creating my own gallery wraps

[mstevensphoto]

Hi All,
   I'm finally up and running with my canon ipf8300 and have played with a few of the gallery wrap kits. The Hahnemuhle wrap system is a breeze BUT the limited sizes and the fact that I have to buy several frames worth of any one size are a hinderance. I'm already selling sized they don't offer. What I love is the ease of assembly with the tape and glue. I'm concerned that there don't seem to be any finger joints so I wonder if the bigger sizes will stay true over time. Has anyone tried to make their own gallery wrap? If so, have you found it to be worth the time and effort? Is anyone using the traditional stretcher frames available at any art store? How does that compare? If using traditional frames with stapled canvas, how do you get great corners?
many thanks
Mark

[RFPhotography]

I've made my own.  It can be a bit fussy.  You definitely need a good mitre saw to get the corners right.  You also need to be able to bevel the front face of the wood so only the edge is touching the print.  If you look at commercially available stretcher bars you'll see what I'm talking about.  I use my table saw with the blade at a slight angle then sand the edge to a soft curve.

You might look into commercially available stretcher bars.  These come in a wide variety of sizes (2" increments) and are available in 3/4" profile and 1 1/2" profile.  Any decent art supply shop will carry them.  They're pretty inexpensive to buy.  The ones I use have a type of mortise & tenon joint at the corners so you don't even need to glue them.  For prints that don't fit the even sized 2" increments, I cut them down to size on my power mitre saw and glue them. 

If you're going to glue, either making your own or using commercially sourced, you need a good framing clamp system.  I use this one.  It's fairly inexpensive, adjustable to a variety of sizes and is easily stored.  It's worked well for me.  I've tried the V-nail approach and don't find it works well at all. 

[mstevensphoto]

Hi Bob, thanks for the info. I've got all of the woodworking tools so that's part of what motivates me to try. The biggest thing I love about the kits is that the canvas gets folded into the joint of the corners leaving a super slick outside edge. with the commercial stretcher frames I'm not sure how to treat the corners. Folding a hospital corner leaves a lump of fabric. How are you treating the corners of your wraps?

[Geoff Wittig]

Yep. I've been picking up pairs of stretcher bars at a local art store in a variety of sizes. They're dirt-cheap, fit together very well, and permit me to wrap prints of virtually any size or aspect ratio. I do lots of pano's, so this is perfect for me.

You just need a heavy-duty staple gun and canvas pliers along with the stretcher bars. Corners seem tricky at first, but once you've done them a few times it's easy.

[ftbt]

Both the Hahnemuhle and Breathing Color systems are from IG Wrap in Canada. (http://www.igwrap.com).  You might want to contact them directly about different sizes. From their website it appears that they offer boxed kits containing 2 frames (8 bars) up to 8 frames (32 bars) ... the only question is whether they will sell direct?

[langier]

I get my pairs at Stetcher Bar Warehouse out of San Luis Obispo, Calif. and they have at least 3 thicknesses and sizes from a few inches to many feet, all in 1 inch increments.

They simply dove-tail together and are fairly inexpensive.

I'm printing on Fredrix 777 Vivid with a custom profile and then coating them using a Daige manual laminator using ClearStar's LL Semi-gloss. If I only need to coat a couple, I simply use a paint roller and a lot of rolling around to get an even coat.

For stretching, i use my fingers and canvas pliers with an electric staple gun. The tricky part for me is in folding the corners inside the canvas which takes a little practice. it's a lot neater than an outside fold.

For the 1.25 inch bars I'm using, I add at least 1.5-2 inches wider than my live photo. If I'm lucky enough have breathing room around the image, I'll blur it out. I'll mirror the edges to add image real estate or I'll print the image against a background that will complement the photo.

It all sounds complicated, but with a little practice it becomes a bit easier even though I'm no spring chicken!

[mstevensphoto]

Thanks for the details! can you describe the corners you're folding? I've also had very good luck stretching just by hand. I'm thinking about an air powered stapler because the current one gives me 1 in 3 to 1 in 5 staples that later needs attention from a hammer.

[RFPhotography]

The corner issue is what it is.  It's part of the thing with canvas and people simply accept it.  If you stretch the canvas tight there isn't that large a bump at the corners.  Fold the corners on the top and bottom (as opposed to the sides) and when hung they're barely noticeable.  The biggest key is to use a proper overcoat that prevents cracking of the canvas when you stretch it around the frame and fold the corners. 

