First gallery wrap gone horribly wrong

[unknownone]

Around the edges there’s a mark, have I stretched it to tight, as from what I’ve read it should be tight like a drum which it is.

The corners are terrible, where the canvas is folded over it makes a bump, should I have cut some of the corners off first.

Any help will be much appreciated.

[dgberg]

Something was not done properly. It should be cut for the best fit. Pretty hard to tell what you did wrong unless you pull the staples and photograph the corner. Probably a little trimming and you will be fine. It also looks like it is pulled too tight. You should not see the front stretcher lip indented through the canvas. Is this your first one? If it is you have many options to learn it right from the start. The LL video with Michael Reichman and Andrew Collett shows this in great detail. I have 1 day canvas printing and mounting workshops if you want to learn the right way from start to finish.
Hope this helps a little.

[unknownone]

Yes this was my first one.

[Geoff Wittig]

You may not have done anything wrong. Canvas wraps can be a bit of a PITA the first few times.

1) Make sure you have the stretcher bars turned the right way. Most have a rounded edge to wrap the canvas around, and a sharper edge that should be toward the back. Reverse it, and you're pulling the printed canvas around a sharp edge under tension; the ink may flake off because it's being forced around such a narrow radius.

2) You may have to experiment a bit with your personal combination of ink and canvas. Some stabilize over time as they dry, and are much tougher a couple of days out. One canvas I used wrapped best right off the printer, before the ink had a chance to completely dry. By the next day the surface was more likely to crack when wrapping it. It's worth your while printing and stretching a few small canvas wraps to get a sense for what works best, before you blow $40 on materials with a 22 x 70" print.

3) Canvas that's coated for inkjet printing is pretty thick, so corners are always a bit awkward. You can cut a wedge of canvas out at the corners so it's easy to staple them down flat; or you can carefully fold them over and accept that 'bump'.

[dgberg]

You may not have done anything wrong. Canvas wraps can be a bit of a PITA the first few times.

1) Make sure you have the stretcher bars turned the right way. Most have a rounded edge to wrap the canvas around, and a sharper edge that should be toward the back. Reverse it, and you're pulling the printed canvas around a sharp edge under tension; the ink may flake off because it's being forced around such a narrow radius.

2) You may have to experiment a bit with your personal combination of ink and canvas. Some stabilize over time as they dry, and are much tougher a couple of days out. One canvas I used wrapped best right off the printer, before the ink had a chance to completely dry. By the next day the surface was more likely to crack when wrapping it. It's worth your while printing and stretching a few small canvas wraps to get a sense for what works best, before you blow $40 on materials with a 22 x 70" print.

3) Canvas that's coated for inkjet printing is pretty thick, so corners are always a bit awkward. You can cut a wedge of canvas out at the corners so it's easy to staple them down flat; or you can carefully fold them over and accept that 'bump'.


I agree that he may not have done anything wrong. Probably a poor choice of words for a first time stretcher.
 If you wrap the corner with a little too much canvas it will have more of a bump then if it was trimmed properly.
Skip the varnish process before wrapping and you will be asking for trouble. Not a good idea,ever.
Geoff has it right,do a bunch of small ones to play with.
For my workshops I make several 12" x 12" frames and attach unprinted canvas only on 2 sides. The students can play with those 8 corners until they get the hang of things. Works great.
We are using the last 2 feet of canvas from our rolls that have the ridges in them from being rolled. I never like to sell anything printed on the end cut so its great to use it for something.

[unknownone]

I’ve printed another one and wrapped it again, I cut the corners , this time the corners are better, there not perfect but a big improvement, also when I stretched it this time I never used pliers, just my hands, I have a very strong grip, the marks are still there but a lot smaller, so I must be stretching to hard, so next time maybe I should only pull the canvas slightly.

[DarkPenguin]

The last LLVJ showed Andrew Collett doing this stuff.  Dunno if that would tell you anything you don't already know.

Edit:  It is at the 43:30 mark...

[tps7c]

I just attended Dan Berg's one-on-one canvas workshop, and will post a review today.  I can tell ya, I wouldn't want to try canvas printing/wrapping without some sort of training.  The cost of the workshop will pay for itself in all the material/ink I would have wasted trying to get this right on my own.

Tom



http://www.tomsandersonphotography.com

[Colorwave]

I suggest that you go to an art store and buy a small prestretched canvas that seems reasonably well crafted, take it apart, and reverse engineer the corner fold/cut.  I used to just fold my corners, with a small V cut out, but was shown some gallery wraps from large labs that had cut corners with a small fold underneath.  It produces a much neater look IMO than corners that are only folded.  I looked at ready made, prestretched canvases and discovered that they were usually done the same way, so I started doing it with that style.  There is a very small gap that sometimes shows where the canvas is cut, so I always color the back side to make sure that the underneath side of the canvas doesn't contrast with the print when you look inside the cut.  I always wrap the corners so the fold is on the top and bottom of the stretcher and not on the side, and the fold is very slight since most of the canvas is cut away.  I think it is even worth even doing a few practice corners with some scrap canvas to work out your technique.  I use a template to cut each corner very precisely, and once you have your chops down it is really quite easy.

[framah]

The marks on the face at the corners looks more like a scuff mark than the ink cracking from pulling too hard. Never do any of this work on a hard surface. Best to lay a blanket on your table first. This will keep it from rubbing against any hard surface.

[unknownone]

Colorwave

That’s good advice, thank you.


Framah

Yes I was working on a hard surface, I try putting a blanket or towel down next time.

[Colorwave]

I use a single layer of soft felt on my work surface.  I found that if the surface has too much give that it is easy to deflect the canvas on the face to the point that you can telegraph the inner edge of the frame through the canvas on a standard 3/4" stretcher bar.  Deeper bars have more of a lip and a deeper recess to the frame, so they are less of a concern, but I recommend a soft but not too cushioned surface to work on.

[Neuffy]

Whether to cut the corners or to accept the folded-under triangle is a matter of some contention. I don't mind the fold, find cutting to be a hassle and don't like any deviation from a rectangular canvas - it feels to me somewhat similar to the use of glue as opposed to staples. As Colorwave said, corners generally top and bottom rather than on the sides.

Figuring out the best timing for stretching is, unfortunately, subject to experimentation as it will vary between different canvas/varnish/technique combinations. It's easy to overdo pressure with pliers, in my experience. I can tear most non-poly canvases if I simply reef.

[enduser]

We use pre-made bars for canvas wraps.  They come with corner wedges which you hammer in after wrapping. The aim of the wedges is to tighten the canvas to the final best tension.  Couldn't do with out them.

The "bumps" at the corners can be hammered flat with a small clean hammer.  Done properly they almost disappear.

[ghaynes754]

Watch the LLJ video.  Take a small stretcher and practice a few times on trimming.  Takes a bit of practice but you get great corners that lie flat.

If you didn't spray/roll your canvas with something like Glamour II or Eco Print Shield you will get cracking, especially in corners.  Could also contribute to the marks on the edges, cracking at any strong right angle.

If you are going to do a lot of canvas then look at the Canvas Stretching Machine Gallery Stretcher or the Tensador II for more production and consistency.   See their websites.

[unknownone]

Since I’ve been using a towel I have not had any marks, it must have been the hard surface when I was pushing hard with the stapler.
My corners are much better but not perfect, some of the canvases I’ve seen are very thin like paper and look a bit like paper with not much texture on them, maybe it’s easier to get neat corners with thin canvas, but I prefer a thicker canvas with some texture.