Simply Canvas - Review of the First Two

Today I received a (large) box in the mail from FedEx containing my prints from Simply Canvas.

These things are cool, and by cool I mean totally sweet.

I ordered two canvas prints from them after seeing their ad in Rangefinder magazine. The first is the floral abstract seen to the left. It is 20x30 inches, which is actually 24x34 inches before stretching - more on that later.

I knew that I wanted to see this image printed fairly large & presented in a non-traditional way. I think stretched canvas is the way to go with it; I'll order it even larger once this one sells (both of these canvas prints will be centerpiece images at the exhibition I'm putting together at Pike Street Press this month).

The other image that I had printed is the cityscape shown below. This panoramic of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky is a huge 73x14 inches & looks killer! It is a black and white version of the image used in the header of this blog & was taken from Devou Park.

Print Quality and Ordering
The prints from Simply Canvas look great - they print on high-end Epson printers using the standard Epson Ultrachrome ink set. Though the canvas material has a little bit of texture to it, the images still have a ton of detail & look very sharp when viewed from a proper distance.

The color looks great on the flower pic and the black and white cityscape is very neutral with a nice smooth range of tones.

The ordering process is very straightforward, especially after watching the video tutorials that they provide to walk you through the process. I chose to prepare my images using a Photoshop Template that they provided, but others may choose to use the very simple drag-and-drop ROES ordering system.

Templates
The idea of the template is pretty simple: create a 100DPI image that is the size (in inches) of your desired canvas and add 4 inches to both the length and width. Then, add four Guides to your file, each set out 2 inches from each edge. The guides represent the folds - the area between the guide and the edge will be the portion of your photograph which is wrapped around the sides of the canvas stretcher.

The images I submitted and the resulting prints are very accurate with respect to the guides in the template. I'm pretty picky when it comes to these kinds of details, so I was quite relieved to see this!

Sizes
Simply Canvas has a variety of standard sizes available, but can print any size you'd like as long as one dimension is 44 inches or smaller. The custom order calculator is simple to use and placing your order is similar - just enter a length and width instead of choosing a standard size. The sizing on the Cincinnati Skyline is obviously custom and, have I mentioned: huge? In the above image it's hanging aloft a standard 3-seat sofa.

Pricing
The prices at Simply Canvas are in line with what you expect to pay for a high-end product like this. Going into specifics would date this review & make it less useful; suffice it to say that the price on the 20x30" is a little less than what you can get at Mpix or SmugMug and the custom size pricing is very good - especially considering that you can't even get odd sizes at most standard vendors.

Another thing to consider with regard to pricing is the potential markup on these prints. Stretched canvas is a premium product and should be priced as such, possibly at 3 to 5 times cost or more, depending on your market.

Stretching your canvas
The stretchers they use are a robust 1.5" wide & really look great. You can also order the canvas rolled & stretch it yourself, but I'm not sure that's something I'd be interested in undertaking (though I suspect it'd cut down on the shipping cost). Both of my images were stretched tightly & the folds & staples were very neatly done.

For an extra $5 they'll attach the mounting hardware to the stretchers so that you're ready to hang as soon as you open the box. That one is a no-brainer. It's also worth mentioning here that the packaging was very neat and secure - someone spent a lot of time preparing these for shipping!

Customer Service
Since this was my first order, I asked that they take a close look and confirm with me before printing. I got a personal phone call from the director of their printing operations who confirmed that everything looks good & that my job would be run later that day. Well - it looked good with one exception... I had initially planned to print at 77 inches wide instead of 73, but I actually built my template file incorrectly (doh!). After taking a look at the image on a slightly wider template I decided that I preferred the crop at 73 & had them print it as provided.

They were very helpful in making sure I was getting the results I was looking for & that's always greatly appreciated.

I'll be back
Now that I've seen how good a canvas print can look, I'll be back for more. I'm looking forward to seeing how they're received and I'm confident that they'll be a big hit.

My only disappointment in my order with Simply Canvas is that I didn't order more!

Note on the Cincinnati Pano...
If you're interested in purchasing the canvas print shown above, please see the following link: Cincinnati Panoramic Photograph.