Ever stretch your own canvas print before?

[d2creative]

I always stretch my own bare canvas for painting, but I've never had a canvas print made and then stretched it. Anyone here do this? It's SUBSTANTIALLY cheaper than buying the gallery wrap.

[auddii]

I was just talking to a guy tonight who would rather stretch his own because he prints a signature on them, and it always ends up cut off when someone else stretches it. I don't know if that means he's stretched his own before or if he just was displeased with have other people stretch it for him.

[duronboy]

It's certainly easy enough to do your own, there's no reason not to, unless you have severe extreme arthritis. Takes about 10 minutes, tops. I was going to pay Hobby Lobby $14 to do my first one, but they were booked solid for 2 weeks. I'm glad I was forced to do it myself, because it was a lot easier than I thought.

I bought the frame at hobby lobby, along with the canvas pliers. They have a 40% coupon, so the $22 canvas pliers were just over $13. You'll also need a heavy duty stapler. A razor blade and a flat, clean, and firm work area is nice, too. I watched these videos:

Canvas wraps Part 1 - YouTube

Canvas wraps Part 1 - YouTube

Canvas wraps Part 2 - YouTube

Canvas wraps Part 2 - YouTube

Canvas wraps Part 3 - YouTube

Canvas wraps Part 3 - YouTube

How to Create Neat Box Canvas Corners - YouTube

How to Create Neat Box Canvas Corners - YouTube

Personally, I wouldn't try a canvas where there was white border on the sides the client sees. It's difficult to get the stretch exactly the same tension all the way across so lining up that white border on the corners could be tricky. Plus, it just looks cooler when wrapped all the way around.

Here was my first try:





It's not really a big deal, but I felt stress handling a $150 canvas for the first time with a staple gun!

[stephenpinn]

Armadillo Photo Supplies here in Houston sells a stretcher kit that is supposed to be quite easy to use. Not sure if I would bet the bank on double sided tape but I guess you could augment the "hold" with a staple or 30.

DIY Gallery Wrap

[duronboy]

It's easy enough to do without a 'kit' but the hard part is finding professional canvas printing with out a mounting option. I mean, BWC took good care of me, but $152 is a bit much for a 20x30.

[J Eddington]

Yes, I stretch my own. I have been doing LARGE prints that don't fit in the car or jeep so I will install it at their home and stretch it after I get there. It is less likely to be damaged that way. It is pretty simple and easy.

[Fireball]

I stretched my first one a few months ago. Ordered a 26x30 from Nations Photo Lab for only $105. It was $165 stretched so I figured I could do it myself.

My husband made the stretcher bars for me from a $4.00 piece of trim from Lowes. I then stretched it around those and used an electric staple gun. It was very easy and definitely something I will be doing from now on to save alot of money.

Here it is of the Flamboyant Tree in Cozumel which I had to do alot of editing to to get it art worthy. It turned out gorgeous all stretched! My first one so I was pretty excited! Actually remodeled my son's bedroom around these colors and added "Shockey Photography 2011" at the bottom.

Here's the original:


And my edited version: