breathing color Silverada, boy was I wrong.

[mstevensphoto]

I'm doing a rush job with 16 large format canvases (24x36 to 34x60) for a commercial install. After trying a lot of things I got sold on Silverada. Images are cars so it looks great. BC promises that the stuff is super durable and doesn't need to be sprayed. I've now wasted 3 large format prints because they have seeds in the canvas, wasted two more simply by mounting them to gator when they rubbed the ink off in spots. wasted another spraying it when the ink lifted off in a small section. all flaws are less than 1/2" and all completely ruin the print. what an absolute waste, annoyance and setback when I was so excited. I can't say I'd recommend this media to anyone doing anything they ever plan to sell and put their name on.

[Paul2660]

Sorry to hear about this, however, any glossy canvas, non solvent, will need coating.  This is especially true if you are using gator/miracle muck.  If  you need to wipe the canvas off, which I tend to need to, non coated glossy will just wipe right off with any pressure.  This is going to be true for any glossy, not just BC brands.  On the seeds, I quit using Crystalline earlier this year on any print with large light solids, blue, grey etc, due to the high seed count. 

BC's Lyve does not have this issue and BC has their own mill so not sure why their QC on glossy is not holding up better. 

You will tend to also see more "blobs" of coating or weave irregularities in the BC glossy canvas line up.

Paul

[mstevensphoto]

Paul,
    My general thought is to coat any canvas always. I had several conversations with BC sales people and they absolutely assured me I didn't need to. I triple asked "Are you sure?" - I'm not so mad because it turns out I have to coat them, but because over the course of a week I was promised that it was totally unnecessary and therefore didn't plan it into the timeline.
   I print hundreds of yards of Lyve every year with no problems. I clean them carefully, never a problem. I handle them carefully, never a problem. Silverada is a total bust for me. Such a bummer because it is beautiful for this subject matter.
Mark

[Paul2660]

They told me the same, it's a standard line.  And if you are only going to do a gallery wrap, you might be OK, depending on the location of the final print.   Coating a glossy can be a bit tricky, at least for me, so for my larger works, I went back to Lyve coated.

They need to step the QC a bit as I agree the metallic has a good look.

Paul

[Some Guy]

I had very bad luck with it too.  Mostly bad head strikes from strong edge curl.  Ink bleeding into adjacent colors too.  Surface may be to too hard (for the ink and surface chipping) and maybe far too thick (for the severe edge curling leading to head strikes.).

Probably my worst paper selection in the past year so it moved to the bottom of the rolls stack.

SG

[Kanvas Keepsakes]

Oh man and I'm about to start introducing Crystaline as same day turnaround option due to the fact that I was promised  I absolutely don't need to coat.  Anyone use this canvas yet as far as not needing to coat? 

[Paul2660]

You can use it non coated if:

1. You know your customer won't be touching it
2. Your placement location won't be near moisture
3. You don't plan to mount to gator or other substrates
4. It won't be accidentally sprayed by an cleaning solution

It doesn't take much to rub off the ink.

Paul


 

[Kanvas Keepsakes]

As per the rep at BC.  "I assure you.  You can print, pull it off the printer, and rub your fingers over it and it won't smudge."  I'm about to test it out right now. 

[Paul2660]

Trust me it will smudge if you rub it with dirty fingers.

Recently on a job where we were hanging several large canvas prints all on Crystalline, we had to be very careful nit to touch the face if the prints as if the area was solid on the print it was very easy to leave a finger print. Day was hot and humid and that may have added to the issues.

I have stretched a lot of Crystalline and not had any rub offs. But the canvas is tacky most times to the touch.  Crystalline 2013 and newer has less of this problem than older generations of the canvas. I have been working with BC glossy canvas since before Crystalline and they sold 1426 which was an early glossy canvas they sold back in 2008.

Paul

[mstevensphoto]

an additional problem with the tacky surface is that it holds dust like tape.