If you are an artist you will be familiar with the complex blend of passion and frustration that is central to your craft. All artists seek to express a deeper artistic truth to those who view their work. However, achieving financial return can be far more difficult.

In this article, we will discuss one of the ways that BrilliantPrints can help you achieve a commercial return on your art. We will step you through the way we produce canvas fine-art reproductions. We will outline in detail some great reason for choosing to have your painting, drawing or illustrations reproduced in this fashion.

Won’t it lessen the value of my work?

In talking to our customers, many of them are initially against the idea of creating a giclee canvas print from one of their masterpiece. Somewhat understandably, they feel that the sustained effort they spent painting or drawing would somehow be lessened, or that by producing copies they would diminish the financial value of their work.

The way we usually answer these kinds of questions is by pointing out that producing a quality canvas reproduction is not an easy task. Even experienced printers with access to good quality inks and great quality canvas can sometimes lack the appropriate expertise or the right equipment to undertake this kind of task. At BrilliantPrints it has taken us a number of years to develop the artistic skill and technology to master the reproduction process. However, we are confident that we have reached a point where we can create a canvas print that is almost indistinguishable from the original piece of art. To find out more about what makes us different – check out our quality canvas tour.

Why would I be interested?

If you want a financial return from your art, giclee reproduction is an easy way to sell your work.

As part of our canvas reproduction service, BrilliantPrints can offer you a ‘print-on-demand’ service. After we capture your original image, we can produce prints only when you need them to meet a definite order. This allows you to make the most efficient use of your time, producing and selling your art in a way that directly matches customer demand.

Some of the most amazing art can be incredibly time-consuming for the artist to replicate. One of the best things about this process is that it allows almost perfect copies to be made. This ensures that all your clients are receiving exactly the same high standard of work.

How will they be reproduced?

People often tell us that they’ve always thought that canvas printing was only suitable for digital artwork. However, paintings, collages, drawings or any other type of flat artwork can be successfully copied with this process.

At BrilliantPrints we use different methods to capture the initial image:

We use a dedicated large-format scanning machine for smaller, less delicate pieces of art.

Any work that is delicate, is significantly textured or is of a certain size will be photographed by our in-house photographer. By carefully manipulating the lighting conditions we can make sure that this produces a seamless copy.

What do you do next?

Once we have captured your image, we can print it on one of large-scale printing machines onto textured art canvas. The canvas is then wrapped around our premium, hand-profiled hardwood frames.

For your convenience, we can keep a copy of your image on file – or give you a copy to keep on a CD or through email. This will allow us to produce perfect, high-quality giclee reproductions of your original artwork at any point in the future.

A final word

At BrilliantPrints we’ve had a first-hand opportunity to empathise with the frustrating heartbreak of many of our clients who are artists. Our fine art reproduction services are not a guaranteed path to commercial success, but are one way of flexibly providing high-quality, consistent, on-demand pieces of art to interested clients.

If you are interested in finding out more about this service please contact us.

When saving your picture it can be hard to know which format to choose. There are so many formats to save in, but which one is best for you? Do you want quality or a small file size? We are going to cover some of the most common file types and the reasons behind choosing them.

It seems a simple decision – but making sure you choose the right combination of file formats will help produce the best quality image for the best quality canvas print.

What are Lossy and Lossless formats?

There are two categories all image file formats fall into – Lossy and Lossless. There are reasons to save in both these formats. To understand the best one for your task you should first understand what each format means.

A Lossy Format is one which loses quality and data by being resized and saved repeatedly. The main Lossy file type is JPEG. Every time you press save with an image in this format – you are reducing the quality of the final image.

Lossless is a format in which the quality is retained when saving at any size. Examples of Lossless file types are PNG, TIFF.

How do I know which one to choose?

Lossless files are much larger in file size than lossless, but this is at the pay off of retaining the original quality of the image, which makes it perfect for archiving and editing. If possible, you should keep it in this format for as long as possible – this will allow you to make many edits of your image without sacrificing quality.

The JPEG (or other lossy formats) can cause problems if you are working extensively with an image. As well as a loss of quality, repetitive saving can also cause small jpeg artefacts or distortions on your image.

However due to the high compression and the low file sizes of lossy formats like JPEG lossy are the best way to send your image to us once you have completed any changes you would like to make.

Common formats

RAW

Raw format is the format your camera processes its images in. Using most modern digital cameras you won’t really encounter this format, it is tends to be automatically converted into a more familiar format like JPEG after the picture is taken. The RAW format contains more data about the image such as white balance, however it cannot be processed by computer until it is converted into a readable format like JPEG.

TIF

TIF is another style of bitmap image and is a lossless format. TIFs are of a much higher quality than formats such as JPEGS. The downside to the higher quality is that the file will be lot larger than its JPEG counterpart. It is best to work from a TIF if you are editing your image.

JPEG

JPEG is the most common format used on the internet to display images. This is due to the fact it compresses the image to a very small file size while retaining a lot of the original quality, at least to the human eye. However, repeated working from a JPEG will degrade the image resulting in blurring or blocky parts in the image. It is best to save to a JPEG format when you are sure about your image so as to maintain the highest quality overall.

Final Thought.

Saving in a Lossy format is great for most purposes such as sending images on the internet, due to their small file size. But when saving files for print it is best to only save as a JPEG once you are sure the image is as you want it, so the quality is maintained and you can do the most justice to your beautiful pictures.

