A customer of Canvas Press, John from Florida had a great idea for custom art in his home and sent us his story along with before and after photos of his canvas project.

It has been a pleasure working with you this first time, and I expect to continue.  The outcome is substantially better than I expected. A little background: Last year, we remodeled our family room, leaving a space above the fireplace for a painting up to 32 x 42 inches, with a plan to find the “right” painting either here in Florida or in Europe on one of our trips.

In June we stayed in Paris with family, visited Monet’s gardens in Giverny, France one rainy Sunday afternoon.  The home is famous for the gardens and water lily ponds, subjects of many of his paintings.  We took several point-and-shoot photos of the grandchildren and gardens, one of which I sent to you for printing on canvas.

The results are spectacular!

John took the original image with a Canon A530 Powershot and modified it with Photoshop to remove some people in the shot and add more details and plants in bloom. He then used a painting software to add brush strokes to the image, creating a true ‘Monet’ feel to his shot of Monet’s garden. We printed it as a canvas gallery wrap with mirror border so that we didn’t have to crop any of the artwork. John added acrylic gel and varnish to the finished canvas once it arrived to enhance the look of a painting and hung it in the spotlight!

Just like the saying goes, if you want something done right you’ve got to do it yourself! John’s search for the perfect painting led him to create his own. If you have a vision of art and just can’t seem to find it, try going out and taking some shots for yourself! It’s okay if you aren’t tech-savvy or don’t have the equipment to do all the enhancements John did on his own. You can let Canvas Press take care of it with our major retouching and OilWorks enhancements.

By Caroline Ulbrich

Every man has that “dream” item on his wish list… The kind of thing he knows he’ll never really have. Usually, practicality stops us from achieving these dreams. If you have a wife and two kids you likely won’t run off to live on a sailboat. But, there is one thing you can do to give him a ‘taste’ of the dream and maybe even some motivation of something to work for. Make dad a fantastic gift of a picture of his dream printed on beautiful artist canvas so he can admire it every day.

Is dad into classic cars? Is he the kind of guy who always heads to car shows? Maybe you even have bits and parts of an old classic car in the garage he’s restoring. A photo of that favorite, classic automobile on canvas will be the perfect gift. A muscle car, an antique, a monster truck, whatever his heart desires. He can even hang the canvas in the garage. It will hold up just fine that environment…that is assuming he doesn’t hang it with greasy fingers!

Does the idea of living on a sailboat make your ears perk up? Is that something you’ve heard dad ‘joke’ about? He must love the water then, so make him artwork to decorate his office or even to accent your home with a maritime theme. What about a beautiful sunset with a sailboat silhouetted on the horizon? That will brighten the look of any room and when he looks at it, he can imagine that generic sailboat shape as his own. Who knows, maybe someday it will be! After all, the kids will grow up and start their own families, and retiring in a sailboat… that sounds pretty nice.

As a kid, did he dream of playing for the NBA? Dig out some of his high school sports photos from the basketball team, football team, whatever he was passionate about. Not only will it be fun for the whole family to see what dad looked like in his glory days, but it will be great for him to reminisce about all those big ideas he had as a kid.

Another great idea for a photo on canvas is a picture of his favorite place, or somewhere he’s always wanted to go. It could be the perfect beach vacation spot or maybe an exotic, far-away country. As you save up to go there someday, get a beautiful photo of it printed on canvas to decorate your home. Our sister site, www.ReallyBigCanvas.com has a huge collection of photos from around the world, you are sure to find the location you’re looking for.

Finally, one last ‘dream’ you can give dad on canvas… His family! Of all the unattainable or impractical dreams he may have, a happy family is the most important of all. Dad would be the most proud on Father’s Day to get a gift of his loving, smiling family. Make a copy for home and let him take this one to show off at his office!

Whether you use it for motivation or substitution, a photo of dad’s dream toy on canvas will make a great Father’s Day gift.

The people from Canvas Press are eager for everyone to see their beautiful products. They contacted me and, after picking a picture, I quickly received a 16×20″ canvas of my choice of photo. My choice (our wedding day) was converted from a digital image into the beautiful, gallery-worthy canvas you see below.

I had to think long and hard about the picture I wanted to make into a big shot for our family’s home. Initially, I thought that a picture of my children would be the best. But which one? And when I really started to think about it, I realized that we had NO pictures from our wedding larger than a 4×7. (long story about a photographer who changed locations and then didn’t develop pictures anymore and, well, we never got any pictures past the proofs that belonged to us… So this was NOT a copyright infringement! Trust me.) I selected the above photo with a black border for the gallery wrap and intend on hanging it above our bed. It will be STUNNING. I am absolutely thrilled with how it turned out and positively weepy that we finally have a beautiful piece of art from our wedding day. Thank you to Canvas Press! This will be treasured by my family for generations.

