PhotoImageArt.co.uk

Roses are red, violets are blue, could a canvas print be the best option for you….?

So Valentines Day is just around the corner…and what to buy this year…flowers…chocolates…perfume…again…! Why not ring the changes this time with a unique canvas print for that special person in your life.

OK red roses say it all, but sadly they fade and die, but not so with our high quality canvas prints. Buy the red roses if you like, but why not take a photograph of them, and have that photograph transformed into a canvas picture, perhaps with some special artistic effects, such as a black and white canvas print with the roses printed in red for a stunning effect and a lasting memory, and imagine the brownie points you would gain from this oh so very romantic gesture…!

Maybe you are an especially romantic person and you’re planning to propose on Valentines Day, or even re-take your marriage vows, so here’s an idea…slip the ring somewhere into your roses, somewhere it can be clearly seen obviously, take your photograph and have it transformed into a canvas picture.

Perhaps have your canvas printed in black and white, with the roses printed in red, and the ring printed in colour, (we call this the colour splash effect) what a stunning piece of wall art that would create, and an everlasting memory of the very moment of your proposal…a treasured moment to last a lifetime and beyond.

Interestingly, if the letters of the word rose are rearranged they spell the word Eros, the God of love.

Roman legend has it that a beautiful young woman called Rodanthe was being pursued by several unfavourable suitors, all trying to win her heart, but alas, she didn’t care for any of them.

In their attempt to reach her they broke down her door, which angered the Goddess Diana so much that she turned Rodanthe into a flower and her unfortunate suitors into thorns, so they never reached her. Another popular Roman legends tells the story of Cupid carrying a vase of sweet nectar to the Gods on Mount Olympus, some of the nectar spilled on the ground, and from the spot where it fell sprouted the beautiful Rose. The Ancient Egyptians were probably the first people to cultivate rose gardens, and rose petals were a favourite of Cleopatra, and there are records of rose fossils which show them to be at least 35 million years old, so let’s face it, there’s just no getting away from roses, nor would we want to, symbolising unconditional love, desire and passion, so why not symbolise your deepest emotions and create your own legend this Valentines Day, and win the fair heart of your Rodanthe without angering the Goddess Diana, with a bespoke high quality canvas print. Don’t let the wrong choice of gift this Valentines Day end up as a thorn in your side…!!!

Perhaps if just one of her ill-fated suitors had been able to offer Rodanthe one of our bespoke high quality original canvas prints her story would have had a different ending, ah well, such is life…

But enough of legend, history and geology, in this our 21st century we have the technology, and advancements in technology have given us the opportunity to offer you high quality personalised canvas prints, at prices which may surprise you, using high quality hand made frames, high quality canvas  and high quality colour fast inks, inks which are the equivalent of the most expensive champagnes to accompany your Valentine gifts, to ensure true colour reproduction and high levels of UV protection for many years, and to ensure you win the fair heart of your Rodanthe, and that your story has the perfect happy ending you desire and deserve….Happy Valentines Day…

In the wheel of the year as January gives way to February, we welcome the Pagan festival of  Imbolc, a fire festival that marks the start of spring, being halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, signifying the end of winter (yes, believe it or not), and celebrating the awakening of the land and the growing power of the Sun.

The previous festival, the Winter Solstice, the shortest day and longest night, was all about reflecting, and is traditionally the time to celebrate the truly important things in your life, your family, your children, your home and a time to look forward positively to a wonderful year to come.

Why not capture these treasured moments forever as a canvas picture?

Many associate the Winter Solstice with death, as nature is then dormant, many plants die off and crops are scarce, but it is the turning point of the year, and from then on the sun becomes stronger, willing the earth back to life, so, ever the optimist, I prefer to think of the Winter Solstice as a celebration of rebirth, the turning point of the year. Also known as Yule, it’s a time to honour love, and new birth, the birth of the Sun God in Pagan beliefs.

It is, of course, all about new beginnings so why not wrap up warm and get outdoors and capture the rebirth of our dear earth on camera, the winter buds as they now appear on the bare trees, the dusty hazel catkins teasing us with promise of the spring to come. As life begins to stir under the frozen earth capture these precious moments and create for yourself a stunning canvas print of your best spring shots.

