Printing on Canvas with the Epson R2400

When I wanted to test printing on canvas, I looked at various brands. I decided to use rolls rather than sheets which limited my choices since this printer is limited to a thirteen-inch width.

I decided to use Breathing Color’s canvas, Brilliance Chromata White. The price of the canvas was reasonable. It was forty feet vs. the twenty feet on other brands. I also purchased a pint of their varnish and roller.

Breathing Color furnishes a profile for this canvas and gives instructions to select Watercolor Radiant as paper choice in the print dialog. This didn’t work too well since Watercolor Radiant is only available for manual roll. This will try to eject a print when complete resulting in a lot of canvas ejected.

The forty-foot roll’s diameter is too large to use with the Epson roll holders. I peeled off about twenty feet (inadvertently) which allowed me to use the roll holder. I”ll look at making a different roll holder later.

I used Enhanced Matte for the paper choice and the Breathing Color profile. This worked very well. If I decide to stay with this canvas, I’ll pay for a custom profile.

My initial tests were made from a dragonfly photo. I made one print that was eight inches square and a second print that was ten inches square. I added a once-inch border to the second print.

The colors were very good, and the detail was great. The wow factor is high.

I have mounted the canvases on stretcher bars. This takes some practice. I intend to do a project of dry mounting the print and framing the result.

There were quality problems with Breathing Color Canvas toward the end of the roll. I didn’t catch the flaws until after a print. Subsequently, I checked the canvas for flaws before I printed and removed the blemished areas.

I will continue to print on canvas. If I use stretcher bars, I am limited to ten to eleven inches maximum for the width. By adding a matting type frame to the picture, I can cover the sides of the bars with a matching color. Dry mounting will cost more, but allow larger prints. Stretched canvas and dry-mounted canvas can be framed. Glass is not required which also eliminates the requirement for matting. A protective coating is recommended which can be applied by foam roller.

I am very happy with the results of printing on canvas. The appearance is good, and the product is more robust than paper. I’ll no doubt be testing other canvases in the future. Meanwhile, I’ve ordered a second roll from Breathing Color.