I’ve been wanting to get a large canvas for a while now. I don’t know what could be better than a huge picture of something adorable!When Canvas Press contacted me about doing a review of one of their canvases, I was so excited. It was a very simple and fast process to upload the picture online and complete the order. I got the 16 X 20 size with a 1.5″ gallery wrap.

When I got the package in the mail, I was really impressed with the way they packaged it. Very safe and secure and in absolutely perfect condition when it arrived to my house!

When I was ordering it online, I wasn’t sure which border option to select, so I just picked one I thought would work best. I was really pleased when Canvas Press called me and told me they thought another one would work better for this picture and size. I really appreciated them going the extra mile and calling me to make sure it looked good… I figured they knew what would look best more than me so I trusted them to pick the best border style!

The quality is great and I absolutely love it!

By Baines Kinnison | www.canvaspress.com

Printing a graduation photo on elegant canvas makes for a unique gift that will glow with quality and class, not to mention set your grad apart from the pack. So, as you watch your grad marching down the aisle to “Pomp and Circumstance,” don’t be the one still thinking about how he or she will want to commemorate their special day. Photos are always top on the list. We know that gift-giving is a big concern for friends and family when honoring a grad so it’s the absolute last thing to “skimp” on or allow to end up looking average. Personalization is the way to go. It helps a graduate remember the experience and how wonderful it felt to finally graduate. They’ll feel honored for their big achievement and that’s the key to a great grad gift.

Common graduation gifts are engraved items such as clocks, jewelry, diploma frames and useful items they’ll take with them into the real world. These are no doubt fine gifts that have always pleased graduates, however they often lack the aesthetic appeal and sentimental nature of a photograph. Getting the right photo of your grad is the easy part. Seniors have portraits taken before school ends so these are readily available by the time your grad crosses the stage, and they were most likely taken by a professional which means you’ll have a high-resolution file allowing larger prints without the loss of sharpness.

The answer to uniquely honoring your graduate and providing them with a memorable image lies in the weave of canvas and it’s various custom options. Printing a photo on canvas offers endless possibilities for classy looks, large sized, life-lasting durability and complete fade-resistance. These dynamic options for transforming that average grad portrait into a timeless, life-lasting masterpiece are best explored at Canvas Press. You’ll find everything you’ll need to assemble a photo-gift that will delight and amaze any graduate. Consider these ideas for making yours stand out.

Add School Spirit

• A portrait on canvas allows for a thick color border of up to 3” as one of several options. Use the school’s main color to border your portrait.

• If you have several great photos, create a collage on one canvas. It can be blown up to some rather impressive sizes and arranged any way you like.

• Add the school emblem to your canvas. All that’s needed is the image file and most schools will make a high-res version readily available to anyone wishing to honor a grad.

Personalize It

• Our canvases can be printed in nearly any dimension so leave a large white space on the front around the grad’s portrait to allow for signatures and comments by friends and family. Have it waiting for them at the after party so everyone there can sign it.

• Another great option is adding printed text to the canvas. What would you like to say to your grad? “Congratulations, you did it!” or “Class Of 2010”… The list goes on! Pick your font and size.

As the leader in Canvas Prints, we create personalized gift prints everyday and offer a level of quality that’s second to none. We also know that families and friends want to give thoughtful, personal, celebratory gifts that are fun, classy and budget-friendly. That’s why we’ve designed dynamic options to choose from and outstanding customer care that rivals any in the industry. With one of the fastest turnaround times in the business, you can quickly and easily have your grad’s gift designed, personalized and ready for amazement on the big day.

By Caroline Ulbrich

Everyone has a role in the family and the task of “historian” or “archivist” usually falls on mom’s shoulders. This Mother’s Day take the opportunity to do some of the job for her and make a lasting gift that will truly be treasured. With significant items, mementos and family photos you can make a unique canvas print and wall design that she will just love.

Digital photo prints of today will have a much longer life span than old chemically developed photo prints. This way, you can make digital copies of antique family photos, or even prints from just a few decades ago and make sure they will still be around for future generations. Just make a quick scan and secure the original photo away for safekeeping as long as it will last. We are happy to make scans for you, but for old and fragile one-of-a-kind photos you may feel better holding onto them. For more information on getting a good quality scan and protecting your photos check out the articles linked below.