Do you, as I do, look forward to the first snowdrops. Imagine a bespoke canvas print of that perfect shot of the first snowdrop, a symbol of Imbolc, snowdrops and white candles are used to represent purification and refer to the return of the life forces of spring, a festival of green and white, such a fragile little flower, perhaps just popping up through the glistening winter snow, bravely announcing the end of winter, challenging the winter to retreat and bringing cheer to our hearts (and let’s face it, we’ve had plenty of snow this winter and are all ready for some cheer!), a unique piece of canvas wall art to bring hope to your heart in the depth of the deepest winter, captured forever as a canvas picture.

Perhaps have your canvas printed in black and white with just the green of the snowdrop picked out in colour (we call this colour splash), what a stunning piece of wall art that would make as a bespoke canvas picture to bring cheer to your heart in the bleakest of the bleakest winters for many years to come, or as a gift to someone special, using high quality hand made frames, high quality canvas and high quality colour fast inks, ensuring true colour reproduction and high levels of UV protection.

Thinking back to the Pagan festival of Samhain on the 31^st October, we welcomed the winter as the harvest season closed and the days grew darker and shorter, another important fire festival, the time of year in which we pass from light into darkness, into winter, and we look forward to the festivals to come. Spring Equinox and the year in perfect balance, Beltane and the days are longer and the earth is in flower, Summer Solstice sees the earth in full bloom, Lughnasadh and the days are growing shorter and the fields are heavy with crops ready for harvest, the Autumn Equinox and light and darkness are again in perfect balance as the crops are harvested, and as the wheel of the year turns we arrive back at Samhain.

As the wheel of your year turns imagine displaying that perfect canvas wall art of your favourite festival photographs transferred onto canvas. At the time of each celebration why not have your individual piece of corresponding wall art displayed in honour of the occasion.

Perhaps, like me, you have so many photographs from the Pagan festivals you have attended, on computer, on memory sticks, on disc, curling up in the attic…..! Maybe you can’t choose between them, so why not have all your best shots displayed on your wall as a canvas collage or canvas montage for a unique stunning effect and as an everlasting promise of good things to come as the earth turns through the wheel of the year.

Bright Blessings this Imbolc…..capture your memories forever on a bespoke high quality canvas print.

If you have a close friend or relative’s birthday coming up and are worried that a traditional  photo gift idea just won’t be special enough – have you ever considered transferring that picture to canvas?

Personalised canvas pictures are the result of printing images to canvas, which is then wrapped around a wooden frame – a photo gift that is completely unique as well as being a work of art.

Whilst a custom canvas picture would once have cost hundreds of pounds, canvases have now become a relatively inexpensive way towards finding your loved ones the perfect photo gift for their birthday or special occasion.

When To Choose Canvas Pictures

Canvas prints are great for families to share. They help to capture memories of spending time together, as well as showing loved ones that you really care. Canvas pictures have now become especially popular with the older generation.

Many of our grandparents or parents already have everything they need, making birthday gift ideas hard to come by. But there’s nothing more special than the gift of a memory that is beautifully reproduced and will last for years to come – that fact will not go unnoticed.

Canvases are not just great for birthdays, you can find photographs for all occasions including Mother’s Day, Father’s day, a special anniversary, or just to show that you care. Canvases will be unexpected and often take pride of place on the walls of your loved one’s home.

Choosing the Perfect Print

Designing your own canvas picture is not as hard as it might sound. All you need to do is pick a digital image or scan an existing photograph onto your computer. You can then simply tell us at photo image art how you would like it to appear on the canvas, we will do the rest.

Would you like a colour picture turning to black and white? No problem, just tick the “black & white” option when uploading your image on our website, or give us a call and then email the image.   The same is true when it comes to sepia, popart / warhol effect, cartoonize, red eye removal, adding text & creating mosaic / montage photo canvas prints, and all the other effects & alterations that we can offer free of charge.

Just let us know what you want, and we’ll create it for you, to ensure that this a personalised photo birthday gift to remember.

Canvas pictures is an industry that has really taken off in recent years. People are now making  a lot more use of their digital photos, as well as looking for new and inspiring gift ideas for all occasions. And one occasion that canvas pictures are just perfect for is a wedding anniversary.

An anniversary is undoubtedly a special and personal time – especially for a milestone such as the first, the twenty-fifth or even the sixtieth! There are many standard gifts given for such occasions, but if you are looking for something extra special then a photo canvas print might be just the idea.

