Suggestions solvent ink durability on canvas

[Anastasi55]

I need feedback from the hive here. My boss is looking to make fine art prints of illustrations done on our proprietary clothing line. He wants to know how long these prints would last on canvas media. Has anyone here done this type of printing, and what are your results?

 

[BigfishDM]

It will last a very long time, just make sure you request canvas that is made for the machine that you are using and you will be fine.

 

[Anastasi55]

It will last a very long time, just make sure you request canvas that is made for the machine that you are using and you will be fine.

But how long is "very long?" My boss wants to sell these prints, I'm sure at a high price, and he wants them to last for a decade for the purchaser.

 

[Gino]

You say 'clothing line'. Is this canvas gonna go in the wash or have chemicals involved to clean it ?? I've printed on lotsa canvas media, but never to be worn or washed.

 

[Anastasi55]

You say 'clothing line'. Is this canvas gonna go in the wash or have chemicals involved to clean it ?? I've printed on lotsa canvas media, but never to be worn or washed.

No washing - it's a fine art version of prints that are on our T-Shirts. We might have had some requests from clothing customers for this...

 

[BigfishDM]

But how long is "very long?" My boss wants to sell these prints, I'm sure at a high price, and he wants them to last for a decade for the purchaser.

10 years inside would be fine I'm sure.

 

[Gino]

You might wanna think about a high end aqueous printer. They are the machines for high end printing for fine art illustrations. Solvent can't touch it and latex is in a different game altogether on fine arts stuff. We got some kinda canvas with the name Davinci in it. Haven't used it in a long time, but one we have yet is about 20 years old and looks as good as the day we printed it, except it was rolled up and got a little lop-sided.

 

[Category5]

I have a couple of canvas prints at home that were done at least 10 years ago on an old Roland. Still look great.

 

[unclebun]

We've been printing canvas on our 10-color Epson S70670 since we bought it at the introduction. The prints from it are as photo-perfect as you can make and they have no loss of color in that time. Prior to that we used a 6-color Mimaki JV3, and prints from it that we made 13 years ago are still perfect also.

 

[ColorCrest]

I need feedback from the hive here. My boss is looking to make fine art prints of illustrations done on our proprietary clothing line. He wants to know how long these prints would last on canvas media. Has anyone here done this type of printing, and what are your results?

The printer listed in your profile is an ideal machine for canvas so-called giclée work and is a popular choice for artists. The solvent ink property is as close to their artist's oil colors as currently practical.

Be sure the machine's heads and media advance is aligned. Be sure one has the rights to reproduce the artwork.

 

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

If latex and eco-solvent inks will last a few years outdoors unlaminated, I wouldn't even be remotely worried about indoor durability, even under extreme lighting conditions.

You might wanna think about a high end aqueous printer. They are the machines for high end printing for fine art illustrations. Solvent can't touch it and latex is in a different game altogether on fine arts stuff. We got some kinda canvas with the name Davinci in it. Haven't used it in a long time, but one we have yet is about 20 years old and looks as good as the day we printed it, except it was rolled up and got a little lop-sided.

Would it really make that much of a difference if you're only printing canvas though? Seeing as the canvas has an irregular surface texture as it is, I would think any solvent printer with a comparable color gamut to an aqueous printer would produce similar results. On paper, I can see where it would make a huge difference, but we run eco-solvent canvas prints from time to time and I find it hard to believe we could get much better results than we already do, aside from the limited gamut that's typical with our CMYK setup.

 

[Gino]

Yes and no. I know that's vague, but the old aqueous printers printed at a far higher resolution than any of today's solvent printers and latex doesn't even get close. Years ago we were doing reproduction of artists' original paintings and whether they were water colors, acrylics or oils, the artists were very finicky about seeing every last brush stroke and every hair and whatnot in their reproductions. They would use a jewelers loop to look at this sh!t. Anyway, I think our printer used 7 or 8 colors and we had quite a few people getting them. Some had them on canvas and others had us use water color paper. If done correctly, these prints could last up to 100 years or more if under the right conditions, which is mostly light sources.

I had experimented on some of my own paintings and was quite satisfied, but some of these people were very ornery...... to say the least.

To your question though....... some people could and would be happy with a regular solvent printer, but then you're not really doing a fine art reproduction as the OP had requested.

 

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

Yes and no. I know that's vague, but the old aqueous printers printed at a far higher resolution than any of today's solvent printers and latex doesn't even get close. Years ago we were doing reproduction of artists' original paintings and whether they were water colors, acrylics or oils, the artists were very finicky about seeing every last brush stroke and every hair and whatnot in their reproductions. They would use a jewelers loop to look at this sh!t. Anyway, I think our printer used 7 or 8 colors and we had quite a few people getting them. Some had them on canvas and others had us use water color paper. If done correctly, these prints could last up to 100 years or more if under the right conditions, which is mostly light sources.

I had experimented on some of my own paintings and was quite satisfied, but some of these people were very ornery...... to say the least.

To your question though....... some people could and would be happy with a regular solvent printer, but then you're not really doing a fine art reproduction as the OP had requested.

I guess when you're talking paintings, artists are possibly much more critical of the finished product, whereas our customers who just want a decent quality photo reproduction and see our samples in our showroom space are probably content enough with the output of our printer. There are days when I really wish we had gone with an eight-color setup on our Mimaki to hit better oranges, purples, etc, but we got ours as dual CMYK because we got a great deal on a demo unit.

 

[iPrintStuff]

It really depends how picky your customers are/how much you want to spend here.

We had an old canon IPF9100, canvases and detail were great on it, but it was a 12 colour machine and cost an arm and a leg to simply fill with ink.

As far as longevity goes, most solvent machines can get 2-3 years outdoors easily. 10 years should be a walk in the park.

 

[ikarasu]

You can liquid laminate them with uv lam if you want them to really last outside. Frog juice makes a decent spray. It gives it more durability also.... If you're OK with the change in look.

https://shop.ndgraphics.com/Products/Media/Docs/YNE137.pdf we use this stuff. We have some stuff that's been printed for 15+ years and moved around a lot. It's got a little loose.... But that's likely due to dropping and moving it.

But yes.. Youre not an art museum, and if you run a clothing line... I doubt whoever is buying these paintings expects you to be.

You'll likely have more issues with learning to stretch proper, how to do the corners while making it still look good... How to make frames properly, etc.