How long does it take to produce a single photograph? It depends on so many factors… we might drive 30 minutes to the airport, travel 4 or 6 hours (or more) on a plane (plus layovers and delayed flights), spend three (or five or seven days) on location (not to mention hiking and waiting for that great light).. and we come home with two or three photos good enough to add to our portfolios. And then there’s the time spent in post-production. Maybe it takes just a few minutes… and maybe it takes a few hours. The point is… it takes a good long time from start to finish, and lots of work.
If I’m going to put that much effort into the photograph… I want it to look darn good when I print it. Jay and I usually print our own photos on our Epson printer. But when we want something out of the ordinary, we have to ask someone else to handle the printing for us. Recently, we checked out the photos to canvas services at Easy Canvas Prints. Here’s what we think…
The website is easy to use and well thought out. You just choose the size you want for your canvas, and then upload your image. There’s a handy automatic quality check built right in – so you can easily see if your photo is going to look good when it’s printed. I also appreciated the little “tip” bar near the top of the screen – it’s great if you haven’t done this kind of thing before. If you need more help, they have a FAQ page with answers to common questions. They have a variety of size and pricing options and they even offer photo retouching, red-eye removal, and black & white or sepia conversion.
You also have some nice options for border wraps – which is great. I usually prefer the mirror wrap option, which works beautifully for landscape images where you don’t want to crop off the edge of your photo. But you also have the option to wrap the image, or add a colored border. The preview window really helps if you aren’t sure what you want.
And the finished product? Beautiful! The canvas arrived in the mail about a week after I placed the order – that’s 3 or 4 days of turnaround time for Easy Canvas Prints, plus a few days for snail mail shipping. (Of course, they have faster shipping options if you are in a hurry.) The colors are vibrant and true to the original, and the details are just right. I chose a print with a range of color and tonality. I also wanted an image that had both fine details and smooth gradients. They handled both very well. You can see the details in the close-up shot below. Keep in mind that a canvas print generally won’t look as sharp as a print on photo paper… but the details in this shot really are very nice.
The wrapping looks great – clean and professionally done – and the frame is made of wood, not plastic. The canvas is archival quality, so it should look great for a good long time. I tried to damage the canvas by scraping it with the edge of a coin (on the back, of course!) and I couldn’t leave a mark. That means the protective coating is doing it’s job. So, it’s going to hold up nicely to normal wear and tear… though I don’t recommend trying to damage your own prints! :)
So, there you go. We were impressed with the easy-to-use interface, the quality materials, and the lovely finished product.
If you are interested in turning your photos to canvas, check out the Easy Canvas Prints Facebook page, too -they have some great deals going on over there… hit the Like button, and you will automatically receive 50% off of your next order, and free shipping as well. Not too shabby.
Have you used the photos to canvas services at Easy Canvas Prints? Please comment on this post, and tell us what you thought – others can benefit from your experience!