What Is A Canvas Picture?

A canvas picture,  ‘photo canvas’ or ‘canvas print’ is simply a photograph that has been transferred to high quality canvas. The photograph,  photographs, images or pictures used are entirely up to you.

You could choose to use a picture of the happy couple on their wedding day, or perhaps a less conventional idea such as an image of a holiday you spent with them. You can even create a wall canvas photo collage representing the couple’s years of marriage – it is completely up to you.

Transforming the Image

Photo canvas gifts are not only valuable due to the treasured memories they call to mind for the couple, but also due to the fact that they can be proudly placed on the walls as a work of art. Using digital photographs adds the option of enhancing and brightening the image which, along with the texture of the canvas, will make for a much more stunning picture than traditional photographs.

If you are looking for a large canvas print then it helps to have some high resolution digital images available, though this isn’t always possible in the case of old wedding photographs. Just look for a service that is able to convert your standard photo into a high quality wall canvas.

Not only can photographs be enhanced with canvas pictures, but they can also be altered. You might choose to convert the image to black and white, as well as applying artistic effects. This is a great way to personalise the gift according to the couple’s individual taste.

Whether you have an anniversary gift to buy or simply want to commemorate your own anniversary, a high quality personalised canvas print could be just the thing to make the day even more special.

Canvas prints – also known as giclee canvas prints, wall canvas, box canvas prints – are a fantastic personalised gift idea, allowing you to give a truly unique gift to those you’re particularly special to you.

There was a time not so long ago that unique photo canvas prints cost hundreds of pounds, even for relatively small box canvases. Like all technologies, prices tend to decrease as the advancement in technology decreases the price of the equipment, and as more competition adds motivation for prices to drop. This is certainly what has happened with the canvas printing industry over recent years – and this is very good news, as canvas prints are now even better quality in terms of the quality of the print & colour fastness – but they’re also now far less expensive, meaning that they’re affordable to the masses, rather than the fortunate few.

This isn’t at all to say that personalised canvas prints are any less unique – because of course the uniqueness is all down to the image itself. That photograph you have of your kids playing on the beach, or of the dog when he was a puppy, your daughter riding her horse, or whatever it may be – is completely unique, and personal to you – or to the person you’re having the canvas produced for as a very special & unique personalised gift.

So if you’re looking for gift idea’s, and you would like to give someone special a gift which is completely unique – canvas prints are the perfect choice.

Don’t you find that people get harder to buy gifts for, the older they get?

Children are usually not much of a problem to buy for, children like toys – regardless of the age, the toys just get bigger, and more expensive with age.

Young adults aren’t too much of a problem to buy for, but then as we get older, it becomes more & more difficult to buy gifts that you really want.

In fact, a good sign that you’re growing old, is that you get a lot of boring gifts.

The main characteristic with the dull & boring gifts that tend to be given to older people, is that they’re impersonal, and quite often unwanted. Well, no one really knows what you want, what you’re going to enjoy, so it’s difficult.

But there is a way out of the monotony – with personalised photo gifts.

From one extreme to the other, you really can get no more personal than personalising a gift with a photo which is of importance to the recipient, whether it’s a photo of a memorable event, a special person – a special pet, whatever it may be.

The king of the personalised photo gifts is of course the photo canvas print.

What used to be a privilege only few could afford – thanks to developments in technology over the years, it is now very affordable to have photographs transformed into high quality canvas prints.

In fact at Photo Image Art, our photo canvases start at just £19.99, and include free photo restoration & any required special effects such as black & white, sepia, pop art / Warhol effect & much more.

So don’t get stuck in a rut with gift buying, get personal, with personalised photo gifts – and if you really want to give a gift to remember – the canvas print is the way forward.

So, you’re looking for a gift for your grandparent or grandparents, whether it’s Christmas, Mothers day, Fathers day, wedding anniversary – whatever the occasion may be, what do you give as a gift to your grandparent or grandparents?

A plant? Flowers? A new Scarf? Slippers?

The standard grandparent gifts are a bit boring aren’t they? And if they’re boring for us, they’re going to be even more monotonous for them, receiving the same kinds of gifts from family members all the time, can’t be very exciting.

