Day 5 – Can’t Miss Christmas Gifts – Canvas Prints (Updated 2015)

Day 5 of my Twelve Days of Custom Photo Gifts series is here! Today’s pick is canvas prints. I admit, I’m quite obsessed with canvas prints. I think I’m going to fill my whole house with them!  I’m also going to be giving canvas prints as gifts myself this year. We have some wonderful birthday photos that are begging to go up on our walls (and the grandparents’ walls)!

Canvas prints how do I love thee? Let me count the ways…

1. I love that you don’t have to worry about buying a frame for canvas prints. You open the package and it’s up on your wall in minutes;
2. Canvases are lighter in weight than framed prints so I worry less about them with regards to childproofing;
3. As much as I love photo books, canvas prints are much quicker to make as gifts. Just select a photo, drag and drop and you’re done;
4. Compared to fine art, canvas prints are an affordable alternative to buying art for your walls. Personalized art and family photos should be a part of every home’s decor;
5. So many companies are printing canvases now – even the photo book companies are jumping on the bandwagon – more competition usually means better deals for us! It’s really easy to find a canvas deal. I have lots of them posted on my Groupon/Living Social deals page and they pop up everyday. There’s no reason to pay full price! You’ll also find additional canvas deals on my canvas print deals page.

Below is a quick chart of some companies that offer canvases. Many sizes are offered, but I chose to compare 1.5″ canvas thickness in the 16 x 20 size as that seems to be a common product offered across companies.

Custom Canvas Comparison Chart (Updated 12/2015)

Company	Product	Cost	Base Shipping	Special Features
Mixbook	16 x 20 canvas	$89.99	$11.99	Finished backing; 1.25″ thickness
Snapfish	16 x 20 canvas	$79.99	$12.99	Offers framed canvases too.
Picaboo	16 x 24 canvas	$99.99	$12.99	Photo panels and posters available too.
Shutterfly	16 x 20 canvas	$99.99	$12.99	Many sizes available; Many design options, collage
Smilebooks	16 x 20 canvas	$79.95	$11.99	Split canvas offered, metal, aluminum, acrylic products too.
Photobook America	16 x 20 canvas	$99.00	$15.99	Gallery wrap and borders available; many sizes – largest is 60 x 40″

PHOTOBOOKGIRL’S CANVAS PRINT TIPS

• A single photo on a canvas is standard, but you can create a collage, or any type of layout you want (with external design software or with free online photo editing software);
• You can either have the edges of your photo wrap around the sides of the canvas, or have a solid color border added so that your image fills the entire frame (and doesn’t wrap). I personally prefer to have a border since I usually crop my photos pretty tight. I want to see the image that I composed in my camera appear as faithful as possible on the canvas;
• Groupings are very popular – you can create a whole wall of photos with various sizes of canvases;
• Split the image – triptychs are also very popular (where you split a single image into three separate canvases);
• I prefer 1.5″ thickness – it looks more substantial;
• A neat idea for a canvas that I saw on Pinterest was to scan an item that is near and dear to you (such as a handwritten note, or a ticket stub, or a handwritten recipe card from grandma or an envelope from a love letter) and enlarge it onto a canvas. Isn’t that a cool idea? I’m going to think about what I have in my box of treasures that I’d like to see on a large scale.

HOW DO I GET A DEAL ON CANVAS PRINTS?

Check my Canvas Print Coupons and Deals Page

Since many of the photo book companies also offer canvases in their product line-ups, I also post these deals along with other photo gift deals on my photo deals page. Additionally many companies will have 40%, 50% and sometimes 60% off site-wide which would also apply to canvas prints!

Check my Canvas Print Groupon Tracker

Don’t forget about those crazy Groupons and daily deals – you can typically get upwards of 60% off using a Groupon or daily deal. I keep track of all the photo related Groupons and Living Social deals on my Groupon Tracker page across the U.S., Canada and many international cities, so you don’t have to sign up under every city to find out where the deals are. Remember you don’t have to live in that city to take advantage of an offer. Since these companies operate online, you can buy a deal from Cleveland if you live in NYC. I would recommend that folks stick to their deals within their own country however and be sure to read the fine print as each deal can have different details.

DAY 6 COMING SOON!

Be sure not to miss any of my gift ideas! I’ll be archiving all of them on the main Photo Book Girl gift page as we go through all 12 days so be sure to check back! I’d love to hear if you’re planning on making any of my picks for someone on your list! Comment below.