Treat Yourself Canvas and Beat The Back-To-Work Blues

It's almost as if you'd never been away! Now everyone's well and truly stuffed full of Easter eggs, it's business as usual again in the UK. We hope you had a good Easter Bank Holiday?

If yours ended too quickly, and you're suffering the back-to-work blues, then we have the perfect remedy, and it doesn't even involve the liquor cabinet! For those of you lucky enough to have your own office or office wall, have you looked at it properly recently. Could you even remember what's on it? A few hastily-printed pieces of A4 for reference and some Post-it notes perhaps? No wonder you're feeling blue!

What you need is some beautiful artwork to brighten your surroundings and make your colleagues swoon with envy. What greater way to do this than having 48 Hour Canvas prepare you a photo on canvas from one of your favourite holiday shots? Just think, you could use to to drift off into sunny holiday-land every Monday morning!

The first step is easy. All you need to do is upload your holiday photo to our famous canvas configurator. This amazing part of our site will show you exactly what your finished photo on canvas will look like. You can even change the colour of the walls and floor in the preview to make sure everything looks just right.

So go on, beat those post-break blues and brighten your space today!

Three Part Canvas Art Sets Now Available

As promised, we now have three part canvas art sets available from the canvas gallery. There's nothing quite like the aesthetic appeal of a triptych set, and our brand new range of canvasses will add flair and style to any home.

Whilst most canvas art makers lounge around with their extra-long leadtimes, you can count on 48 Hour Canvas for a super-speedy service. Order a triptych canvas print set from us and we'll despatch it in 48 hours or less!

As always, you can count on your high quality canvas without delay...

It's Here! Our New Canvas Art Gallery!

Well, it's finally here and it was sure worth the wait! Our brand new canvas art gallery is now open, and we have an exclusive range of artwork available for purchase today...

As always, our canvas prints are despatched in two working days or less so you can rely on a speedy service from 48 Hour Canvas. This exciting new range of canvas art prints provides a great way to spice up your interior or to add a splash of colour to your home. Available in a variety of neutral and vivid tones, these canvas art pieces are sure to give your home that wow factor this spring.

So now you know that 48 Hour Canvas now offer amazing art prints in addition to our famous 48 hour photo on canvas service. That's not all - we've got got loads of new sizes and three panel formats coming your way soon. But for now, why not take a look at our new gallery to find the perfect print for your home?

Sneak Preview of Our New Canvas Art Gallery!

Pssst! We want to let you in on a secret! You remember a couple of weeks ago we announced that we were working on a new gallery of canvas artwork? Well we have some sneak previews of our brand new designs... but they're for your eyes only!

As you can see, some of the most exciting and creative new digital artists have designed some amazing canvas art for your wall! If you'd like to get your hands on it, don't worry because we'll be launching the brand new 48 Hour canvas art gallery very soon.

Until then, this message will self destruct in five seconds...

Photo On Canvas for Photographers

Calling all photographers! Have you considered offering a photo on canvas product to your clients? Photo on canvas prints are perhaps even more popular than traditionally-mounted photo wall prints these days, and the trend is set to continue. You customers may already be asking you about a canvas product.

We understand that photography is your craft, and that a photo on canvas would need to measure up to your own exacting standards of print work. At 48 Hour Canvas, don't be fooled into thinking our efficiency means quality suffers. The quality of our canvasses is of paramount importance to us. Superb standard in colour and finish are maintained throughout the process by our experienced digital specialists. Your work is in safe hands with 48 Hour Canvas.

What's more, we can send direct to your clients in either anonymous packaging, or with your own branding or promotional materials. This is a great way to cut down on shipping costs; you only have to pay our low £4.99 delivery charge once.

For an experienced, knowledgable canvas-making service from a team that values attention to detail, look no further than 48 Hour Canvas. Why not email us with your specific requirements, and get the ball rolling on your brand new canvas photo format?

Easter Canvas Photo Deliveries

Happy Easter from 48 Hour Canvas! Just checking in to let you know about our delivery schedule over the Easter period.

Our couriers will be off eating lots of chocolate on Good Friday, 10th April and Easter Monday, 13th April. This means that any photo on canvas orders placed after Thursday April 9th @ 12pm will be despatched on Tuesday April 14th.