Gather new and old photos, maybe even some souvenir items that could be scanned. A ticket stub, wedding invitation, graduation announcement – anything essentially flat – could also be incorporated into the project and can easily be digitized. Once you’ve collected some of your favorite photos it is time to do something with them.

One option is to make a collage of all these photos and items on a single canvas. You can set this up yourself if you have some knowledge of Photoshop, or send all the photos to us on a disc and we’ll work with you on putting it together.

Another way to present this is to make a collage on the wall with each photo on its own canvas. Showcasing a variety of photos and objects on one wall makes for a very unique and interesting design element in any room. When mixing color and black and white photos, consider giving them all a black solid border so there is a consistency that makes them all fit together. Mix up sizes and shapes for an eclectic look, or crop everything to the same format for a more organized and formal layout.

Choose a theme for the design. Maybe all of the photos are antique of ancestors and older family members, or use baby photos of everyone at the same age and see the similarities and compare the styles throughout different years. If you have photos of your mom and dad when they were dating and some shots from their wedding, tell the story of their life together before kids.

Finally, you don’t necessarily have to go all out and find decades old photos to put together and create a family archive. It can easily just start with one, and it can be a current digital photo of your entire happy family right now. Someday when your grandchildren see it they’ll enjoy looking at the “ancient” photo and add it to their family archive.

http://blog.canvaspress.com/2009/10/09/guidelines-for-great-scans/

http://www.canvaspress.com/articles/protecting_your_pictures.html

I have so many favorite photographs of my girls but I don’t always get around to printing them or even framing them.  Last fall we had portraits taken of the girls by local Nashville photographer Ben Hancock at Edwin Warner Park and I’ve been wanting to have one enlarged for our den.

Canvas Press contacted me about trying their services. I chose one of my favorite photos from our fall photo shoot at the park. The website was very easy to use and navigate.  They have several framing options to choose from but I really love the simple full wrapped canvas look. They also have a wide variety of sizes, from 8 x 10 to 36 x 48.  You can also choose from black and white or sepia. Shipping was fast and it arrived packaged with great care. I absolutely love the final product! In fact when our wrapped canvas arrived my husband was home at the time and drove to my office with the canvas so he could show it to me. He knew I would love it THAT much and he was right!

A wrapped canvas custom photograph would make a fantastic Mother’s Day or Father’s Day present. I can honestly say this is one of the best gift items I’ve had the opportunity to review. I love the way the wrapped canvas looks in our home! The colors are stunning and the image is just gorgeous. I now have it hanging in our den.

I am not a decorator. By that, I mean that my walls are bare because I’m generally too focused on other, more practical endeavors, like road tripping. Its a curse, actually. My family and I moved into a house about 2.5 years ago that has a lot of wall space, and aside from fingerprints and various chocolate smudges, my walls are just as they were when we moved in. (I really hope that’s chocolate.)

When I was approached by Canvas Press to do a review, I was excited, simply because I’m really beginning to think I may want to have something to stare at besides a computer when I sit on my couch. Since my cries for original vulvtacular artwork have been ignored, Canvas Press became very important to me and I am absolutely delighted with the product I received.

My art was easy to order; I just uploaded a photo and selected a few simple details and within a week, I had art. True art. Art that featured my wonderful marauding troop of children. It is an absolutely beautiful rendition of the four of them proving that they are just evil enough to be cute, or is that cute enough to be evil? Bottom line, I am totally impressed and I absolutely recommend Canvas Press to anyone who wants to make a photo even more special, or send a gift to an obscure relative who already has everything.

Canvas Press has made my wall just a bit more homey (yo), and I am so happy to be able to bring you this endorsement in which I was compensated only by the product I reviewed.

When I was contacted by Canvas Press to review one of their photo canvases, I was excited, but skeptical. I had ordered canvases from other companies in the past and was deeply disappointed with the quality and coloring. I ordered my 16×20 gallery wrapped family portrait canvas online (which was a snap BTW) and hoped for the best.

From the minute I started opening the package, I knew this experience was going to be far more positive! The canvas was so carefully packed to keep everything intact and perfect.

I was astonished at how beautiful it looked! The colors were vibrant and true to the picture and the quality of the canvas was right on point. It was mounted on a quality wood frame that was built to last. I love that it was made right here in the USA!

I hung the canvas on the stairway in my entry way so all those entering will be able to see it. I am so very pleased with the look, but also with the ease and speed of ordering. I truly could not have asked for more.

iJango, an internet startup with a downtown Austin office had Canvas Press make a collection of canvas prints to decorate the walls. Using art from their own company in the form of logos and website screenshots, we were able to help them make a very personalized workspace.