Articles

When you print your customer’s images onto canvas you’re not just printing a photo or design, you’re printing their memories and ideas. That’s why it’s so important to get it right. But it’s not just that! Often, you can have a great product but if your audience is not aware of it, they’ll be missing out on a good thing! That’s why communicating your products and services effectively is just as important.

First, let’s take a look at some of the most important factors in creating the perfect canvas for your customers.

Creating the perfect canvas print

#1 Quality of the digital print

Arguably the most important part of the process for a canvas is printing the actual artwork or photo well. Using a high quality printer with non-fading ink you should be able to create a bold and lasting print every time.

Another way to make sure your canvas comes out perfect is to make sure you draw from the best quality images you can. Ask clients and customers to provide the highest resolution images at the best DPI they have.

This will allow for as much detail as possible in your prints. If they cannot provide you with a high quality picture to print from and they still want it printed, there are a few things you can do to minimise degradation. 

#2 Quality of the canvas used

Second to the printing quality is what you print on! Don’t cut corners. Use good material, be it cotton canvas, gloss paper, polyester canvas or satin paper. Choose the right material that can absorb ink well and hold its shape for the best finished product. The right material is important to avoid sagging and maintain the integrity of the product.

#3 Build quality and longevity

Make sure the construction of your frame and canvas is the best it can be. Changing suppliers can be a real hassle but massively beneficial in the long term, sometimes resulting in getting your frames and canvas cheaper and of equal or better quality.

Will your ink or canvas fade over time? Does direct light effect your product? You may need to upgrade your ink. Customers want to know that your product will last a long time, just as it should do! Making sure you use ink that does not fade and canvas that does not discolour even in bright light will bring a longevity to your product and a smile to your customers face.

How is the frame held together? Simply gluing the frame together has traditionally been the most used method of construction, however the newest system to hit the industry is the Adventa QuickPro ArtWrap Canvas that can be assembled in seconds without compromising on quality, using unique fold and lock process. The QuickPro ArtWrap Canvas requires no specialist knowledge or expensive equipment. In fact, you only need a stapler, a pair of scissors and a pair of hands.

If you have not yet tried the QuickPro ArtWrap Canvas, click here to find out more.

Now let’s take a look at some important things to remember when communicating your product to your customers.

Delivering the perfect canvas print

#4 Offer alternatives and variety

Offering alternative frames and styles that will help you reach the maximum user base. For example, you may want to offer triptych and collage styles. Make sure you have a product for every price range so you don’t miss out on vital customers.

Be sure to offer a range of add-on products. This can be a range of frames for photos, frame hanging wire, paints, stationary, house warming presents, anything you think will go well with your main service. Add-on products such as magnets, keyrings, placemats, bags, mugs and phone cases are also great to extend your product range. The list is extensive, if you would like to browse through some ideas, why not check out our product range here.

#5 Special Offers and Discounts to boost sales of your prints and canvases.

Customers love to feel they are getting a great bargain while shopping online. To help deliver your canvases to your customers a sale or discount can be just the encouragement needed to get people to your website or store.

What types of offers should I run?
This will depend on your profit margins and what you can afford. Buy One Get One Free offers are always very popular, but you can also offer 10%, 20%, 30% off and so on. Or you can be creative and come up with your own offer specially for your customers, mixing and matching products or working on the upsell.

#6 Marketing and Social Media

When thinking of a sales campaign don’t forget to market it! This can be done on social media like Twitter and Facebook, or the classic email newsletter, letting people know you have a great promotion on right now and they should visit your site. 

Social networks are great for spreading the news and can help you interact better with you customers along with providing faster feedback and customer support.

Be sure to browse these networks often for your products and company keywords, read any posts about your product to get a sense of how your customers are using them and what people like.  
Make your company its own Google+ page, this will allow for your company info to show on direct google searches and help your SEO power.

Be sure to make a YouTube channel with interesting content on. Guides on how to select the best images to use, how to clean your printed canvass, how to assemble the canvas frame if they are using the QuickPro ArtWrap Canvas, and so on.
Try and make these look as interesting as possible without looking cluttered. Use YouTubes brilliant custom thumbnail images to make sure your video stands out in the crowd.

Make sure to hit those keywords when you upload any videos, using http://www.betterwaytoweb.com/tag-generator-for-youtube is a great tool, type in your main keyword you want to use and it will recommend others you may have not thought about.

Try to attain subscribers so people will be informed about any new videos you post via email and their YouTube inbox.

The Perfect Canvas for your customers

So there we have it, a brief insight into canvas creation and the promotion of your products.

If you have any further questions or are interested in using the QuickPro ArtWrap Canvas, just drop us a message or give us a call to discuss.

Here at Adventa we strive for perfection. We aim to innovate and not just simply follow the crowd, delivering the best possible solutions for our clients.

So as I am sure you understand we do a lot of research and thought it would be good to let you know about the top 10 Canvas Print Websites. These have been judged on a number of factors with a focus on the ease of use of the websites.

If you are setting up as a Canvas Print company, especially with an online presence, it is essential that you do a great deal of competitor analysis and research.

Learn from the industry leaders, what works, what draws customers, what is easy to use. Take notes of their mistakes and any attention to detail that has been missed. Consumer testing is essential as the customer must be able to easily navigate, use and order on the website.

Let’s take a look at some of the biggest, most popular sites in the industry and see what we can learn and observe;

1/  Photobox.co.uk

Probably one of the biggest in the market and due to this they deliver what you would expect. The website is slick, very easy to use with clear pricing and instruction along with some very obvious discount codes, again allowing you to get a good price.