From this date, all chocolate egg will be but a distant memory and normal 48 Hour Canvas service will be resumed...

Happy Easter!

How To Hang Your Canvas Photo

Picture the scene. After an extended period of agonising deliberation to decide on the perfect photo, you wisely placed your order with 48 Hour Canvas. Today, there's a knock at the door. It's an unexpected visit from your Postie, and he's brought your amazing canvas photo with him, a whole day early! You excitedly rip away the protective packaging and bubblewrap to reveal your stunning photo, rendered in all its canvas glory. There's even a little bag of gold fixings - simply magical! But what next?

Okay, okay... We'll concede that we went a little over the top. We know that not everyone lives and breathes canvas photos like us! However, even if you nonchalantly opened your order whilst attending to other matters, the question remains - what next? We have found that the topic of how to hang canvas photos on your wall often isn't covered fully. There are, however, certain things to consider and some tips that can help...

Since you've already chosen your size (no going back now!), we'll assume you've planned where your new print is going to go. Hopefully, your measurements were perfect and a quick survey of the empty area will show that the canvas is the perfect size.

As an aside to the topic of canvas sizes, remember that it's not set in stone that you have to pick a certain-sized print for a certain-sized wall space. You can focus attention in different ways with large and small prints alike. A small print in a the middle of an empty space could make an intriguing focal point, just as an oversized print in a small area can give a wall-covering, wallpaper-like effect. As always, experiment! Our amazing canvas builder provides a great way to get a sense of scale. A good viewing distance is important, and the canvas builder gives you a good idea on how your chosen size will look.

So the canvas picture fits the wall, so now it's time to hang it. Hopefully, you will have added one of our purpose-made hanging kits to your order. If you have, everything you need is provided, and you will only need a hammer and a screwdriver. Start by turning your canvas photo over and laying it onto a soft surface like a rug to prevent damage. Then find the centre point along the top edge of the frame. Your hanging kit contains a plate, which you should screw to the indented ridge at this point along the frame using the screws provided.

Now to the wall itself. In your hanging kit, you'll be left with a hook and a nail. Now all that's left is to position your hook at the desired point on the wall. Remember that the top of your canvas will be about 2" above the hook, so you should position the nail accordingly.

This is where the magic happens and the moment of truth is finally here! The toothed edge of the plate you mounted to the print previously will rest securely on the hook. It will allow you to make small adjustments to get the print straight, and mount it completely flush to the wall. Voila!

So there you have it. It really is that simple and quick to mount a 48 Hour Canvas print!

Photo On Canvas Guide: Fix That Annoying Red Eye!

Ever wondered why the people in your photos sometimes have red eyes? Thankfully, it's not caused by some kind of demonic possession, although that may be independently true in the case of little brothers! Red-eye is an annoying, inevitable photographic effect that can result in your subjects have red pupils when using flash. It can ruin an otherwise perfect photo that's the last thing you want on your prized photo on canvas! But why does it happen and how can you remove it? Get ready, here's the science bit...

Red-eye occurs when the flash from your compact camera is reflected by the red-pigmented fundus tissue in our eyes. The pet lovers amongst you may have noticed that the same is true for many animals, such as rabbits. However, red eye isn't present when photographing animals with a tapetum lucidum, like cats.

The tapetum lucidum is a layer of tissue in the eye which helps some animals see better at night. If you've ever happened to shine a torch at a cat at night, or seen nature programmes about cats, you've probably noticed that their eyes glow eerily in the dark. This effect, called eyeshine, is the tapetum lucidum reflecting light from the retinas in the cat's eyes.

For those without pets, let's return to the pesky red-eye in your photos. Red eye is normally exacerbated when shooting in low light conditions and when the subjects are looking directly at the camera. A way to avoid red eye altogether is to ask your subjects to look at a point slightly adjacent to the camera, rather than directly at it. This also has the gratifying side-effect of causing your friends and family to think you are a photographic genius!

However, there are ways to combat red-eye in your existing photos, so you can create amazing photo on canvas prints with them. Thanks to modern graphics software, it's easy to restore pupil colour from demonic red to a less-scary black. There are now a multitude of digital photo software packages available to suit all abilities, and we'd like to show you a few...

