Caring for your photographic art

How to care for fine art prints

Fine art prints are delicate so avoid touching the print surface with bare hands as the moisture and oils from your skin can affect print quality. To avoid damage hold prints by the edge or wear cotton gloves while holding them.
Ideally, take your print straight to a framer, do not take it out of the protective tube.
If you are handling or arranging framing of the print yourself, please wear white cotton gloves which are lint-free and designed for handling art.
Where artwork must be handled without gloves, please wash your hands and dry thoroughly prior to touching. Natural skin oils and moisturisers can easily damage the print. If it is possible for you, do not touch your print without gloves. Do not touch the printed image with your skin, only the white edges.
Please use two hands to support your print, be careful not to allow the print to bend as creases are permanent. We recommend you ask for help from another person.
Be careful not to scuff or scratch the image side of the print. Never attempt to rub the surface of the image with your finger or fingernail as this could easily scratch the surface of the print.
Store prints properly; protect them from airborne contaminants, moisture, UV light and high temperatures.
The cardboard tube/triangle your print has arrived in is not suitable for long term storage. However, your print is safe while wrapped in the special acid free tissue paper that we have provided and will be fine for up to a few months in the tube. When you take the print out of the tube, please allow time for it to flatten under its own weight before framing.
When displaying prints in frames, mount them under glass to minimise exposure to humidity, smoke and the atmospheric contaminants. UV glass is the premium option to maximise protection from UV rays, whilst improving the look of your artwork. When framing leave a gap between the glass and the print.
Do not display framed fine art paper prints outdoors.
Framed or unframed, avoid placing prints in direct sunlight as UV light can cause the colours to fade over time.
Once framed properly, a fine art print can survive for decades.

Cleaning

Never use cleaning products or water as this may permanently damage the print.
Be careful with dusting, do not rub the print, even a soft rag can result in damaging the print.
If using compressed air, apply short bursts while keeping the nozzle at least 12″ back from the face of the print.
Do not blow on your print as you may inadvertently deposit water droplets that can mark your print.

How to care for canvas

The tips for handling canvas are similar to the tips above for fine art paper prints. Canvas prints must be handled with care however, canvas is a little more forgiving to handle than Fine Art Paper and doesn’t have quite the same needs.

Canvas prints do not require framing under glass. But please avoid direct exposure to UV light, moisture and other contaminants.
The very nature of a natural product such as cotton canvas means that there will be imperfections (lumps and bumps) on the surface of the canvas caused by the variations in the cotton threads that make up the canvas. This is normal and a feature of cotton canvas.
After unrolling the print from the packaging, please use two hands to support the print so it will not bend. Even better, take you print directly to the framer still in its packaging, rather than handle it yourself.
Our canvas prints are “mirror wrap” where the image stops at the canvas edge and the sides to be wrapped reflect the main image. The size of the main image will be the size of your ordered print. The mirror reflections will add at least 40mm of printed image to each edge of your canvas. The mirror reflections will be marked with black lines to help guide stretching and framing. The mirror reflections are designed to be the sides of a stretched canvas, hence the 40mm reflections.

Cleaning

Canvas prints can be cleaned with a light feather duster. If anything marks your canvas or stains it, seek expert advice such as a fine art print framer.