My first gallery wrap

[Kanvas Keepsakes]

Well I finally attempted today to do my first gallery wrap.  Thanks to Youtube and you all's help I was pretty sure I had it down pretty good . . until I started   It's harder than it looks.  I used borderless printing when I printed so on the bottom and on the right of the print there was no extra canvas to play with.  This made it difficult to actually grab with the canvas pliers and get a good grip to pull.  So it didnt come out real tight like I wanted.  I'm using Lyve canvas with Timeless gloss by the way.  I sprayed the gloss on Monday (about 6 days ago) and finally stretched today.  Is this the reason my corners cracked?  How long after I finish spraying with Timeless am I supposed to wait until I stretch the wrap?  Any advice is much appreciated.  Thanks in advance. 
I've attached pictures so you all know what I'm talking about

[KenBabcock]

Not bad first time out!

I would not mirror your business name though.

I don't use Lyve or Timeless, but when I stretch canvas I do it within an hour after applying my last coat.  The canvas is still very flexible and moist at that point and never cracks.  Six days is way too long IMO.

[Colorwave]

I use Chromata White and Timeless, and have never had a cracking problem like that, no matter how long I've waited.  I don't know what is causing your issues.

[dgberg]

A week should not be too long but I would still try and do it within a couple of days.
A couple of things. Prepare a work surface with a soft protective surface for stretching. Especially since you doing this by hand.
I use a machine and still have my work surfaces protected.
The more you fiddle with everything the more damage can be done with regards to folding your corners and pulling with the pliers. Ink at corners is "always" fragile even when properly coated.
Start with small canvas sizes until you get the hang of this. Even canvas with no print. If it doesn't look good rip it off and staple and stretch another.
The last 2 or 3 feet of a canvas roll is good material to use for this learning process.
When I first started I filled my gallery up with about 30 wraps and thought they looked pretty darned good.
A year or so later I took most of them down to repaint the walls and could not believe how some of these first wraps looked. (Corners were damaged or just poorly folded.)
Gave a half dozen away as gifts and threw another half dozen or so away. Moral of the story, you will get better over time.
To start it might be ok but if you plan on making a business of canvas you really need a good stretching machine.
Can you stretch these by hand in any quantity? Sure you can but everthing will improve with the proper equipment.
You need a minimum of 1" of canvas to wrap around the back. With my stretcher machine I allow 1 1/2". Which is 3" both directions just on the backs.
I found this was a big problem with my 7900 as I could only wrap 18 to 19" wraps with 24" wide material. I bought a 9900 to fix that problem.
Keep at it and also try Perfect Resize if you do not already have it.

[Andrew Teakle]

Hi Dan,

What is your experience with Perfect Resize vs Photoshop bicubic smoother? In terms of image quality and workflow, speed etc. I remember an early version of Genuine Fractals taking a LONG time to process an image on the PC of the day. Obviously faster machines, but bigger file sizes.

Thanks,

Andrew

[Kanvas Keepsakes]

Thanks for the quick replies guys.  @Ken, what kind of canvas and laminate do you use?  Lyve and Timeless is a good chunk of change to be trying to perfect my canvas prints.  That watermark is actually the name of my photographer friend that took the picture but I'll remove it for the next print.  @Dan, I did have a soft towl on top of a smaller table but I guess when I was trying to get corners right I was bringing it down to the floor and resting it on it's corners which could have caused this.  I do have PerfectResize 7 and am blown away with how simple gallery wraps are with this plugin.  So should I use 3" borders all the way around then Dan instead of 2" to get a good grip on the canvas on the back?  I'm barely starting and have spent a good chunk of change on printer and supplies.  $2k+ seems like a lot of an extra investment for me right now.  But I'll look into a machine in the future.  Thanks for the advice

[dgberg]

What is the thickness of your bars?
If they are 1 1/2" you want to make your mirror 2" (1 1/2" for the edge and a 1/2" of printed to go around the back.)plus 1/2" or 1" of unprinted white canvas.
You may find out you can get by with a total of 1" of canvas on the back instead of 1 1/2".

Andrew,
I rarely use CS5 as I have been using Perfect Resize/Genuine Fractals 6 since day one.
Almost as important as resizing in Perfect Resize is the mirroring and tiling options.
I have a pretty speedy Mac Pro and have no issues with the new version of Perfect Resize.

[KenBabcock]

For the longest time I was using Epson Premium canvas with Eco Print Shield laminate.  However, if you read some threads here you'll find that Epson has discontinued the Premium line and replaced it with the Exhibition line.

When I ran out of Premium a few months ago I tried several other brands.  For the moment I am using canvas from Dura Textiles in Quebec until I find a new, permanent replacement.  The Dura canvas is actually very nice but a little on the pricey side.

The reason I didn't switch to Epson Exhibition was because they increased the canvas $50 for a 24" roll.  Didn't check the 44" price cause I still have stock.  The Exhibition is also not water resistant so the laminate must be sprayed and not rolled.  I prefer rolling.

My choices for canvas are limited because I live in Canada and the shipping costs over the border is nuts.  If I can talk Dura down in price a bit then I may stick with them.  Their canvas is really nice and performs flawlessly with Eco Print Shield.  Shipping takes 1 day, not bad.  But the old Premium canvas was sold about 3 blocks from my house and was available instantly, so waiting for canvas to ship now will still be a pain.