Even digital photo novices are now able to use techniques that once would have been the reserve of photographic darkroom professionals. We recommend Google's Picasa as an entry into the world of digital photo processing. It's an excellent, free tool that helps you to organise and improve your digital photos. You can use Picasa's built-in tool remove red-eye simply drawing a box around the problem areas. To learn more, check out this great tutorial.

For the more advanced digital enthusiasts, anything's possible with Adobe's perennial Photoshop software. Now in its eleventh incarnation, Photoshop is the photo-editing program of choice for the graphics professionals and enthusiasts the world over. Sure, it's not cheap, but the repertoire of Photoshop extends far beyond red-eye removal, which it also does with characteristic aplomb.

In addition, there is Photoshop Elements, a streamlined version which offers many of the essential features of its big brother, without the prohibitive pricetag. As with most retouching procedures, red-eye removal can be performed in many different ways. This great tutorial provides a great method that works on most photos.

If these amazing software packages still strike you as a bit too much, never fear. When you place your photo on canvas order with 48 Hour Canvas, you can rest assured that your photos are in the hands of experienced and knowledgable digital graphics specialists. If your photo has red-eye, we'll remove it as standard. Our aim is to make your photo the best it can be and bring it to life as a wonderful photo on canvas that you'll treasure.

Want The Latest Photo On Canvas News Straight To Your Email?

48 Hour Canvas are always looking for ways to tell the world about photo on canvas prints. We always have loads to tell you about the best ways to transfer your photo to canvas, and we want to make sure you're always kept in the loop about the latest offers and additions to the site...

Many of you are avid news feed fans already, and we have a range of links and tools to satisfy even the most hungry feeder! You can subscribe easily using your favourite feed reader using our handy links on the left, or at the bottom of each page.

However, if you don't yet know your RSS from your Web 2.0, you can still get all the latest 48 Hour Canvas news as it happens delivered straight to you inbox. In fact, this is one of the best ways to keep tabs on the latest 48 Hour Canvas articles. Don't miss out on the limited promotions we've got planned in 2009. Never miss another of our informative guides on getting the best from your photo on canvas.

You can get all this and more by subscribing to our news feed easily and quickly via email. To subscribe, simply click the Subscribe to 48 Hour Canvas News by Email link at the bottom of any post...

Photo To Canvas: How to Choose The Correct Canvas Size

When you upload your image to 48 Hour Canvas, the first thing you'll notice is the myriad of sizes available. In this guide, we'll fill you in on everything you need to know on picking the best size possible size canvas to fit your particular photo...

Before you even upload your photo to 48 Hour Canvas, you'll have no doubt already picked your favourite photo and you'll probably know where you're going to hang it. You may also have an idea on the proportions of your finished canvas picture.

For those of you who already know what you want, as well as those who aren't sure about their requirements, 48 Hour Canvas have an amazing system to make sure you know exactly what you're getting. Enter... the Canvas Configurator!

48 Hour Canvas's unique website allows you to actually see how your photo will look in different sizes. Can't decide between a 12 x 12" square or an 18 x 24" photo on canvas? No problem! Our amazing software will show you in real time how your image will be cropped. This way, you'll know exactly what you're getting before you place your order.

The best thing is the surprise of finding an unexpectedly great-looking option. Perhaps you'd never thought of having a panoramic version of your standard digital camera photo until you came across our 12 x 40" option. Or maybe you weren't quite sure on whether your rectangular baby photo would work as a square canvas. All these options are available at your fingertips, to view in real-time.

Try 48 Hour Canvas today to explore the world of shape and sizes available for your photo to canvas...

Glamourous Photo On Canvas: Make Yourself a Star!

We've all been there. Those photos your friends took at that party don't look quite as sparkling as you felt at the time! If only you could tidy up those blemishes and the dark circles under your eyes, the photos would look great! They might even be worthy of a photo on canvas?

Celebrities don't have this trouble. Have you ever wondered why their skin always looks flawless, or why they always look a million dollars? It's because those A-listers have a team of skilled digital photo retouchers on hand at all times, busily beautifying their every photo.