This also makes our job easier when we are getting ready to produce your canvas print.

Regular readers of camera catalogues could be forgiven for thinking that the secret to improving your photography is to buy a bigger or better camera. However, the well-known photographer Ansel Adams often said to students, “You don’t take a good photograph, you make a good photograph.” This remains true even in the era of automated photography and digital cameras.

Capturing that perfect image takes more than the press of a button, and even if it did, that isn’t what true photography is about. There is tremendous satisfaction in capturing an image through foresight and planning, ‘visualisation’, as Ansel Adams called it. When you take a concept for an image and bring it to fruition it is an incredibly rewarding feeling.

Looking at a photograph

Many of us can view a photograph and make an immediate assessment about its artistic qualities. We are able to do this subconsciously, our brain measuring it against a predetermined list of factors. In this article, we are going to try and identify two of those factors and provide some simple hints for using them in your photography.

Composition

Composing a image involves a direct attempt to arrange the different parts of the photograph into a balanced and aesthetically pleasing arrangement. At its most basic level it also includes checking to see that all the important parts of your subject (like arms and legs!) are completely within the photographic frame.

There are many general formulas for composition that have been established (for a good discussion see:http://photoinf.com/General/Geoff_Lawrence/Composition.html) However, for our purposes we are going to focus on the way we can use space (and in particular the lack of space) to achieve better composition.

In looking at photographs of objects in motion we often subconsciously expect them to continue in the same direction. If our picture has captured the object just before it leaves the picture’s ‘frame’, the viewers eye is sharply blocked. By leaving an amount of space in front of the moving subject, we can create something that seems more natural and compositionally correct. This same rule applies where our photographic subject is looking at a point off camera. Our composition should allow enough space to allow our eye to follow the direction of their gaze.

Empty space can be used in dramatic and powerful ways. Many photographic manuals will tell you to arrange your photograph to focus on a single subject. However, a composition that includes empty space can often convey strong feelings of loneliness or freedom. The sheer simplicity of a longely figure standing on an isolated headland could not be communicated if there were more detail or visual clutter in our frame.

Symmetry

People who are beginning to explore artistic photography, will often capture the image of something reflected in still water. These photographs are often beautifully composed. In the same way, we will usually make sure that family portraits are symmetrical, because this kind of composition seems formal and dignified. However, breaking the rules of symmetry can create some of the most powerful photographs.

One of the most fundamental photographic techniques is the ‘rule of thirds’ which suggests that the subject of an image should be placed 1/3 of the way from the edge of frame. This kind of off-centre composition seems more natural and aesthetically pleasing. To see this rule illustrated see: http://www.photozone.de/4Technique/compose/third.htm

While a random placement of images in the photographic frame is not encouraged, strategically using asymmetry is something to explore. If the main elements of our picture are unbalanced, we force the viewer to reconsider what they think is happening in the frame.

A final word

While there are many more techniques to be explored as part of photography, understanding these simple rules can be an important part of developing your skills. An intuitive knowledge of these principles allows you to rapidly put them into practice when you are presented with the perfect photographic moment.

Hanging a canvas print in an effective way seems like a daunting task. How do you know the pictures will work together? How do you know where to place them? In this article, we are going to cover the basics of hanging a print and making it an effective part of a room.

What you will need?

Spirit Level, Drill, Painting hook, A good eye.

Stick-on painting hooks or screw-in?

Your classic painting hook is usually the best choice for hanging your canvas print. It fits easily into the wall, and provides a stable foundation to allow your print to sit evenly against the wall. 

Stick-on painting hooks can be obtained from most newsagent, art retailers or hardware’s. By using them you can avoid the need to mark or damage your wall through drilling. It is important to carefully follow the instructions given on the packet for preparing your surface – otherwise the hook could detach. 

Preparing the wall.

Mark the wall where you want to hang the canvas print. The mark should be at the point where the centre of the picture will be, and 25% of the length of the picture down from the top.

Hanging the Canvas Print

Drill a hole in the wall at the point you marked that is about three quarters the length of the screw part of the hook and a little thinner than the screw. Screw the hook in fully, and hang the picture.

Essential Advice and Basic rules

1. Prints should be hung at eye level. A commonly accepted standard in galleries and industry is 160cm.
2. When hanging a series of pieces that are the same size, mark the wall first with a light pencil using a spirit level as your guide. Keep to that line.
3. Don’t put a small canvas print on a big wall and visa versa,
4. Use White Space Effectively – Don’t be afraid of trying more space between pictures than you first think. Using white space well is a great way to focus your audience’s attention on your piece.

Hanging pictures effectively.

When grouping prints they should have a common theme. It could be subject matter, the artist, or just the colours. Having a common theme helps the pieces complement each other. Consider the space that the pictures are going in and try and bear in mind the colours of the room to make sure the pictures will fit. When arranging the pieces on a wall, using a grid will make it seem formal, which would suit an art-specific room. 

Using a square or rectangle as a base in which to put your pictures will give it a casual feel, which is more suited to homes.

A final word.

Now you know the rules remember you can break them. If your canvas print doesn’t look good at eye level, shift it by a few inches, we are a lot better at judging things than we think, if something isn’t right you will notice. When you’ve found the right place to hang it, you will know.

A picture is a great way to brighten a room and change its feel. Remember pictures are there to be enjoyed so you should display them in the best light you can. A little preplanning and thought can make all the difference and make your pictures look great.