Originally posted by civiletti Canvas - How long will it last?
This writer suggests that a protective coating is needed to prevent fading of canvas printed photos on display, and that environmental pollutants are more damaging than UV light.
Its sort of an odd article, he talks about the life of canvas and then often refers to dye inks. But finally at the end, he says pigmented inks have been tested to last more than 100 years.
The canvas printer i use claims 200 years. I tell my customers that if they see significant fading in 200 years, bring it back and i'll replace it
The term giclee inkprinting gets tossed around a lot, my understanding is that giclee means only that particulate inks are being used. And particulate inks are very important to longevity.
Also, I highly recommend that one get the clear coating, wr and uv coating, recommended in the article. Many places charge an extra $5 or fee for it - well worth it.
Now for my test:
I recently had a canvas printed incorrectly, so i tested it for cleaning ability. I ran a regular pencil over it for some friends, and then demonstrated how the 6" long pencil mark could be removed by water and a mild liquid soap. I even used a synthetic kitchen scrub pad to help me remove the pencil marked. It cleaned off fairly easily with no apparent damage to the print.
Previously i had an abrasion marks on a favorite canvas that my wife really liked. It looked like a cat had clawed it by jumping off the floor, but none of our 3 cats said they knew anything about it
. In any case, i had concluded i was going to have to reprint it for my wife, but tried cleaning it first with water, mild soap and cotton cloth. Remarkably, it all cleaned off.
Framed glass covered prints can get quite heavy. especially if they are of any size. I had one greedy customer try to carry 2 of my 1'x3' framed prints to the sales desk. he dropped one and the frame/glass shattered. Of course he then said he didn't want to buy that one
. I just printed a 24" by 36" canvas print and stretched it, quite reasonable to carry around.