Check out the video above for a great expose of how things aren't always as they seem in the world of Hollywood. For the rest of us, that's probably a bit too much to hope for. However, there is another way...

Thanks to modern graphics software, you can use these techniques on your own photos. We're not going to lie to you; it's going to take practice. But the results may just be spectacular! In order set you on the path to digital photo perfection, we've posted some of our favourite web tutorials...

Once you've mastered the basics, why not pick your favourite photo to have as a photo on canvas? You can use our amazing canvas configurator for even more fun options. Have fun, and remember: real beauty is more than skin deep. It's what's on the inside that counts!

Pictures On Canvas: New Gallery Coming Soon!

48 Hour Canvas are delighted to announce a new range of artistic artwork! Our new gallery of canvas art will feature some exciting new exclusive art from our own digital artists. In addition to our unmatched photo on canvas service, you will soon be able to brighten your walls with unique floral, abstract and landscape canvas prints.

Available in a range of popular sizes, our new canvas art range will be styled in today's colours to suit any contemporary interior.

As always, 48 Hour Canvas will continue to provide an unmatched service for your canvas photos. But for those that are looking for an additional artistic touch to their walls, keep an eye out for the new range of amazing 48 Hour Canvas prints...

Your Photo To Canvas for Mothers Day

Eeek! How did that happen? There are now only three days until Mothers Day! They clothed us, fed us, and taught us right from wrong. So good-old-mum really deserves something special this year. Now before you run off to buy another Sex And The City boxset, we mean really special...

With the popularity of digital cameras showing no signs of slowing down, more and more of us are taking pictures. But what do we do with them? So often, our best snaps are left neglected in a folder on the laptop. Traditional prints are fine, but they're just not very... exciting.

What if there were a way to transform your digital photos into a canvas art masterpiece? You've come to the right place! 48 Hour Canvas specialise in turning your own photos into photo on canvas artwork. Our unique website even allows you to see what your cherished photo of your loved ones will look like as a canvas photo!

Treat your mum this Mothers Day with the gift of art, and give her a beautiful photo on canvas.

Canvas Pictures Make Special Gifts

48 Hour Canvas once heard somewhere that it's better to give than to receive. It's a nice sentiment, and we rarely miss an opportunity to reiterate it to friends and relatives near our birthday and Christmas!

So if your friends and relatives are anything like us, you're going to need an extra-special gift to pacify them on those special occasions like birthdays. And let's not forget that Mums require extra thought and care at this time of year. You did remember that it's Mothers Day on the 22nd, didn't you? If not, see our last post for a not-so-subtle reminder...

We also once heard that if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem, so 48 Hour Canvas have the perfect gift solution for you. Even the person who has everything probably doesn't have their own beautiful, handmade canvas photo! What better gift could there be than the gift of art?

Place your order with us and 48 Hour Canvas will, by the twin alchemies of digital technology and craftsmanship, take your cherished photo and turn it into full size canvas artwork. You'll be sure to find that a beautiful canvas photo is a gift that keeps on giving as it adorns your lucky recipient's wall for years to come.

You'd normally have to say that the delight and surprise of your loved ones is priceless. However, 48 Hour Canvas are proud to offer this amazing service for as little as £28.49! Remember, we have canvas print options to suit every taste and budget so you'll never be stuck for ideas...

Upload your image now to begin creating the worlds greatest gift!

Looking For a Unique Mother's Day Gift? Try a Photo On Canvas

If you're anything like 48 Hour Canvas, you're always somewhat puzzled about Mothers Day at this time of year. "When actually is it?" "I'm pretty sure it was the 21st last year?" "Or was it the 17th? I've not missed it, have I?!"

Don't worry, you're not alone, and you're not the terribly ungrateful son/daughter that you thought you were. Mother's Day changes each year because it takes place on the middle Sunday of lent, which lasts from Ash Wednesday to the day before Easter Sunday.

We know - life's complicated enough without all this! So as a helping hand from 48 Hour Canvas, here's the dates for the next three years:

2009: March 22nd

2010: March 14th

2011: April 3rd

Now there really are no excuses. Bookmark this page for future reference, and you can effortlessly breeze through the ordeal for the next two years as well! But back to this year.

