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Fine Art & Photo Repro Pros Prefer Sunset by Fredrix Matte Canvas
Posted on by Shellie Terry Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Fine Art & Photo Repro Pros Prefer Sunset by Fredrix Matte Canvas

Printers who specialize in producing fine art and photo reproduction have their own set of requirements that canvas must deliver, such as high white levels, ease of use and excellent image and color quality. That’s why many providers who offer high-end gallery wraps, for example, rely on LexJet Sunset by Fredrix Matte Canvas.

“We’ve been using the Sunset by Fredrix canvas for about four months now,” says Chris Capel from The UPS Store, Aurora, OH, who uses the canvas on his new Epson SureColor P9000 printer. “The image quality is outstanding, and flesh tones are beautiful.”

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Posted on by Shellie Terry Posted in Technology & Products
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Introducing: A Faster Way to Frame Canvas Prints

Goframe blog image

Getting a professional-level framed canvas with stretcher bars typically takes a lot of measuring and a bit of guesswork while you’re limited on pre-cut sizes. But with the new GOframe system, now available through LexJet, stretcher bars snap right in place, and a freshly framed canvas is ready in minutes.

GOframe is quicker and easier to install, compared to other brands, thanks to the reusable patented corner clamps that align the bars right into place, taking the guesswork out of placement and measuring. GOframe’s Starter Kit includes the reusable corner clamps, trimmer and extra glue and blades.

The stretcher bars, available in standard lengths from 8 to 60 inches, can be easily customized to odd sizes using the Starter Kit trimmer and are lined with a high-quality adhesive tape to keep them in place. Plus: GOframe stretcher bars are priced, on average, 30 percent lower than competitors’ framing systems.

“The GOframe is super easy to put together,” says Michael Clementi, who heads up LexJet’s Experience Center. “The corner clamps set up the layout for you so you get a professional finished product — it’s a perfect option for anyone looking to produce gallery-wrapped canvas.”

GOframe stretcher bars are available in a variety of lengths and two widths. The GOframe Stretcher Frame 1500 has a 1.5-inch bar depth by .5-inch bar width and is available in 16 packs. The GOframe Stretcher Frame 1500 Pro has a 1.5-inch bar depth by .875-inch bar width and comes in 8 packs.

Check out this video to see how easy GOframe snaps into place:

 

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles, Technology & Products
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Setting a Canvas Printing Standard at FinerWorks

FinerWorks Sunset by Fredrix Matte Canvas
Close-up of a fine-art reproduction by FinerWorks on the company’s new standard canvas: Sunset by Fredrix Matte Canvas.

As the name implies, FinerWorks, based in San Antonio, is dedicated to reproducing finer works of art on a variety of printable materials. FinerWorks serves mainly artists and photographers, with a focus on high-quality output.

Fine Art Canvas Reproductions
A combination of canvas gallery wraps and canvas mounted to PVC board printed by FinerWorks on Sunset by Fredrix Matte Canvas.

Toward that end, FinerWorks recently set Sunset by Fredrix Matte Canvas as the standard for its canvas reproduction printing. Moreover, founder and COO James M. Theopistos has leveraged the Sunset and Fredrix brand names in marketing to his customer base.

“We’ve been excited about it, and the feedback from our customers has been very positive as well. I attribute a lot of the success with the new canvas to the Fredrix name. Since most of our customers are artists they’re familiar with the Fredrix name, especially if they do oil or acrylic paintings. They’re used to buying Fredrix canvas for their work,” says Theopistos. Given that, it was a no-brainer from a marketing standpoint. The cost of the canvas is the same, we can push the name brand, and customers appreciate the history and quality behind the Fredrix name.”

FinerWorks Canvas Printing
Close-up of Sunset by Fredrix mounted to PVC board using LexJet RubberMount Adhesive.

Moreover, says Theopistos, though Sunset by Fredrix Matte Canvas is OBA-free, it retains a very high bright point and faithfully reproduces the artwork of a given client on the company’s Canon iPF8300 and iPF8400 inkjet printers.

Perhaps most importantly, Theopistos reports that the canvas provides consistency through a print run and from project to project.

As Theopistos put it at a recent blog post at finerworks.com: “Sunset by Fredrix Matte Canvas brings the expertise of LexJet and Fredrix together for a breakthrough in canvas, featuring one of the highest white levels available for an OBA-free canvas. It’s easy to work with for stretching, mounting and framing, and is ideal for fine art and photographic reproductions on canvas. The acid-free, pH neutral, poly-cotton base provides consistency throughout the print run.”

Click here to read the rest of the story at the FinerWorks blog.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Creative Interior Imagery Combines Fine Art and Industry on Canvas

Canvas Decor by Creative Interior Imagery

Creative Interior Imagery is located at the epicenter of an oil and gas boom in Pennsylvania. Williams, an energy exploration and production company, recently opened new offices in nearby Tunkhannock, Pa., as part of its continued expansion in Pennsylvania over the past several years.

Inkjet Canvas by Creative Interior ImageryWilliams and Creative Interior Imagery collaborated on interior décor for the new offices, combining the industrial work Williams specializes in with a fine-art ambiance on canvas.

From Williams’ initial direction, Creative Interior Imagery took the project from photographic capture through the print process to installation.

“When we first met with Creative Interior Imagery, we were comfortable with them right away. They took extra time with the images and produced quality work,” says T.J. Gentile, facility services rep. sr. for Williams.

Gentile adds that Williams was looking for a clean, timeless look and felt that framed pieces would not have the same impact and could start to look a bit dated over time. The solution was to reproduce photos of Williams’ machinery and pipelines on canvas, which fit the company’s distinct vision of what it wanted the décor to portray in the new building.

