Shel B

Is it necessary to clear coat canvas prints for uv protection? If so, what do you recommend? Asking for a friend.

User ID

Where does your friend get his ink or print services ? Some inks are archival. Some print services are very thorough.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

I have 10 year old early canvas prints, tell your friend to chill, no issues.

NCMtnMan Loc: N. Fork New River, Ashe Co., NC

I get mine done at Easy Canvas prints and they add it as an option if you want it for $4.99.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

There is a brush-on product sold at Michaels. There are two versions. One is for paper, the other for canvas. It works quite well and adds brush strokes to your image.

photoman43

I have a 56 inch canvas print with no coating on it. It is about 10 years old. No issues at all.

I do not like canvas prints with any kind of coating as the ones I have seen compromise the image and dust is far more visible.

chasgroh Loc: Buena Park, CA

...really depends on the material used and the application. I use Breathing Color Timeless products, spray 'em, and never have had an issue...15 years in. That said, it's true that a good pigment ink should not really need a coating, but I like to control the sheen and to do that you need to apply a clear coat to taste.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

If you are talking about "emulsion stripped" canvas prints, where the emulsion layer of a traditional wet-process print is stripped off the paper base and dry mounted onto canvas, then YES. It needs to be sprayed with a protective lacquer made for photo prints.

If you are talking about ANY inkjet print made with photo dye inks or photo pigment inks, it should be sprayed with something like this:

Hahnemuhle Protective Spray for Fine Art Digital Prints
or
Moab Desert Varnish, Archival Digital Print Protection Spray

UV is the problem. It is especially damaging to dye inks, but can fade pigment inks if the prints are not displayed under glass. Most canvas prints are stretched. Often, they are not protected by a sheet of UV-absorbing glass, so a spray coat is in order to slow the rate of fade.

Prints displayed in polluted atmospheres are also subject to fading, which is accelerated by UV. So a spray coating will protect them from pollution and UV.

User ID

If you brush-on according to the imagery, that can look quite legit. I despise bogus add-on brush strokes lacking any relation to the imagery beneath them. Looks like a "painting" from Sears.

Bill_de Loc: US

I use Epson Exhibition Canvas - Satin

Based on what I read I have never used a top coating. I usually make 2 copies, framing one with no glass, and storing one. After several years there doesn't seem to be any degratation. Of course only time will tell how long they will last, or if this is the same type canvas that is being discussed.

Recommended top coat products
(Not required for Exhibition Canvas Satin or Exhibition Canvas Gloss, but may be used if added protection is desired)

https://www.pictureline.com/blogs/archive/epson-exhibition-canvas-printing-and-finishing-guidelines

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E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

I have to use the products that Birkphoto recommended- with excellent results.

There are many lacquer and coating that are intended for photographs- canvas and other kinds of prints.

Aesthetically speaking, I will use the one that best matches the style of the theme of the image. I do not try to create imitation paintings but I sometimes like a "painterly" look to a traditional or classic image.

For a finish that is appropriate for an image that is reminiscent of a classical painting, I like a 20% Water White Lacquer.

As for the brush stroke mediums, there are several types. Some are lacquer based and others are water or latex-based . Frankly, I do not try to follow contours or elements in the image, I prefer a random texture.

Also remember, I spray or any finish that has a very flat matte surface can demise subtle shadow detail and gray day ad entire image. A high gloss finish can enhance all details but can cause unwanted reflections.

Make certain that whatever m fishing material o use that does not have a tendency to yellow with age.

I have some older canvas prints that are canvas mound and laminated that seem to be rather instructable.






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NCMtnMan Loc: N. Fork New River, Ashe Co., NC

Follow up to my earlier post on this. I just got my prints today and was not at all happy with them. The UV protection made the canvas texture very pronounced and actually harmed some of the detail. I contacted them and they are reprinting for free without the UV protection. Hopefully, that was the problem because they have given me excellent service and I would hate to have to go elsewhere.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Yes, anti-UV coatings can affect surface textures, especially when using matte papers, cotton rag, and canvas.

An alternative is to use glass over the print, although that sort of defeats the purpose of the canvas in some respects. There is always the dilemma of appearance NOW vs. appearance in a few decades' time... Fortunately the pigment inks available today are much more fade-resistant than the dyes used in chromogenic/silver halide color papers.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Bill- wanna laugh? When I hear the name Mc Donalds, I don't think of hamburgers, I remember the smell of all those lacquer sprays, lacquer thinner, and the sound of the enormous explosion-proof fan in the spray booth. We stock all the spray in gallon cans, haf d a compressor, air filters and some pretty high-quality spray guns. The company also marketed a canvas mounting press wit a long telescopic handle for extra leverage and pressure. We also had a Coda Texturizing machine will all the plates. Our finishing room smelled like body and fender shop and we all wore respirator-like masks/goggles when spraying to avoid keystone headaches and eye irritation.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I remember all the same things! Our senior portrait finishing area was about 7500 square feet. We had texturizers, dry mount presses, cold mount roller presses, a linotype machine for setting slugs to foil stamp wallet prints, foil stamping machines, canvas stretching rigs, Epson inkjet printers, a spray booth with all the hazard abatement fans, fire suppression system, and operator isolation shields.

Beyond that we had a small army of packers and finishing employees making sure all the custom work was done to order.

But we did use a lot of McDonalds lacquer products. For eight years, my office was in a mezzanine area above the senior finishing area. I could hear the staple guns used to mount canvas on stretchers, and occasionally smell a whiff of the effluent from the spray booth.