So you've done the whole flowers, chocolates, M&S candles thing for the last goodness-knows-how-many years and this year you really want to give her something special. Something spectacular. And most importantly, something much better than whatever your sister is going to come up with.

Never fear, we've got you covered. 48 Hour Canvas will create you the best gift your mum has ever received, let alone for Mothers Day... a beautiful photo on canvas print. Why not dig through your collection for a really special photo that she'll love?

Once you've found the perfect photo, you can head straight over to the Upload Your Photo page, and start playing with the options. Once you've picked your desired options, we'll take care of everything else to turn your photo into an amazing work of art.and despatch it in 48 Hours direct to your door.

You'll be sure to have the broad smile of someone who knows they won't have to fight hoardes of marauding shoppers for the last set of tired smellies next Saturday!

Photo To Canvas Guide: All About Bleed

It's one of the most important options when transferring your photo to canvas but just what exactly do 'bleed' and 'no-bleed' mean? In this guide, we'll tell you everything you need to know about bleed. And no, it won't hurt (sorry, we couldn't resist.)

Simply, bleed refers to the type of edges used on the sides of your finished, canvas print. Think of a box canvas print in three dimensions. It has a height and width, but also a depth or thickness. As the canvas is stretched over the frame so as to let no frame show, the sides of the piece are also printed. This means that the edges of your photo can be wrapped around the sides of the frame, giving the characteristic bleed or 'gallery wrapped' effect of canvas prints.

This bleed effect can look great when used with certain types of photo. Landscapes and seascape photos, for example, often look amazing when the photo carries-on around the side of the piece. Photos with lots of background around the edges also work really nicely. However, this effect can also be problematic for some photos of people and objects that are cropped closely.

If the subject is too close to the edges of the photo, it will mean that this part will go over the sides when we stretch your photo on canvas onto the frame. You can see this yourself when you use our Canvas Configurator to upload your image. Our website automatically shows how some of the sides wrap the sides of the stretcher frame. This allows you to get an idea of whether any important parts of your photo will be wrapped onto the sides of your finished canvas photo.

One thing to bear in mind is that the amount of your photo that is wrapped around the size depends on the size of canvas print you are ordering. This is because the frames are always the same depth (1.5".) This means that an 8 x 10" canvas print will wrap more of your photo round the sides than a 24 x 36" canvas print because the ratio of depth to height/width is greater.

The easiest way to understand this relationship is to imagine wrapping a small version of your photo around a matchbox. The photo would be slightly larger than the front of the matchbox; enough to cover the sides as well. A significant amount of the tiny photo would be wrapped round the sides, because the depth of the matchbox is nearly half as long as one of its sides.

Then imagine wrapping an enlarged version of your photo around a table-top of the same thickness as the matchbox. Because the depth is now so insignificant compared to the size of the tabletop, only a tiny proportion of the photo would go round the sides. So how to solve this problem for smaller photos and photos that are cropped closely?

A great alternative to bleed is to have solid coloured edges as the sides of your finished canvas piece. We refer to this as no-bleed. This ensures that your photo only makes up the front of the canvas and doesn't wrap around the sides. In addition to smart, classic options like black, white and grey, our Canvas Configuator gives you a huge range of colours to choose from. You could choose a blue to match the sea, or a rich green to match your woodland scene; the choices are endless!

The best way to understand these options is to see them for yourself, so why not try our unique canvas configurator with one of your own photos today?

Coming Soon: New Options For Your Canvas Photo

We've been listening to your suggestions and many of you recently asked 48 Hour Canvas for new artistic and retouching options. Your wish is our command! We're now in the process of adding some impressive new canvas photo options to make your photo on canvas extra-special...

Standard Retouching

As always, our standard option includes basic retouching, including enlargement, red-eye removal, colour balancing and sharpening.

This provides a great starting point for most canvas photos and can make all the difference to your pictures.

The photo on the right shows a before and after of the Standard Retouching photo on canvas option.



Background Removal

For the really adventurous amongst you, we'll soon be launching some exciting new choices such as background removal. Our digital photo experts will carefully remove the background and replace it with a solid colour of your choice.

