Premium Archival Canvas - In Detail

As we launch our newest product, Premium Archival Canvas, I thought it would be appropriate to cover it in a little more detail here on the blog.

So really, how does Premium Archival Canvas differ from our standard canvas, and how will it benefit you? Let me explain:

A Word on Inkjet Canvas Technology

This canvas was only made available to the Giclee industry in 2009, and as such, it is the most advanced giclee canvas in world right now.

Looking at each of these canvases side by side, they are virtually indistinguishable. The real technical advancements with our Premium Archival Canvas are in its specialty surface coating.

Inkjet canvases must be treated and prepared specifically to accept inkjet pigmented inks. This is all done in the manufacturing process. It's kind of like an artist applying gesso to an unprimed canvas in order to prepare it for paint. Just as there are numerous brands and types of gesso, so there are various inkjet coatings. Many of these coatings (including that on our standard canvas) include optical brighteners which allow the full pigmentation of the inks to show in a print. This makes for spectacular prints, but unfortunately the optical brighteners are not approved archival, and thus prints on standard canvas can only be guaranteed for 30 years or so without fading (they should last many many more years than that if taken care of and kept out of direct sunlight). Still not bad, and the price makes it a great option for artists and photographers looking to sell canvas prints, but who can't afford the price of archival giclees.

Recent Innovations Create Premium Archival Canvas

Up until recently true giclee canvas has been rated archival, but due to lack of optical enhancers on the surface, the color saturation and color range that could be achieved in printing was not as good as on optically enhanced canvas. Many less scrupulous print shops have sold these optically enhanced prints under the guise of "giclee" when really they are not archival at all.

However, our new Premium Archival Canvas has a cutting edge coating on the surface that allows the inks to reach their true color gamut (range) AND contains no optical enhancers. The manufacturers achieved this by changing the properties of how the ink was dispersed and absorbed by the canvas coating, resulting in absolutely stunning, truly archival giclee prints. I spoke to them at length in person (well, over the phone anyway) with the technical guys at the manufacturing plant to learn as much as I could. I've tried to boil it down and make it as untechnical as possible so that you're not bored to death :)

A New Era in Giclee Print Making

So, we decided to give this canvas a try a few months ago and have been just amazed at the results. We are convinced that there is no better giclee canvas on the market, and that the prints you get from PrintThatImage.com on this canvas will be the nicest giclee prints you've ever seen. I know that's a pretty strong statement, but I wouldn't make it if I didn't think I could stand behind it.

Better Giclee Canvas Merits Better Stretcher Bars

Also, you'll notice the prices on our stretched premium archival giclee prints is considerably higher than on the standard stretched canvas prints. That's because we are using higher quality stretcher bars on these new giclee prints. They are more solid and made from 100% douglas fir.

The 1.5" thick bars are super heavy duty. They measure about 3" across. Giclee prints stretched on these "fat bars" just give an impression of extra-high quality. Perfect for gallery exhibitions, museum shows, and highly limited edition embellished giclees. Also great for giclee prints you don't want to frame.

Please let us know if you have any questions about this new product, we are always glad to help.

Thanks for reading and visiting our website!