[JohnHeerema]

I made my own stretchers, based on the IG Wrap profile.
I've gone up to 40" x 100" with good results.

I used 8/4 vertical grain Douglas Fir, but less expensive wood might work fine too.

[neile]

I made my own stretchers, based on the IG Wrap profile.

Interesting. Are you notching them so they work with the corner jigs?

Neil

[mstevensphoto]

John, what are you using for tape? I figure some high tack ATG should do the trick, are you using an archival tape?
I was surprised to see that the IGWrap frames don't seem to be made of finger joined wood like a traditional frame. I wonder if the longer lengths try to bow under pressure or over time.

[langier]

Good coatings are key to adding protection and stretching without emulsion peeling, however the Fredrix seems to be flexible once printed to fold pretty well when it comes to the corners.

I can't really describe how I fold the corners under. You've simply got to play with it to get it down. My framer did it once and I thought it looked better than when I folded outside. I can't duplicate his folds and haven't asked me to show me yet. It sort of looks like a table cloth draped over and folded under the table, but folding canvas is like folding cardboard almost. I do recommend that the corners get folded at the top and bottom of the wrap so that the sides remain smooth. If you are tight with the corners, they don't bulge too much and most people won't see them.

For your wrap, you need about 2 inches of image beyond the edges and another 1/2 inch or so of canvas to pull at a minimum for a 1-1/2 inch bar. You almost want to have enough to have about 1/2 inch overlap of the back of the bar, but I've done it with less. You either need to shoot very loosely to have the room to pull the image, or work at it in post. You need to figure out what works best with your style.

Since I shoot my pix quite tight and full frame, I'll either take the image and enlarge it for the wrap, then blur and darken (like taking a sharp 8x10 photo and mounting it on a dark and blurry 11x14 photo in concept), or clone and mirror the edges of the photo, and blurring them. Some need to be blended at the edges so they seamlessly flow around the sides. Others, mainly composite photos a la Hockney, are placed in the center of the white canvas and white wraps around the back. Same with diptychs and triptychs. There's lots of ways to do it.

I purchase the bars ready to dovetail since I don't have the tools to do my own, nor the space. They are pretty cheap, but I've got to stock several sizes and keep within those bounds. Just easier for me than to custom join the stock.

[Garnick]

Hello again Mark,

I just sent a reply to your post about coatings, so I'll offer my 2¢ worth here as well.  And by the way, the Eco Print Shield offer excellent flexibility for stretching, no cracking on edges or corners.  However, as with any coating, it's always a good idea to do one more coat on the edges and corners after stretching for added protection.  I've actually had stretched canvases come back that had obviously been grossly mishandled and some of the coating and ink had been taken off, mostly on edges but also other areas.  I used ink I had retrieved from used carts to retouch and then recoated those areas.

But, more to the point, I am familiar with the Peel and Stick Stretchers and I would never consider using them.  Even though they do offer a more substantial bar for large sizes, it is NOT a professional finish in my opinion.  Yes, it is quick and easy and probably adequate for amateur work, but not when you are printing for pros or you own work that you'll be selling.  That system relies on that adhesive on the bars and also glue applied to the area where the bar and canvas meet.  NOT a good idea at all.  I've seen more that one occasion where a canvas has had to be re-stretched after a period of time due to humidity changes and natural stretching and sagging.  This is not uncommon.  However, it would be virtually impossible to do so with the Peel and Stick procedure.  Also, you cannot rely on the adhesive that's on the bars to last forever.  Then you'd be stapling anyway, so it's all for naught.  If you are determined to use that system I would suggest that you leave extra canvas, don't use the glue and staple on the back of the bars as is done with a normal wrap.  Just a thought.

Gary   

[JeanMichel]

Hi.
There is a very interesting overview of how to make such wraps in one of the segments of the issue 19 of the video journals -- the Andrew Collett interview. Worth taking a look if you pln to do gallery wraps.

Jean-Michel

[JohnHeerema]

Interesting. Are you notching them so they work with the corner jigs?

Neil

I had originally intended to notch them so that I could use the IG Wraps jig, but found that it was easy for me to lay out the stretcher bars without it.

I use the same kind of stretcher pieces, except that I go wider for big spans.