This gives a really funky, artistic effect to your canvas photo. It's also great for those family photos where you all look great, but the room is a bit of a mess (it happens to the best of us!)

Go chic with black or white, or go wild with pink, blue or any other colour you can think of! Stay tuned for more exciting photo to canvas options very soon...

Redefining The Printing Of Photo On Canvas

48 Hour Canvas is a company that was founded on the principle of quality above all. Achieving superb photo on canvas print quality is always our aim, and using the best available printer technology is fundamental to achieving it. Digital printing has come a long way in recent years, and new technologies are developed all the time. Having experience with many of the large-format printers used for Giclée canvas art, there really was only one choice for us…

Epson is one of those firms that are never fully satisfied with the printing technology they introduce. They never stop thinking and experimenting. And after they finally develop what you think is the best printing technology possible, they push further to make it even better. Their new Stylus Pro 9880 model marked a watershed in the printers we use to make photo on canvas, and the improvements are ground-breaking.

Epson UltraChrome K3™ is the standard by which all other professional level ink technologies are judged. New enhancements include breakthrough new Vivid Magenta pigments, and a new-generation, three-level black ink technology, significantly raising the quality of both colour and black and white digital prints. We are now able to produce archival canvas prints with amazing colour fidelity and scratch resistance, while providing consistently stable colours that significantly outperform lesser ink technologies.

The three-level black system and a unique screening technology have been specifically developed to produce professional black-and-white prints from both colour and greyscale photos. These technologies improve overall black density for significantly richer blacks, as well as outstanding midtones and highlights.

Amazingly consistent prints are now possible, with no colour crossover or colour cast. Whether your photos are neutral, greyscale or vibrant, the Epson Ultrachrome ink set will render your image with uncompromising quality. This superior colour gamut and clarity gives an almost three-dimensional look that goes beyond what a traditional photograph can produce.

A photo on canvas is printed by a printer capable of spraying microscopic droplets of pigmented ink directly onto the canvas. This process is known as Giclée. With an even higher level of ink droplet accuracy, Epson have developed the all new MicroPiezo® AMC™ print head and an all-new ink repelling coating. When combined the new Epson AccuPhoto™HD screening technology, the astonishing resolution of 2880 x 1440 dpi is now possible, for unrivalled levels of photographic detail.

Suffice to say we’re delighted with the extraordinary performance of Epson’s latest large-format photographic printer, and we’re positive you’ll be even more excited by the results. Once you see your completed photo on canvas, you’ll see for yourself what all the fuss is about!

Why Choose 48 Hour Canvas For Your Canvas Prints?

As you know, there are a huge number of photo on canvas suppliers out there. With modern digital printing, the sky really is the limit, and the options available for your canvas prints are numerous. Would you like colour? Black and White? Or Sepia, perhaps? Then there's bleed or no bleed, and finish type to consider...

With such a huge number of options, prices and products how there, how should you choose amongst them? And what makes 48 Hour Canvas so special? In this article, we'll let you know about the things that make 48 Hour Canvas such a great place to purchase your canvas prints...

At 48 Hour Canvas, we aim to give you a great range of options. For those that know exactly what they want, you can specify a huge number of colour options and edge types. Perhaps you'd like green sides to your photo canvas? No problem! Pick directly from a wide range of colours.

However, what if you're Not only that, we let you actually see your choices on screen in a real room! Can't decide between colour and monochrome? We'll show you in real-time. Want to see how black edges will look with your brown floor and white walls? No problem, you can customise the room to match your own and really see what your finished canvas will look like. Take the guesswork out of choosing your artwork with the 48 Hour Canvas Canvas Configurator.

Once you've seen just how good your canvas will look with the Canvas Configurator, you won't want to wait ages to receive your order. That's why 48 Hour Canvas offer the fastest order processing on the internet. We take just two working days from when you place your order to create and despatch an amazing photo on canvas from your photo.

Which brings us onto quality. What good would these amazing features and order processing be if we didn't deliver a superb quality product? With 48 Hour Canvas, your treasured photos are in great hands. Our skilled team has a wealth of experience in canvas print making and we know what it takes to create a stunning canvas.

