Photography News Issue 63

Photography News | Issue 63 | photographynews.co.uk

First tests

PermaJet Canvas P3, P4, P5 From£125

Specs

Images The rusting car image waswell suited to canvas output – here printed on P3 –with thematerial’s texture adding to the texture and rust of the wreck. This image of silver birches waving about in a galewas toned slightly in editing, and that warmth made it ideal as a contender for printing onto P4 with its creamy base. P5 did a great jobwith the light tones of the wedding shot, with thewhite base making sure the bokeh came out looking very clean

P3 POLYCOTTON MATT CANVAS Prices & availability Available as 18-metre length rolls in widths of: 24in £118.95; 36in £169.95; 44in £249.95; and 60in £299.95 wide-format rolls Material A cotton rich polycotton blend of 20% polyester and 80% cotton OBAs Yes Weight 380gsm Compatible Dye and pigment aqueous inks P4 100% COTTON NATURAL MATT Prices & availability A3+ 10 sheets £36.95. In rolls, available as 18-metre length rolls in widths of: 17in £88.95; 24in 124.95; 36in £186.95; and 44in £219.95 wide-format rolls Material 100% cotton, OBA free Weight 360gsm Compatible Dye and pigment aqueous inks Available as 18-metre length rolls in widths of: 24in £124.95; 36in £186.95; 44in £219.95; and 60in £409.95 wide-format rolls Material A cotton rich polycotton blend of 10% polyester and 90% cotton Weight 350gsm Compatible Dye and pigment aqueous inks Contact permajet.com P5 POLYCOTTON BRIGHT WHITE MATT Prices & availability

around 1.75in around the actual image to allow for stretching and stapling on to these wooden stretchers. Yes; enter the world of canvas printing, and disciplines to produce a final print are different from mounting and matting a standard print. You need to think about final image size when you are making the canvas, for example. A selling point of these PermaJet materials is that they are crack proof so when you are folding the image around a wooden frame, there’s no problem with the printed image. I tried P3, P4 and P5 through an Epson SC-P800 with Epson inks. This is anA2 printer so it can take 17in wide materials. To start with, using an X-rite i1 Studio I made myself ICC profiles for each material using A4-sized sheets which I fed through the normal media channel and had no problems with these heavier but floppy material sgoing through the printer. From that, I made a few prints from a selection of landscapes, abstract and people images. P3 at 380gsm is the heaviest of the three canvas materials and said to give brilliant colours and deep blacks. I was happy with the way it handled my test scenes delivering quality results and rich colours for a matt

PermaJet’s product range continues to grow and with it the opportunity for enthusiast photographers to produce very individual looking work at home. It is true that these canvases are aimed at high-production outlets but there is no reason why quality canvas images can’t be produced at home if you own a decent photo-quality A3+ printer. I was delighted with my results. All that’s left to do is to buy some stretchers and finish the job. finish. Colour accuracy and neutrality rated highly too. With a 100% cotton base and no OBAs, P4 has a creamy paper base and the finely textured surface is said to make the most of fine detail. That was certainly true and in a portrait, every hair was crisply defined. If you want a softer result, adjust the original file rather than relying on printing on canvas to do it for you. The warmer base suited high key images well and pale tones looked more welcoming comparedwiththecoolerreproduction of P3 and P5. The material with the brightest, most white base was P5. That helped with contrasty scenes and mono shots too where the base maintained the crispness and depth of the original. I enjoyed using all three canvas materials, with P4 being my personal favourite with its creamy off-white base which added its own character to my shots. Image quality on all three finishes impressed and with their crack-free, water resistant, nicely textured surfaces, they have a great appeal. WC Verdict

Photographs better when they don’t look or feel like photographs, and that’s why canvas printing is so popular among fine art workers and social photography professionals. Inkjet media specialist PermaJet has collections of fine art and production canvas materials. Here we look at its three production canvas products, simply named P3, P4 and P5. These canvas materials are compatible with home inkjet printers but there are logistics that need considering. Of the three materials, only P4 is available in sheet form, and in A3+ size, ten sheet packs . If your horizons extend further, as is very likely, you need to buy a roll. PermaJet sells P3, P4 and P5 in 18-metre rolls, obviously aimed at the professional output market. So your option is to buy a roll, perhaps shared among photo friends to keep initial outlay down. Buying a roll is one thing, cutting it to sizes that suit your printer is another and you’ll need a good pair of craft shears, the sort used by tailors and dressmakers. You need a clean cut but cutting accuracy is less of an issue because canvas prints are stretched and stapled onto wooden stretchers. When working on images you need to remember you need a border of often sell

These canvas materials are compatible with home inkjet printers

Above From left to right, the surfaces finishes of P3, P4 and P5. The OBA-free P4 is obviously the more creamy of the three materials and you can see the surface characteristics of each are slightly different with P5 being the smoothest canvas finish and also with the coolest hue

P3 Polycotton Matt 380gsm

P4 100% Cotton Natural Matt 360gsm

P5 Polycotton Bright White Matt 350gsm

Pros Colour performance, water- resistant finish, good blacks Cons Roll sizes mostly, so high initial outlay

Above To be honest, you may not see an awful lot of difference in the performance of the three materials in newsprint, but trust us – P4 is a slightly warmer material and all three materials delivered detail-packed images with superb colour fidelity