The best canvas print services are a great way of transforming photos you took into works of art for your house. While some of the best photo prints are great for sticking in photo albums, those really special photos are nice to have printed in large format. Whether it's your favorite snap from a holiday, a wedding or a stunning weekend away, a canvas print makes an excellent thoughtful gift.
Canvas printing has become much more affordable in recent years and is now very popular. Whether you're buying for yourself or as a gift for a loved one, it's a sure fire way to add some art to your walls that no one else will have. After all, what's better than having one-of-a-kind works of art in your house? The fabric finish of canvas prints give them a really professional look and can even help bring your photos to life.
If you're excited to invest in a canvas print, but you're not sure where to start, then don't worry. We've examined the best canvas print services below to help you decide which will be the best service for you.
Best canvas print services
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CanvasPop are one of the best names in the canvas printing business. Offering an easy-to-use uploader, fast turnaround, high-quality prints and free digital proofs, the whole process is hassle-free. Choose between uploading a photo from your computer or importing via Facebook or Instagram - any images that are too low res will pop up with a warning.
Each order must be reviewed before the order can be completed which ensures a perfect print every time. This can however delay shipping as it can take up to three business days but that's a lot better than having a canvas arrive you're not happy with.
Each and every canvas print is hand-stretched, with the name of the craftsman included on a removable sticker inside the frame.
CanvasPop may initially seem quite expensive, but the company offers regular deals of up to 50 percent off, making for a significantly good cost-to-quality ratio.
Online photo service Mixbook offers a variety of shapes and sizes when it comes to canvas prints. Using a simple drag-and-drop photo editor, creating your design is a cinch, with an in-built image resolution checker to make sure the quality is up to scratch for the size you choose.
The service isn't the cheapest around, but Mixbook canvas print quality is top notch. Using gallery-quality textured canvas on a solid front construction, prints wont stretch or sag, plus gallery-style frames in espresso, black and white will finish your prints off perfectly. Turn around times are also a little longer than other companies, depending on where you live.
Mixbook often runs very healthy discounts, so it's always worth checking out their website every so often to scoop up a great deal.
Great Big Canvas specialises in ready-made canvas prints, including everything from sunsets and beaches to architecture and education. But there's also the option to order custom canvas prints too, ranging from 8 x 10" right up to 36 x 36". Using artist's grade canvas and archival inks, all Great Big Canvas prints have UVB protection built in to protect against fading and moisture.
Prices aren't the cheapest around, but you get what you pay for, and you're guaranteed quality with Great Big Canvas or your money back. The company regularly offers impressive discounts of up to 50 per cent, which makes for excellent value for money. Great Big Canvas also offers an alternative floating frame option, which adds a really unique, modern feel to canvas photos.
If you thought you couldn't get cheaper than Walmart, think again. If you're after a cheap but quality option, Easy Canvas Prints are, by far, the lowest priced printing service listed here. At time of writing, the company currently has up to 97% off various products, meaning right now you could walk away with a 30 x 40" canvas print for just over $30 (opposed to the regular $300).
Now, obviously with budget services you are going to have to compromise on quality slightly, starting with the canvases being printed on polyester, with a semi-gloss surface, so you'll want to think carefully about lighting and reflection, as well as keeping it out of direct sunlight to avoid fading. That said, Easy Canvas still offers a very professional service, with prints that only pro photographers might notice are lacking slightly when it comes to quality.
The company also prides itself on support, noting on its website how its 'dedicated "Customer Love Team" works hard to ensure 100% satisfaction on each and every order'. And that is something you want to take advantage of when ordering as there is no warning system in place to let you know if your image is too small to be printed at the size you require. This is hardly surprising given the price you're paying for a print, however be sure to use the online assistant or email the team to check the image you want to print is good enough quality for your canvas size ahead of ordering.
Easy Canvas Prints also offers an enhancement service for an added cost, which includes everything from red eye removal and teeth whitening to oil painting effects and restoring old photographs.
Having been in the business of printing photos for almost a decade, the team at Social Print Studio has a wealth of knowledge and expertise when it comes to canvas printing. A lesser-known company, but one seriously worth considering if you're after quality, professional-looking prints.
Making life easy for users all around the globe, the company offers one museum-quality canvas finish using archival inks (permanent, non-fading and resistant to light, heat and water, and contains no impurities - can't get better than that, right?) and a glossy finish. Available in four sizes at one canvas depth, the print is finished wall ready, with a classic black backing and installed with a sawtooth hanger.
