APA Definition

A canvas transfer is a process where a print image on paper is transferred to and backed up with canvas. To accomplish this, a paper-backed print is laid on a table and coated with a formula of acrylics. The chemicals used integrate with the print inks and, over a two-day period, are given a chance to cure between applications. The next day the coated print is put into a bath of chemicals and water and allowed to soak. At the time that the acrylics and inks (which are one) begin to separate from the paper, the wet print is removed from the tank. It is then laid on a table where the acrylics are peeled away from the paper. The wet, blank piece of paper is thrown away. At this pint, the film, which is thousandths of an inch think, is hand applied to a prepared canvas. Canvas transfers are durable and can be cleaned with warm water and mild soap if necessary. Permission of the copyright owner is required before a canvas transfer can be created.

Process

The quality of canvas transfers has advanced hand-in-hand with the available technologies. Today’s examples can even be printed with enough texture to simulate the impasto evident in an original oil. According to Robert Sher, president of the Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Bentley Publishing Group, there are actually three-and-a-half different ways to create a canvas transfer.

The first, as described in the Art Publishers Association (APA) definition, is termed the “wet transfer method.”

The second, which is a more recent invention, is called the “heat transfer method.” In this case, a film is applied to a paper print and then heater. This film melts and bonds with the ink. The print is then soaked, the ink/film layer is peeled away, and the layer is placed on a specially coated canvas. It is then heated again, “like a decal, it glues itself to the canvas.”

The third canvas transfer technique is known as the “pressure transfer method,” and this is something of a brute strength procedure. You simply take a print, without peeling off the color, and press it with extreme pressure onto the canvas. This bonding creates a sandwich, which can maintain its integrity.

Last, the “half-method” is known simply as “printing on canvas.” In this instance, a piece of canvas is fed through an offset press and printed with an image. It is not, technically speaking, a canvas transfer, although it does result in a seemingly similar product.