

2 comments:

bagoh20 said...

I've done a couple of these too. It is totally worth the reasonable price, especially considering you will have something on the wall "created" by yourself. I just need some good photos.

Chip Ahoy said...

Earlier I wrote that I agonized over which photo to pick. Then I did pick. Then I realized at these prices agony is absurd. I could keep doing this forever. I could fill walls entirely. BIG walls. I could load walls with billboards of photos sectioned. I could create a room surrounded with trees for example, to fake you out once you're in it.

You're in California, right? Suggestion: Take a friend with a Canon or some such with you hang gliding. They stay grounded. Get one of yourself hang gliding if possible. Maybe assembling it. A good photo with good glass. Flying, a bit of lens flair, whatever.

I have one of Red Rocks steps, people near the top of the steps using the steps for exercise that resembles the religious hardships people do, at the last stages of exercises from the bottom. Hot and exhausted crawling up the steps. It's an excellent shot of random strangers. I like the photo a lot. The rows of steps curve. That's the composition. People not exercising walking across counter to people crawling up. Great perspective, but curved, and human movement. Plus it shows possibilities of even better shots of the same or similar thing. I could hang out there awhile here and there and wait for good shots. You can do that with hang gliders. I would. Plus scenery. Plus the industry there is interesting composition. A refinery lit up at night makes an incredibly interesting subject. The problem is so much great stuff to choose from right there at hand.

I've been looking at this photo of these rocks all day. They're just rocks. It is an excellent composition. The lines form an X. I find my eyes follow the lines and get lost in the texture, latching onto any variation in color. They stop being rocks and turn into water and vapor and women. It's a fascinating cluster of boulders and I'm glad I had the photo enlarged to big as they go.