This post has taken about six months and $450 to bring together because I had to order and pay for the four 60 x 60cm canvas prints that I had done in order to do the comparison.

It all started about June last year when I tried to find a comparison on the Web for some of the many online canvas printing services available in Australia.

Anyone who knows anything about photo-quality printing would realise that there are going to be quality differences between all of these services. This can be due to such as: the complexities of colour balancing any kind of photo-quality printing devices; the quality of the canvas stock being used; the batch of the media, the make and type of printer/plotter being used; the skill of the operator; and many other variables that are involved.

Choosing which services to compare

One of the first problems was deciding which of the 30 or so online canvas printing services to compare. At $100 a print I wasn’t going to spend $3,000 and do all 30. Besides, what would I do with 30 canvas prints of the same picture? I’m not sure what I am going to do with just the four.

The loose parameters for picking the four services to compare were:

• Had to have a 60 x 60cm canvas print for about $100 inclusive of delivery.

• Comes up on the first two pages of searches on Google when you search for ‘canvas prints’.

• The printing is done in Australia.

The services chosen

After looking at the options, the four printer services I decided to go with were:

• MyPicture (here).

• The Canvas Factory (here).

• Office Works (here)

• Diamond Photos (here)

I know that there will be people asking what about SnapFish, CanvasPeople, VistaPrint, Canvas Prints Australia, Camera House, FabNess, CustomCanvas, etc. But I was only going to do four and I had to pick the four somehow.

The test picture

I needed to choose a good picture to use for the test. Something with blacks and whites because getting pure blacks and whites in a canvas print is a little tricky.

Also, something with texture and something that I had a high-resolution version of so that the print would be at least at 200dpi at 60 centimetres square.

After checking out numerous options I decided to go with the following picture.

Preparing for printing on canvas

I won’t go into everything you need to do to properly prepare a picture for printing on canvas, but this image was prepared for printing on matte canvas at 200dpi.

As most photographers would realise, when printing on canvas there is little point printing at any resolution higher than 200dpi. But it does obviously depend on the viewing distance. The further away the picture is going to be viewed from then the lower you can go on the resolution.

However, for viewing from about two to three metres away I find something from 150 to 200dpi is perfect.

Also, as most would be aware, for printing on matte canvas you typically need to slightly over-sharpen the image. This is due to pictures being printed on matte losing some of their sharpness. But, having said that, the degree of sharpening will depend on what you are going for. Sometimes you don’t want a canvas print to appear too detailed or sharp—such as with a portrait or maybe picture of pets.

Prepared picture sent to each service

Over a period of about five months, based on the availability of funds (being just a pensioner these days), I sent my test picture in TIFF format (so that the image is not compressed by JPG compression) off to each of the four printing services selected.

Canvas from MyPicture

I tried the MyPicture service first. Following is a high resolution colour balanced picture of their canvas print.

That little bit of grey paper you can see in the top right corner was used to ensure correct colour balancing was done for each picture taken of these prints.

Canvas from The Canvas Factory

My second test went off to The Canvas Factory.

Canvas from Office Works

My third test was with Office Works.

Canvas from Diamond Photos

And finally, the test canvas from Diamond Photos.

All of the four pictures above are 1,400 pixels on the y axis when viewed at full size.

Composite of all four

Following is a composite image showing all four test canvases going left to right, top to bottom: MyPicture; The Canvas Factory; Office Works; and Diamond Photos.

Full size this image is 2,000 pixels on the y axis.

My analysis

I need to state at the start of this that these prints are the prints that were done ‘on the day’ by each of these services. I am sure these services all check and re-calibrate their printers and plotters routinely. Additionally, one batch of media (in this case the canvas) might be just a little different from the next batch. As a result of things like this it is highly likely that this same picture sent to the same service today may not exhibit the same attributes I highlight below.

MyPicture

The print from MyPicture has a very obvious magenta cast causing the whites to look quite pink.

Definition and detail is good.

The print from MyPicture is exactly 60 x 60cm but it did not come with hanging string fixed to the frame. The stretcher frame is 2cm thick.

The Canvas Factory

It doesn’t show up so much in the pictures, but the print from The Canvas Factory has a noticeable green cast.

Definition and detail is not as good as MyPicture but not that soft that it should be a concern.

The print is actually 61 x 61cm and frame is 3cm thick. Hanging string is provided.

Office Works

Office Works were a bit of surprise.

There is no detectable colour cast evident in the print from Office Works. The print is a little warmer than my test picture, but it actually looks okay.

However, on the downside, this print is quite soft. Of the four test prints it is the softest. If you were going to use Office Works then I would recommend over-sharpening a little more than you might normally do.

Like The Canvas Factory, the print is actually 61 x 61cm and the frame is 3cm. Hanging string is provided.

Diamond Photo

I almost did not do a test with Diamond Photo because the cost was going to work out closer to $150. But then, just as I was about to choose some other service, they had a discount sale which made the delivered cost $110.

This print has the best definition and sharpness of the four. It very closely matches the test picture.

The blacks are black. Check the black muscle joining the two shells.

This print is a little colder (slightly bluer) than the test picture. But, for this picture of a shell on the beach, this kind of works okay. It might not be that good for sunsets or pictures that would normally be warm.

Like the previous two, the print is 61 x 61cm with a 3cm frame and it has the hanging string fixed on.

My Conclusion

Based on these tests I would probably not be using MyPicture or The Canvas Factory for my canvas prints.

For me, based on these tests, it would be a tossup between Office Works and Diamond Photo.

The slight problem with Diamond Photo is that they are usually more expensive unless they are having a sale.

I would also note that I am 95 percent sure that the MyPicture print was done in Germany and not done in Australia. And this might explain why it is exactly 60 x 60cm in a 2cm frame and has no hanger string, whereas the other three are 61 x 61cm (which is, interestingly, exactly 24 x 24”) with a 3cm frame and all have hanger strings fixed.

A brief comparison of four canvas printing services (Australia)