If you want to give your grandparents something that will really fill them with joy, you really can not do any better than taking or finding a special photo, and having this turned into a high quality canvas print.

Canvas prints are one now of the most popular gifts for the older person, and really the reasons are quite apparent. When you’re a child you want toys, when you’re a big child (also known as adult) you want bigger more expensive toys – when you’re older, and enriched with the experiences life has offered, you have memories, treasured memories – an there can really be no better gift than to immortalise special memories & special people, onto high quality canvas wall art, to be enjoyed for years to come.

So, the next time you’re thinking of a special gift for grandparents, and you really want to raise a smile – don’t go out & buy a plant, or a scarf – find a really special photo, and have it transformed into a high quality canvas print.

This mothers day – surprise mum, by having one of her favourite photo’s of the kids transformed into a high quality canvas print.

Also, surprise grandma / Gran / Nana – with a personalised photo canvas print of the grandkids.

You can’t give a mum or grandma any more special a gift than their children / grandchildren, so if you really want to make mum / grandma happy this mothers day – the photo canvas is the way to go.

Canvas prints are no longer a very expensive gift – although there are still some outlets which charge very steep prices, advancement in printing equipment & increasing competition has caused an increase in the quality of photo canvas prints – but a decrease in cost – making photo canvas prints a very special but very affordable gift for any occasion.

Are you looking for personalised gift ideas that really mean something to near & dear ones?

If so, one of the most popular personalised gifts of our time, the personalised photo canvas

- also known as box canvas, stretched canvas, and canvas wall art – has got to be the number one candidate.

Despite the huge success of photo canvas prints over the past few years, there are still some people who have not been exposed to this idea – if you haven’t then read on – but if you have, you may be very surprised by the advancements which has taken place in canvas printing technology over recent years – leading to increased quality & decreased costs as a result.

When canvas printing was in its infancy, the concept attracted many people – however the prices put most people off, as it just wasn’t very affordable to begin with, due to the cost of the equipment & consumables, and the fact that not many people could afford the equipment meant that there was not much competition to push the prices down.

However over the period of a few years, advancement in printing technology has reduced the price of professional canvas printing technology, which has increased the competition in the industry, and as a result of increasing competition and helped by the internet revolution which has also taken place over the past few years - the prices of personalised photo canvas prints have reduced a great deal, while the quality of prints has increased.

Today, photo canvas prints are extremely popular, and are growing still in popularity, thanks to the stunning results given by today’s canvas printing technology, and the fact that they’re now affordable.

It is right that canvas prints should continue to flourish in popularity, as the number of people taking their own photographs is also increasing enormously, while the number of people actually printing out their photo’s is decreasing at the same rate – as just about everyone now has a digital camera, and most people do not have digital photographs professionally developed, which means that as a result many of us have hundreds of fantastic photographs on file, on hard drives & memory cards, that will never be enjoyed, even if they’re printed they are usually printed on home desktop printers, which do not usually produce particularly high quality & colour fast prints.

So, embrace the canvas prints revolution as many others have done, and actually do something worthwhile with the great photographs you have sitting idle on hard drives, disks & memory sticks.

Save your photos from the murkiness of having a only digital existence, and breath life into them by having them transformed into dazzling photographs that will take you back to memorable times & events whenever you look upon them.

And do it while you still can…..

We all have packs of old photo’s in cupboards, in lofts – in the future, will we have old hard disk drives in lofts, old memory sticks & camera memory cards – if so, how long will they last, and will computers in the future be able to read these files, if in fact they are still readable at all??

You may think this is going over the top, but really it’s not, just look at how fast technology is increasing. Do you have any files or images on floppy drives? They were very much the norm only a small number of years ago – they’re now pretty much obsolete. Anyone aged 30 something or older can remember vinyl records like they were yesterday, and even reel to reel.

The chances are, if we don’t do something with our photo’s, they’re not going to be sitting around in attics and cupboards in ten or twenty years, many will have been lost on obsolete & failed storage devices, and this is a real shame.

So – stop this from happening, find your favourite photo’s, rescue them from their temporary digital homes that will one day be lost for ever – and transform them into canvas art prints, that you’ll be able to enjoy for many, many years to come.

Why not bring heart-warming memories back to life and create art from your photos, by turning them into canvas prints.

Canvas prints give photos & artwork a rich, textured appearance – and using deep chunky wooden frames, give printed canvases a very high quality look.