Try spraying a mist of water on the back of the canvas where the folds will be just before stretching.  It helps to soften the canvas and makes it more pliable when stretching.

[louoates]

From your corner picture it looks like you were folding and refolding that corner a lot. All finishes will crack when doing so. The more corners you do the better you will become and need to make that fold only once every time. The other mistake may be to try to "stretch" the canvas by applying a huge amount of force with the pulling tool. Using too much force close to the corners is not good. That amount of force is not needed and you'll see that as your technique improves during the process you'll need much less muscle.

[Kanvas Keepsakes]

@Lou, I wasn't able to even get much force because of the lack of extra canvas on the back end of the bars.  I barely wrapped around and maybe half inch extra to play with so when I finished the canvas was able to push in a bit without feeling tight which I know is wrong.  Now that I think of it Lou, I did fold over and over trying to get the perfect finish.  Which is why one is REAL bad, the other side is somewhat bad, then the other two on top hardly any because I got a little better at it.  Does anyone know the journal number for the video on here that shows how to properly canvas wrap?  I saw so many youtube videos with so many different ways.  I even saw one with a guy cutting in a weird way so there's no hump under the fold.  Here's the link.  Should I learn this process?  Is this the best way?
http://youtu.be/UzQVuYwcOhI

[louoates]

I really liked the video and will consider doing it that way myself with respect to the corners and to the order in which he was stapling the sides. You saw that there was little fiddling with the corners due to the way they were cut before folding. He also achieves the overall tightening with the corner wedges which is something I've never done, relying solely on pulling on the stretching tool. I didn't see anything that I wouldn't do with the exception of dealing with a large panoramic canvas where I would staple fewer times on one side before staggering the stapling from side to side from the center of each side toward the corners.

Two things of caution:
1. Make sure your frame is SQUARE! before stapling. Use a carpenters square to make sure...and test all four corners with the square.
2. Watch that hammer! And the pliers! Drop either on the front or back of the canvas will absolutely ruin it. Those dents don't come out and I speak from experience. Seeing him hammering in those wedges sent chills up my spine. If you do it that way make sure you are VERY careful.

[aduke]

Two things of caution:
1. Make sure your frame is SQUARE! before stapling. Use a carpenters square to make sure...and test all four corners with the square.
...

It is also very important to check that your square is square. It is possible to purchase a square that actually isn't. I had one such square at one time, set up my table saw with it, runined a days work and a bunch of lumber.

Alan

[louoates]

Since my wife has a 1,000 s.f. wood working workshop with every imaginable tool she can attest that not all t-squares are square. When in doubt, measure the length between diagonal corners. If they are of equal length, the corners are square.

[Kanvas Keepsakes]

Lou!  Can I buy sticks from you??  Hehe been looking everywhere to buy sticks and cut with a miter saw but no one sells sticks alone. 

[Kanvas Keepsakes]

What is the thickness of your bars?
If they are 1 1/2" you want to make your mirror 2" (1 1/2" for the edge and a 1/2" of printed to go around the back.)plus 1/2" or 1" of unprinted white canvas.
You may find out you can get by with a total of 1" of canvas on the back instead of 1 1/2".

Andrew,
I rarely use CS5 as I have been using Perfect Resize/Genuine Fractals 6 since day one.
Almost as important as resizing in Perfect Resize is the mirroring and tiling options.
I have a pretty speedy Mac Pro and have no issues with the new version of Perfect Resize.

Hey Dan why do people use mirror edges instead of just make the canvas 2 inches larger all the way around like on the youtube video I posted with the picture of the girl?  Why not just expand the image larger?  I did miror edges with PerfectResize.  Also Dan, OnOne Perfect Resize is a plugin embedded in my Photoshop CS5 program.  Is it also a stand-alone program?

[dgberg]

Lou!  Can I buy sticks from you??  Hehe been looking everywhere to buy sticks and cut with a miter saw but no one sells sticks alone. 

I do.

[dgberg]

Hey Dan why do people use mirror edges instead of just make the canvas 2 inches larger all the way around like on the youtube video I posted with the picture of the girl?  Why not just expand the image larger?  I did miror edges with PerfectResize.  Also Dan, OnOne Perfect Resize is a plugin embedded in my Photoshop CS5 program.  Is it also a stand-alone program?

You can do it both ways. Perfect Resize is just a click of the button and Photoshop takes a little more time.
No right or wrong way. Some images do not work well with mirroring anyway.
I use Perfect Resize through Lightroom but the stand alone option is nice as well.
Perfect Resize is a whole lot more then just mirroring. Resampling,tiling sharpening and colored edges.

[mrenters]

You can do it both ways. Perfect Resize is just a click of the button and Photoshop takes a little more time.
No right or wrong way. Some images do not work well with mirroring anyway.
I use mine through Lightroom but the stand alone option is nice.

I've written a free Photoshop script that does the mirroring automatically.  Here's the link:

http://www.teckelworks.com/photography/tools

Martin

[Kanvas Keepsakes]

So I attempted to perfect my corners and try the same wrap again (after I threw original away).  I didn't fold over and over and when I was done, by the next day I could see corners with small little cracks and one corner with white (meaning gloss and paint were both off).  I talked to Breathing Color and it seems like I'm not putting near as much coating as I'm supposed to be.  I'm spraying but small mist and only twice.  You kind of have to put it in the light to see any shine.  So off again I go to re-attempt to spray and stretch