Do canvas prints show less detail than poster or photo paper prints?
Asked 11/28/2015
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I want to print high-resolution photos at around 18x24 and 30x40. From examples I’ve seen, canvas prints sometimes look softer or lower resolution than prints on poster/photo paper. Is that actually true, and if so, why?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
10y ago
2 Answers
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If you refer to canvas as cloth, and paper as a glossy paper, yes.
The final resolution a printer can deliver depends a lot of the quality of the material you will be printing on.
This is mainly becouse an effect called "dot gain", which is how much a dot of ink (mainly liquid) spreads on the fibers below it.
If you have a tiny droplet of 5 (lets say) microns, and the fibers suck that ink 5 more microns your dot gain is 100%.
But if your minimum dot is 50 microns, the same absorption of 5 is only 10%. So on an absorbent material you choose to have bigger droplets so you can have more control.
As small details will not be resolved, you could use a lower resolution on your image.
On a glossy paper (or coated one) the paper has a coating that prevents the paper to suck the ink, so this droplet stays in place.
Let us say that you could use a 200ppi image on a coated surface and 100ppi on a canvas.
Originally by user37321. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user37321
10y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Often, yes—canvas can appear less detailed than poster or photo paper, but it depends heavily on the specific canvas and printing process.
The main reason is that canvas is a textured, absorbent material. Ink can spread into the fibers (“dot gain”), which reduces the sharpness of very fine detail. Because of that, printers may use larger ink droplets or settings that favor control over maximum detail. Glossy or coated photo papers usually hold ink closer to the surface, so small details stay crisper.
That said, not all canvas is the same. Coatings, fiber count, surface treatment, and print quality all affect the result. A well-made, properly coated canvas print can still look very good, but paper—especially glossy or coated photo paper—typically preserves fine detail better.
So if your priority is maximum sharpness and resolution, poster/photo paper is usually the better choice. If you want a textured, artistic look, canvas may still be a great option.
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