All products within the canvas range have tabbed options for Size, Depth and Shape - offering Panoramic, Square and Rectangular options, there is a simple and quick image upload allowing you to view a digital version of your canvas, again with the option of having your image wrapped right around the frame or the option of a white border (No wrap).

They really have covered all of the bases. In summary, Photobox have delivered a nice looking and easy to use website, with a wide range of options allowing you to get the product that you are looking for.

2/ Hellocanvas.co.uk

Again, Hello Canvas have a nice website, that leads you into a Canvas Print page that gives you all of the prices and options available again with Square, rectangular and panoramic options delivered in a clear and concise manor. The image upload is quick and simple to use again with the option of having the image wrapped or not, however they do have the option of adding a floating frame that adds a nice effect to your image.

As a nice touch to the site they also have an explanation of how to use there simple to use hanging kit that comes free with all canvas orders.

3/ yourcanvasprinting.co.uk

Your Canvas print is next, and I like this site. I feel that it delivers everything that you may want in different sizes, but adding the split panel canvas as an option. However, the site feels slightly busy with a floral background distracting me from what I am actually trying to find. (This is my own personal preference and I am sure that some will love this little quirk)

The site feels slightly less intuitive than the previous two, with bright colours everywhere, except for where the “start creating” button is. This is slightly obscured by a mobile friendly message and once you click through it takes you off to a separate website (Dakis), that, as stated earlier was not very intuitive, and you were never sure if you were previewing or actually placing an order.

That being said, this company does offer all of the options that the others do and a few more. With some slight design changes and interface enhancement this site could easily stand up as one of the best online.

4/ asda-photo.co.uk

Well as you would expect Asda-photo.co.uk delivers a nice clean (Slightly basic looking) Website. It appears to lack some of the options offered on the dedicated canvas print sites, but makes up for it in other areas, for example with its options on finishes and borders.

It is very easy to use, with an intuitive image upload and editing suite. Great site, like it!

5/ tescophoto.com

Tesco deliver a great site offering all of the options you could dream of; panoramic, square, rectangle, multi-panel and collage canvas print.

There is a downside here; you need plenty of clicks to get anywhere, and when you get there the tool they have for getting your image onto the canvas is not as easy to use as it could be.

Again there are lots of tools to allow you to edit, rotate, add effects and that is great, but I would also like to see an option to have it automatically fit to frame.

In conclusion with this site if you have a more technical familiarity then I am sure you will find this tool great, but if you are not so, then maybe visit one of the other websites previously mentioned.

6/ my-picture.co.uk

This website goes back to the dedicated print on canvas site. The homepage is slightly confusing with no real explanation, but with a very clear call to action of upload photo.

At that point, if the photo/image you are trying to upload is not of sufficient quality then it will not let you upload, which is good as it ensures that the canvas you receive will be of good quality.

However, you do then get taken off to a page saying upload failed but then does not explain what size image you should upload, or how to get back to the upload image page, you are left a little stranded.

Once you have your image in, the tool is quite nice, allowing you to swap between products, sizes etc, with a nice editing and effects tool.

So if you can get passed the slightly confused homepage, then mypiture.co.uk has a nice natural website for you to use.

7/ customcanvasstore.co.uk

As the name suggests this is also a dedicated canvas print site and behaves as such. Nice and easy to use, a fantastic editing suite, lots of options and very clean professional look.

The only real issue I found with this site is a slightly obscure issue, if your image name is too long then the next button disappears off the side of the screen, making it impossible to continue. As I say this may be reasonably unique to me as the image I chose did have an extremely long name, but just something to be aware of.

I make this point to illustrate the importance of extensive user testing when launching your canvas print website.

I would say one of the nicer looking easier to use Canvas sites.

8/ canvasdesign.co.uk

I really like this site, nice and clean, very straightforward, and something a lot of the others don’t have, a nice concise description of exactly what you are getting directly on the home page.

Once you have uploaded your image the editing suite is beautifully set out with icons and text, and each time you update your selection the price automatically readjusts. With little touches like a simple Inch – Cm chart visible and a clear button for help with any technical questions such as “what is a bleed” and if that doesn’t answer your questions you have a clear live chat available at all times.

I really like the look feel and usability of this site, they have really thought of the user journey and process here, well done www.canvasdesign.co.uk.

9/ albelli.co.uk

Much like the canvasdesign.co.uk site, Albelli has a nice clean and concise introductory page with fantastic descriptions of what they offer along with all of the options available on their Canvas Print, laid out in a clear and easy to follow manor. I do like this as there is no confusion moving forward on what or how to order.

The editing tools are nice, and there is a fun little smiley or sad face to indicate whether the resolution is correct or not.

All around the clibelli.co.uk has a nice system that makes editing and buying your canvas nice and straight forward.

10/ canvasonline.co.uk

Ok finally but by no means last canvasonline.co.uk has the cleanest of all the designs and the same upload and editing suite as canvasdesign.co.uk, in fact there a many similarities between the two sites, but both are easy to use and look good with that clear and concise journey for the user.

Maybe they are related; maybe they are not either way both sites deliver a great experience for the end user, who will be able to get the exact canvas they are looking for using this simple solution.

In Summary

These are our top 10 of canvas printing websites. I hope you have had chance to read through and visit the sites that interest you the most of all.

Remember to always take note of what impresses you as a user and facilitates a simple and easy experience.

If you are running or looking to set up your own canvas printing website, we have a great deal of articles and resources that can help. To view these, take a look through our complete news section found here.

We also recommend exploring our QuickPro ArtWrap Canvas, one of the latest, most ground-breaking products to be introduced to the canvas print industry.

This unique product has proven to substantially improve efficiency without compromising on quality, and well worth a look.