In order to maintain photo clarity, the company details minimum size requirements for each size canvas print as:
- 8x8" canvas – 800 x 800 pixels
- 8x10" canvas – 800 x 1000 pixels
- 11x14" canvas – 1100 x 1400 pixels
- 16x20" canvas– 1600 x 2000 pixels
Social Print Studios in-built photo editing software is super-easy to use, operating a simple upload service, with wrap clearly highlighted at every stage. And if you get stuck at any point the customer service is both reliable and friendly.
You can get pretty much anything at Walmart these days, even canvas prints. And while you might be thinking they're probably not the best quality, you'd be wrong. Ok, sure, they're not quite in the same league at Social Print Studio or CanvasPop, but if you're on a bit of a budget and want a few prints to brighten up your home or studio, Walmart is one of the best canvas print services around.
There's a somewhat unbelievable range of sizes and themes to choose from, plus no frame, floating, contemporary and traditional frame options for each. Walmart's photo editing software is simple to use, even for beginners, and there's an in-built warning system to notify you when images are poor quality. Canvas types differ depending on the style of print you are after, full details of which you can find via the Walmart website. You'll also find regular, very decent discounts on Walmart's canvas print services, so worth keeping an eye out if you want to save a bit of extra cash.
Creating a personalized canvas print with Snapfish is really easy and it'll add a touch of personality to your home. Whether you want a traditional canvas with just one image or you want to create a collage with lots of images, Snapfish's design tools enable you to have full creativity.
You don't even need to get a photo printed, you could get your favourite quote or even lyrics printed. You can choose the font, text colour and background colour so you can be sure it fits in with your aesthetic. There are also several different finishing options to choose from including framed canvas prints, wrapped canvas prints and plain white-sided canvas prints. We think wrapped canvas prints look particularly good as your photo extends over the edge.
As well as the standard size, singular canvases, Snapfish also sells panoramic canvases, split canvases and tiled canvases. Panoramic canvases are perfect for wide-angle landscape shots, split canvases allow you to split up a single image over more than one canvas for a modern twist while tiles canvases are a great way of showing off a series of images, perhaps from a wedding or a trip away. If you want your canvas to be extra special, you can also get it framed in either a black, gold or chocolate brown frame. Turnaround time is roughly a week and delivery is calculated based on where you live.
What is a canvas print?
To create a canvas print, photo finishing manufacturers will take your image and print it onto canvas material using an inkjet printer. Once this has fully dried, the canvas will then be stretched over a wooden frame and secured in place (usually with the help of some heavy duty staples).
One of the benefits of canvas prints is that they tend to be larger than typical photo prints. However, you can also get smaller sizes as well, if that's what you're looking for.
Each of the canvas print services listed above are designed to be as simple as possible, with a clear step-by-step process to help you upload your shot and optimize it for a beautiful canvas print. Some canvas print services will even include photo editing software. This helps make sure that the image you've selected will work with the canvas size you've chosen.
The best canvas prints: tips for choosing
- Image quality – Like with any print, image quality is the most important thing to consider when it comes to canvas prints. These larger scale images will require higher resolution files in order to avoid your print looking pixelated, so choosing a canvas print service that fully understands the importance of image resolution is vital. Professional services will have systems in place to highlight when an image provided is not of a high enough resolution and therefore avoid a bad print. A fail-safe way to avoid mistakes is to the email the company ahead of ordering and ask them outright if the quality is good enough for the size of canvas you're after.
- Print styles – canvas prints come in various sizes and formats, including single image and collage format and square, portrait, landscape and panoramic orientation. The key to deciding which to go for is the image you're printing. A collage, for example, are great for wedding and holiday photos, whereas a single portrait image would probably be better suited to a square canvas. Again, if you're unsure, email the canvas print company ahead of ordering to ask for advice.
- Canvas quality – What canvas are the printing service you have chosen using? Is it matte canvas or gloss canvas? Gloss canvas under light may have an added shine and distorted color, so it's a question worth asking before you proceed.
- Finishing details – When you've got a beautiful printed canvas, the last thing you want is lumpy corners that have been folded badly. Folds should not be visible on your print, and if they are, send it back.
- Delivery times – Bear in mind that due to the nature of the printing process, canvas delivery times will almost certainly take longer than regular prints. That said, many of the bigger companies are still able to turn these around within three days, however that may differ in busier periods so always aim to order at least a week in advance of when you need your canvas to be delivered.
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