From the initial processing of your photo by our expert graphics specialists, to the framing and finishing of the printed piece, we maintain the highest quality standards throughout. From start to finish, only the finest materials are used to really give your photos that wow-factor. When your friends and family are amazed by your beautiful new photo on canvas, we know we've done our job.

So now you've seen how our amazing Canvas Configurator, our speedy delivery times and our superior quality standards. Why not see for yourself why everyone is talking about 48 Hour Canvas?

The Quality of Our Photo Canvas Frames

The quality of our canvas is really important to us, but it's only half the story...

The frame is the It's the last thing you see when you receive your brand new photo canvas print, and you'd be forgiven for thinking that it's unimportant. However, the simple stretcher frame, used for gallery-wrapped canvas prints is of paramount importance when it comes to the quality and finish of your piece.

Today, we'll tell you why, as well as what to look for when choosing your photo on canvas supplier...

Stretcher frames are a type of specialist gallery frame, designed to stretch - or gallery-wrap - a printed canvas. Four interlocking segments, known as stretcher bars are hammered together to form a completed rectangular or square frame.

Once the canvas has been stretcher and stapled to the frame, four tensioning wedges are hammered into the corners inside the frame. Once tight, these wedges push the joints of the stretcher frame apart slightly, fully tightening the canvas in the process. This stage is vital to ensure a tightly-wrapped canvas, and allows the canvas to be re-tightened in the future once the newly-stretched canvas relaxes over time.

However, not all stretcher frames are created equal! The type of wood, and the accuracy of the machining are the two key factors in creating high quality stretcher bars. The best stretcher bars are made from pine and are generally sourced from high-end European suppliers. Several popular Chinese manufacturers make large quantities of budget stretcher frames using softer timbers like Paulownia, which can be prone to fit problems.

In fact, many photo on canvas suppliers don't use stretcher frames at all. Some make their own frames from cuts of cheap DIY timber. These home-made frames are prone to bowing and the sharp edges often leave visible impressions on the canvas. Good quality stretcher frames are cut with a specifically-cut, curved profile to minimise any contact with the front of the canvas, ensuring no impressions or dents.

At 48 Hour Canvas, we're proud to say that we use the best quality stretcher frames available worldwide for our pieces. Made from sustainable pine, our stretcher bars are precision made by European craftsmen. A smooth finish, rounded profile, and extremely heavy weight are all signs of the quality of our frames. For a great finishing touch, precision-cut wooden wedges are used throughout rather than budget plastic wedges.

So now you can be sure that our canvas and frames are of the highest quality, you can trust 48 Hour Canvas to create a beautiful photo on canvas from your treasured photos...

Why Wait for Great Canvas Photo Prints?

We hate waiting things as much as you do, and we know that you don't want to wait weeks for your exciting new photo on canvas! That's why we get things done that bit quicker at 48 Hour Canvas...

With an industry leading turn-around, our team will despatch amazing digital canvas prints from your photos in two working days or less. That's as little as 48 hours! However, don't be fooled into thinking we give you a rushed piece of art. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Instead, we run an efficient service from start to finish, with a solid, experienced teamof graphic artists and canvas art makers to produce your stunning canvas photo in record time! Our canvas team know that quality is paramount and take pride in making your photos look as great as they can be on canvas.

So if you're looking for an extra-special photo on canvas, and you need it fast, then look no further than 48 Hour Canvas for a superb result...

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Choose The Right Canvas For Your Photo On Canvas

To go with the plethora of canvas print suppliers who make photo on canvas products, there are a similarly wide range of canvas types on the market. Choosing the right canvas can make the difference between a superb quality canvas print and a cheap-looking one.

In today's post, we'd like to tell you a little more about the canvas materials, or medias, and why the canvas we use is of such high quality...

Printing onto canvas using inkjet technology, now known as giclee, is a relatively new process. Giclee printing uses spinning nozzles which rapidly spray minute particles of vivid, archival inks directly onto the canvas. The system produces amazingly detailed, vibrant images directly from digital photos.

Until recently, the choice of canvas media on available on the market was small. High quality inkjet coatings were still in their infancy, and didn't provide the full range of colour and high levels of whiteness they do today.