The boom of canvas printing as an industry, has been made possible by the way that canvas arts brings photos and art work into a new dimension, adding a great deal of value in the process, this has been made possible thanks to the developments in digital printing technology.

Thanks to the increase in printing technology, and the decrease in price allowing more companies to get involved in canvas printing, more & more companies & individuals have begun producing canvas prints over the past few years.

The increasing competition in the world of canvas printing is great news for the customer, as it means that canvas prints are now affordable to everyone, gone are the days where the only people who can afford personalised canvas prints are the rich & famous.

Only a few years ago, it wasn’t unusual to see price of hundreds of pounds or more for large canvas prints, while there are still some outlets & photographers charging a very high price for high quality personalised canvas prints, canvas prints are available from a number of outlets both online & offline, for very affordable prices.

What to look for in a canvas print

There are many providers of canvas prints at affordable prices, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone is offering quite the same product.

When looking for a company to turn your photos / images into personalised canvas prints, some of the area’s you should pay attention to are :

• Quality of the frames
• Quality of the inks used
• Quality of the canvas itself
• Quality of any pre-print design work
• Level of after-sales service offered
• Level of pre-sales service offered.

Quality of the frames

The quality of the frames the canvas is stretched onto, is very important. While there are ready made, factory made frames available on the market, these are generally not as high quality as hand made frames produced to order by the company producing the canvas prints.

Quality of inks

There is a range of different inks available on the market, ranging drastically in price from being the same price per ml as cheap beer, to being the same price per ml as very high quality champagne. The difference however isn’t only in the price, but in the colour fastness of the prints. The more expensive inks on the market offer UV protection for many years, whereas the cheaper inks on the market often offer a lot less UV protection. Also, the more expensive inks are usually a lot more consistent in terms of colours, which means that your print is more likely to be true to the original photo or artwork in terms of colour reproduction.

Quality of the canvas

There are various qualities of canvas available for printing, the better quality canvas used, the better the print will look, and the longer it will remain looking this way.

Quality of any pre-print design work

There is often a certain amount of preparation that is needed in terms of editing & modifying an image before printing the image onto canvas, the more experience the designers have, the better this work is likely to be, which will have an effect on the finished canvas print.

Level of after-sales service offered

How well will the company look after you as a customer in the future, after you’ve parted with your cash?

If you buy the canvas print for valentines day – for example, and by summer you have an issue, such as a problem with the frame warping, colours fading – whatever the problem may be, how will the company react?

Admittedly it’s quite difficult to know this, but there are good indications, for instance how long has the company being trading for? If the company has been going a long time, the chances are that they offer a good after sales service, as companies who do not usually do not get a good enough level of repeat business & referrals to keep trading for a long period of time.

Looking for a company with a good trading history is one of the best ways to ensure you’re going to get a good after sales service – but also ask the company, don’t be afraid to ask the question “what happens in future if I have a problem?” Also, check their website, does the website give the impression that they’re a company interested in looking after their customers? If it’s a very well made website, which has cost money to produce, a company is unlikely to do this & then offer a terrible service, usually how much time & effort has gone into designing the website, is an indication of how serious they are about the business.

Buying canvas prints from Auction websites, from sellers who do not sell canvases on their own website, and who do not have their own physical presence other than on the auction website, can be a tricky business in terms of after sales service. We’re not trying to say that companies who do sell their goods on auction sites do not offer good service, but that if the company doesn’t also have it’s own presence online – giving you their full address, contact details, and full details on the company, you have no real way of knowing anything about the business, and whether or not the company is likely to provide a good service.

Ignore feedback

It’s not a good idea to take auction website feedback into consideration when looking for a reliable company to purchase from. Feedback has to be given within a short space of time having received the goods, so all this is an indication of is whether or not the company is providing the goods – it’s not saying anything about the after sales service offered by the company.

Level of pre-sales service offered

Although pre-sales service isn’t a perfect way of gauging how a company is going to treat you once you’ve parted with your cash, it does give you an indication.

If you put in a request for help before you’ve bought from a company, and they’re not very forthcoming with help & support, then it’s unlikely they’re going to be any better than this once you have purchased from the business. So requesting help prior to purchasing is one good way of being sure that you’re going to be looked after properly once you have purchased from the company.