If you would like to create and sell ready-to-hang photo and art products that have a different look and feel than photo canvas, consider using Water-Resistant Satin Cloth with one of the stretcher-bar kits available from LexJet. LexJet Water-Resistant Satin Cloth is a lightweight, inkjet-printable polyester fabric that produces excellent image quality and doesn’t tear when stretching.
According to Joe Menth of Fine Balance Imaging, “The Satin Cloth is actually ten times easier to stretch on standard 1.5-in. deep stretcher bars than canvas.” He reports that a 24- x 30-in. canvas often requires 20 to 30 minutes to stretch by hand (if done cleanly, with a tight, even fit). In contrast, the same size “satin-cloth-wrap” can be done in about 10 minutes. That ease-of-production can really cut down on labor and stress in a shop that stays as consistently busy as Fine Balance Imaging.
Plus, Menth reports that “The Satin Cloth actually makes the stretched prints more touchable. Clients who see them in our building immediately say, ‘Wow! What are those printed on?’ while running their hand across the surface.” Because the Satin Cloth is water-resistant when used with pigment inks, a protective topcoat isn’t required. This means that the displayed print retains the silky-smooth feel of the fabric.
Fine Balance Imaging Studios has started using Water-Resistant Satin Cloth and Photo Tex PSA material from LexJet to convert out-of-this-world images captured by cameras aboard NASA’s Hubble Telescope into wall art and photo murals. When they displayed a 40 x 144-in. wall mural of the Carina Nebula across the entryway to their studio, Menth reports that “It got a number of clients excited about printing on both the Photo Tex and the Satin Cloth, because they could see applications of the materials beyond what they have normally seen in the past.”
With the wide selection of Sunset and Hahnemϋhle stretcher-bar kits available from LexJet, you can create satin-cloth wraps of many different sizes, depths, dimensions, and price points. Call a LexJet representative at 800-453-9538 for more details about the differences between the kits and any special offers that might be available for new users.
Fine Balance Imaging Studios displayed prints on Water-Resistant Satin Cloth in two forms: hanging banners and gallery wraps.
Fine Balance Imaging Studios provides an extensive range of creative design and museum-quality printing services for the many artists, photographers, non-profit, and commercial organizations of Whidbey Island, a popular tourist destination 30 minutes north of Seattle, WA. Print services include fine art reproductions, digital photographic enlargements, and high-resolution scanning, as well as promotional collateral such as business cards and postcards. Other services include graphic design, photographic retouching and restoration, and layout for banners, store and window displays, and posters. For more information, visit: www.fbistudios.com
