-
solvent canvas suppliers – think i am paying too much
The thread about getting a printer solely for canvas printing has prompted me to look at my canvas sales.
I stock metamark’s canvas (not got the spec to hand) I used to sub out the stretching but can do it in house (ordering frames for each job)
To make this more viable I plan to narrow the sizes available down to customers, and stock frames – reducing the amount of stock I need.
From memory the canvas is cotton artists canvas, about 350gsm, and does look very nice… Problem is most customers want to know the price first.
I’ve seen numerous different canvases, from many suppliers, all varying in price. Trouble is, I want to save on cost, without loosing quality.
I welcome any suggestions of suppliers for canvas.
I am running a roland rs-640, solvent printer.
-
12 Replies
-
Sadly my favored canvas is not made any more brought about by people buying cheap stuff.
You have to make your mind up ~ stack um high or sell quality tried samples of various makes and just not up to it. -
Hi David
We have ordered a few different canvas material in the past, some printed better than others.
my husband got a supplier from the last sign show at the NEC, we ordered some the other week as we wanted to print one with our grandson on… we were quite pleased with the results.
They also supplied stretchers. we only do 2 sizes A2 and A1, I think we paid £69 for the canvas material and £20 per box of 50 bars, the bars were 18mm thick, next order I will get the thicker ones TBH.
After all that I can`t remember the name of the company… I will try to route it out tomorrow at work.
We have 2 prices, one for on line orders, were there is little customer interaction and a shop price, where the customer can be in the shop for 30 mins…. don`t try to compete with ebay prices in your shop…
Last week we had a lady who asked if we could change her sons face so that he smiled more !!!!!!!!!
-
Dave, I print my canvases on a pigment inkjet. I wont go in to prices but happy to give you my frames and canvas supplier.
I stock basically 4 sizes all on 38mm deep bars, everything gets gallery wrapped. The artwork can take a while but i have lots of techniques for getting the pictures on to stock frames, I can even add in some borders to cover the wrap if there is not enough on the photo in literally 5 minits.
After I print on the canvas, I seal it with a spray laquer or rolled on with a gloss roller whichever i feel like doing that day really. I leave them for 48 hours to cure (hanging)
I can make a canvas from scratch (print already done) in less than 15 mins. Frame, stretch, staple, wedge and then I tape the edges on to the back of the frames with a special HT tape.
I do 10 x 16 12×18 (inch) 18×24 and 24×30
I used to much around with some 36 x 52 inch stuff but its a ball ache to be honest and the results are never that good. I have been making canvases for about 4-5 years now, it’s how I started. I charge pretty much the same for each size, its the same amount of work, the only variant is the frames and print, which to be honest only varies by a fraction per size.
I also do an awesome trade price on mine for decent orders (I usually do about 10 at a time for my customers) which give an excellent mark up. Despite what u can get them for in some places (I bought an A3 one for £9 because I was curious, and I got £9 worth of job…… its was so pants it was laughable) I can still get £60 plus for mine. And the customers come back for more with their friends. I don’t even advertise them anymore.
Drop me a PM and I will share some tips with you mate 😉
-
Many thanks for the replies.
I ordered my bars from Art-Bloc last time. I know they do canvas, but not sure how they compare on price.
I really think this is the way forward – I can lower my unit price as I will stock the bars, and hopefully sell more units.
I get frustrated when I have stock in for months on end, and rarely use it.
-
quote David Hammond:Many thanks for the replies.I ordered my bars from Art-Bloc last time. I know they do canvas, but not sure how they compare on price.
I really think this is the way forward – I can lower my unit price as I will stock the bars, and hopefully sell more units.
I get frustrated when I have stock in for months on end, and rarely use it.
I get my cotton canvas from Artbloc also, but i use an epson pigment ink printer for this… the colours with this combo are way better than using a solvent printer in my opinion.
-
David
Most suppliers will let you have a sample FOC if asked, That way you can try them all and then choose the one which offers the best results.Cheers
Gary
-
I have shied away from printing canvasses, since my setup is more "industrial" – aimed at the mines in the area. Canvas is very expensive here, and the few samples I got from suppliers did not really impress me w.r.t. print quality.
I get a fine textured material, almost like silk (called K20), but not as glossy, that prints hugely impressive on the Rolands. Cheap as well, about the same as economy grade vinyl. I make my own frames, and stretch them inhouse as well. For the frames I buy 200 x 25mm pine, and cut them into 25 x 25 strips. A simple 45 deg mitre on the edges, a bit of glue, a few screws and a couple of staples later, the frame is ready!
I have a few classic paintings in my den that I pirated like this! You’ll find Edvard Munch’s Scream, the Mona Lisa (every house needs some kitch!) and the Abduction of Europa by Rembrand, among others. If only they were the originals…………
The photo shows the front and back of these frames. ( The beuty in the photo is my daughter, Carla!)
Attachments:
-
these are my epson canvases…. colour awesome, canvas, about £2 a meter for a decent quality.
Attachments:
-
Nice pics mo,
I know most of my local competition are using cheap 18mm frames so may stock the thicker frames, charge that little more. But there’s a clear difference between mine and theirs. 😀
-
Nice pics, superman one is great.
-
David, a lot of people who do canvas printing don’t use solvent machines for it. Finding the right market at the right price might be a problem for you. A lot of people seem to use the epson wide format printers for this sort of work. Mo will probably be able to tell you why this is.
-
We only supply 38mm gallery bars. I give the option of many sized frames but only stock two to four variations 12 x 16 being the most common.
The supplier (can’t remember the name) who was at the signs show sent me a sample of their matt canvas 340gsm and it gave awesome results wise but to stay competitive I use 330gsm matt bought from that nasty auction site.
The quality is spot on and we’ve never had one complaint. Just have to make sure you get the profile correct.
Log in to reply.