“After an intensive two-day photo shoot at Williams’ production sites we gave them a choice of hundreds of photos and they picked out the ones they wanted to use in their offices. We zoomed in and cropped some of the photos as necessary to prepare them for printing,” says Betsy Green, design consultant for Creative Interior Imagery. “We wanted to merge the industrial look with fine art using the technology in our business.”

Canvas Wrap Creative Interior ImageryCreative Interior Imagery produced about 20 canvas wraps, most of which were 4′ x 6′, on Sunset Select Matte Canvas with an Epson Stylus Pro 11880. One 10′ x 5′ giant gallery wrap hangs on the wall in a stairwell just outside the lobby.

“Northeast Pennsylvania is considered one of the top production areas for natural gas in the world. The fact that Williams built this brand-new gorgeous building up here me says to me that this company intends to be here for many years to come,” adds Green.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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Video: Gallery Wrapped Canvas Start to Finish

AW Artworks – Gallery Wrapped Canvas start to finish from Andrew Wredberg on Vimeo.

Shot at AW Artworks Design Gallery and Studio in Sun Prairie, Wis., the video embedded above gives consumers interested in buying a canvas gallery wrap an inside look at its production.

Canvas Gallery Wrap Video AW Artworks“Every day I see an online deal for $5 canvas that’s supposedly a $120 value. I get questions from people who wonder why our canvas gallery wraps are so much more expensive,” explains Andy Wredberg, AW Artworks’ owner. “This is a video version of my answer, which is that I’m spending the time necessary to make sure their canvas wrap is absolutely perfect with color correction, setting up the image correctly, hand-cutting the frame with high-quality wood, printing with the best canvas material, and coating and wrapping it by hand. We won’t be the cheapest; our goal is to be the best.”

Wredberg printed this sample for the video with a Canon iPF8300 inkjet printer on Sunset Select Matte Canvas. Wredberg builds the stretcher frame from scratch and uses a Tensador II to complete the wrap.

Posted on by Regan Dickinson Posted in Case Studies & Profiles
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The Perfect Combination: Amazing Photography and Amazing Canvas

Sky on Fire The Canyon Gallery
The Black Canyon of the Gunnison, just east of The Canyon Gallery in Montrose, is one of Harmsen’s favorite places to shoot. This particular capture Harmsen describes as possibly “the most stupid shot I’ve ever taken,” being at altitude overlooking the canyon with a lightning storm enveloping the area.

Wil Harmsen, owner of The Canyon Gallery in Montrose, Colo., is a busy man. Not only does Harmsen run the gallery with his wife, Amy, but they do everything soup to nuts, or capture to framing in this case.

Sunburst at Painted Wall by Wil Harmsen
Captured at sunset, Harmsen says the sunburst over the Black Canyon of the Gunnison is about 18 seconds of light as the sun disappeared behind the canyon walls. “The clouds rolled in and I thought I would have complete overcast and get shut out. Patience paid off and I just sat there and captured the sunburst,” says Harmsen.

One of the Harmsens’ specialties is canvas printing and finishing, either framed or as a gallery wrap. Wil Harmsen says canvas is the gallery’s most popular medium, providing a painted look that gallery browsers crave.

“Gallery wraps are typically less expensive than framed pieces. If we have a really nice photo, the person who can’t afford a framed print can buy a less expensive gallery wrap. When we print something that big, it could be a $600-700 difference simply because of the frame,” explains Harmsen. “My wife is the framer extraordinaire. What I like about the frame is that it makes it feel like a painting, a piece of art, that gives it a different look and it’s been fairly popular. We usually mount the canvas on archival mount board and put it in the frame. It’s a simple process and the canvas stays flat and beautiful. We’ve been doing it for about five years and haven’t had any problems.”

To get the most out of their images for those who buy their prints, Harmsen has recently switched all of their canvas output to Sunset by Fredrix Matte Canvas, the new OBA-free canvas from LexJet with an unusually bright white point for an OBA-free print medium.

The Canyon Gallery
Harmsen chalks up this spectacular eagle capture to pure luck. Shot at Ridgway Reservoir in the winter, Harmsen recalls, “I’d like to attribute that to my incredible skill, but that was just luck. We printed it on the Sunset by Fredrix Matte Canvas because we get such spectacular detail in the feathers and the trees, but with a painterly effect people like.”

“I love the brighter white base and the wide color gamut I get out of it. I don’t lose any detail, sharpness or tonality. It tends to be spot-on,” says Harmsen. “You cannot tell the difference between printing on this canvas and photo paper other than the canvas gives you the feeling of a painting that many people like.”

Before framing or making a gallery wrap, Harmsen says they coat each canvas with Sunset Satin Coating or Sunset Gloss Coating three times, coating horizontally, then vertically and horizontally again.

Sneffels Range by Wil Harmsen
The Sneffels Range near Ridgway, Colo., is an iconic Colorado photography spot. Harmsen says you’ll see hundreds of photographers flocking to the area to capture the mountain range in the fall.

“I’ve learned in working with canvas is that if you have dark areas and shadows in the image, one coat typically doesn’t cover the dark spots correctly. It takes multiple coats so you don’t see any lines from rolling on the coating. That way it makes sure to even out the entire photo so there aren’t any issues,” explains Harmsen. “And here’s a big one, especially for galleries: a lot of times when we coat canvas we might get some ink peel coming up with the roller when we were coating. For some reason the new canvas is absorbing the ink a lot better and to date we’ve had zero ink pickup on the roller. That’s huge for us. I’ve got a Denali shot that I can’t print on other canvas because the blue in the sky would pick up on the roller. Now that we’re printing on Sunset by Fredrix, problem solved… gone.”