I am wondering if anyone has the supplies/equipment to create canvas gallery wraps. I do photography and would like to learn how to make my own wraps to sell on Etsy and in studios/Final Friday.
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Seen this
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You’ll need:
The printed canvas (Make sure to print about an inch or 2 extra on all sidea for a gallery wrap).
A blanket or something to cover your work bench to protect the print since it will be in contact with the workbench a lot.
Stretcher bars. They are the wooden back frame pieces. You can make your own stretcher bars, but to really do it right you’ll need to use a router to taper the inside edges or eventually you’ll be able to see damage to the print cause by the inner edges of the wood. They are sold premade at hobby lobby with routed edges. Download the app and get 40% off like almost all the time.
A staple gun. Preferably automatic. I bet your hand would be killing you if you tried a manual one.
Canvas stretcher pliers. They make wide ones and less wide ones. I use both. The wide ones give a good wide pull in the centers. The smaller ones are way better for corners.
I didn’t watch the video above but the process is pretty simple to watch, and probably drawn out to try to write.
But essentially you want start in the middle. On the longest side. Position the canvas and add about 3 staples. Then stretch from the opposite and add 3 staples. Then repeat the stretch and 3 staples for top and bottom. Be aware of the tightness of the canvas all around as you work. No wrinkles or looseness.
The corners are a bit trickier. I’m not going to explain that in detail actually. But you want to make sure they are really right. I staple under and over the 2 pieces of corner canvas to make sure they are perfect.
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@Erik do you have the printer to print the canvas? The other part I’m sure I could learn how to do but I don’t have the $$$ to shell out on a printer. I didn’t know if Make ICT had one… ??? I have a lot of old frames but I really want to get out of using frames for photography and start doing photos either on metal or canvas.
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You could probably get canvas printed at city blue print.
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@Erik thank you! I sent them a message. I have never heard of them. I’m sure they’ll be a great resource. I saw they did photo mounting. That might be another alternative.
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There is also a variety of printers that can do printing on canvas it seems cannon (but not limited to ) has a few nice ones a bit spendy but it looks great.
It really comes down to size and color quality.
This was a really good video I thought on the subject . One of the main takeaways is to use pigment based inks instead of dye based
It focuses on small to med canvas printing
But if you want to be able to do your own.
I liked the 4th printer he mentioned because he said it could be refilled easily which would be important to me for cost.
Hope this helps.
If you get off and running i might have some stuff for you to try
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The HP 1050c we have should be able to do it. It’s not quite a top of the line, but I’ve printed on poster board and it’s come out pretty well. Once things are opened: Try it, Worst case it wastes some ink, and I do have several cartridges of each color. Note it’s ink based, so will probably need to seal it.
Actually should also be able to do it on vinyl as well. (Though I imagine lining up any cuts would be a challenge.)
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@jameslancaster fantastic! It’d be worth trying for smaller desk pieces. I’ll have to figure out where to buy the rest of the equipment. When is MakeICT opening again, or has that decision been made yet?
Mid to late November is what I heard today.