The whiteness of the inkjet coating is very important, as it will affect how bright and 'true' the colour rendition of your photo canvas will be. Canvas with a high whitness, or white point will have optical brightening chemicals added to its coating to provide a whiteness similar to a sheet of good quality office paper. Other canvasses may look cream by comparison, sometimes leading to dull colour rendition.

We use a bright white, museum quality, matte cotton canvas at the study thickness of 450gsm . Specifically designed for the décor giclee print market, our canvas delivers exceptional print quality. It is manufactured with to exacting standards, with an extraordinary white point, wide color gamut and high Dmax value.

Your photos are special to you, and our job is to ensure your photo on canvas is just as special...

Welcome to the Photo On Canvas blog!

You’ve arrived! Now you’re here, we’d love to tell you all about the exciting new world of creating beautiful photo canvasses from your own photos. A a piece of stunning canvas art can now be created your digital photos faster than you may think. But first, please allow us take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about ourselves and how we came ship the fastest photo on photo canvasses out there.

48 Hour Canvas was founded by some of the UK’s most experienced digital graphic specialists and canvas print makers. This team has a broad range of skills and backgrounds, many in other photo on canvas companies. However, what brought them together to form 48 Hour Canvas was one simple idea...

We wanted to prove that it was possible to offer a service that shipped a premium quality photo on canvas piece in 48 hours, or two working days. We knew that it should be possible to create the best photo canvasses in this short time, but it certainly wasn’t going to be easy!

A really high quality photo on canvas is the culmination of many varied processing and production stages. This is largely why many photo canvas suppliers on the web quote much longer lead-times, sometimes up to 28 days. Much of the quality of a finished digital canvas depends upon materials, of course, but we knew we would have access to some of the finest canvas and frames available in the world. We realised that in order to cut down the time it takes to create a superb photo canvas, we would need to completely rethink the way we approached our canvas art manufacturing.

The first thing we decided to do was to concentrate solely on photo on canvas pieces, allowing us to spend our time doing what we do best. Our team consists of some of the most experienced framers and digital graphic specialists in the industry, so we knew we had the right people for the job.

Our idea was to have our team create canvasses essentially in real-time. Once an order is placed on the 48 Hour Canvas website, it is collected by our graphics team. They then use their digital imaging skills to enhance and upscale the photo, ready for printing. The print team is on hand to keep our Epson large-format giclee fine art printers maintained and fed with this influx of customer photos. Once the photo prints have been checked for quality, they are sealed using a high quality giclee coating, giving utmost protection. Minimising damage and wastage are key to our strategy, allowing us to work a lot more efficiently than many canvas print companies where this can be a problem.

Whilst these processes are in motion, the order information has already been passed to our framers who are preparing the correct frames for the order. Once the prints are dry, the framers take over for the gallery-wrapping and finishing process. Getting the framing process right first time really is crucial; there’s no going back if something goes wrong here! A problem would mean starting the printing and spraying process from scratch. This is why our framers are so important, and we have some of the most experienced gallery-wrappers in the country. They are responsible for stretching the canvas, which is then secured at the back of the frame. It is a delicate process that requires manual dexterity and experience to create a neat photo on canvas. Solid wood tensioning wedges are used with the stretcher frame to complete the stretching process.

Once the canvas has been stretched, we don’t stop there. Using premium framing tape on the back of the canvas adds a superb finishing touch to a great photo on canvas. This step isn’t necessarily essential, as you won’t see it when it when the canvas is mounted on the wall. However, it really adds a touch of class when giving as a gift. You will know it’s there, which we think is a nice feeling!

In order to realise our dream of despatching a high quality photo canvas in 48 hours, we knew that packing and despatching orders would be key to our success. Giving a dedicated despatch team responsibility over packing the newly-created canvas art as it was made would allow everyone in the other teams to focus on their own roles.

Once we’ve despatched our orders using the best protective materials available, we send them on their way using next day Fedex, the international standard in express delivery couriers.
So now you know about our story and our mission, what next?

To save you even more time and to make things clearer and simpler, we’ve developed a unique website that allows you to actually see what your finished canvas will look like in a room. You can even change the wall and floor colours so make sure it won’t clash! The 48 Hour Canvas website automatically advises you on the quality of your photo, and offers a wide range of options and edge types...

What could be simpler?