Breathing Color Lyve Canvas

My Breathing Color Lyve order arrived here later this afternoon thanks to UPS. I was going to wait till the morning to do my first major print (60x30) however I decided to jump right in.  

I've spent the day printing test images on the 17" roll I had ordered and am very pleased with the results. I normally run my own profiles however Ken Doo has been using Lyve for some time now volunteered to send me his (we use the same identical printer and ink) so that saved me a lot of time. 

The image being printed is of Oxbow Bend which is 60x30 or 64x34 actual print image before stretching. After making certain all the boxes that needed to be checked were, I started the print process.

 The images were all captured using my Droid cell phone (yeah I know high tech) at various intervals during the printing process. It took slightly over 86 minutes to complete the print which looks great. The plan is to protect it in the morning using Glamour II before stretching early Sunday morning.

Stay tuned as I plan on updating this to include my thoughts of the stretching.




Don

 

Saying good-bye to Epson Canvas

I've been printing on Epson canvas for as long as I've owned an Epson 9800. The first canvas I used was Epson Premium Satin that had a base weight of 350 gsm (grams/sq meter) and 19 mil thick. I was very pleased with the canvas in not only the image quality but how well (and easily) it stretched.

Sadly Epson discontinued the "Premium" line of canvas and introduced the "Exhibition" canvas.  Exhibition canvas has a base weight of 450 gsm and is much thicker at 23 mil.  The thickness is much like what you might find in sailcloth. Okay that might be an overstatement however it is thick.

I've tried to learn to love the new "improved" canvas; I failed to see any real improvement in image quality.  Likewise, stretching the images became a real chore.  The smaller images like 40x30 and 50x30 began taking up to twice the time as before.  This morning I attempted to stretch a 60x30 and after close to 3-hours I gave up.  The canvas is just too thick for my taste.

So what will I be replacing it with?  After talking over the list of gripes I have with the canvas with Ken Doo I took his suggestion and contacted Breathing Color.  After all, Epson from my understanding doesn't actually manufacture their canvas - someone else does.  That aside, I'll be using Breathing Color Lyve which is 19mil. 450 gsm poly-cotton canvas that is archival certified and OBA (optical brightener additive) free. 

I've seen images Ken has printed using Lyve and they are stunning.


So good-bye Epson canvas.




Don

Update January 12th - Added a link to Breathing Color.  Also need to say just how impressed I am with the customer service there. 

Happy New Year

Oxbow Bend WY

50x30 

Moose

40x30

Its been awhile since our last blog and we wanted to take the time to wish all our friends and followers a very Happy New Year.

Aspens Meadow

60x30

 Fall Reflections

40x30

We've been busy since returning from Jackson. Busy getting ready to return next month. Jackson has been very good to us having sold images before we left and taking orders for more. As we reported earlier, we'll be displaying our art at the Homewood Suites by Hilton in Jackson and are very excited. The hotel is hosting a get-together for us on Friday February 17th so if you're in the neighborhood please stop by. We'll give more details on the get-together as we learn them.

Tetons

40x30

Mist

30x20

We've be busy doing the final processing on the images than are retuning to Jackson. This processing has been an ongoing thing that's taken just about all our energies. After we process an image we run a test print before printing full size. Once the final print is done Don gets to stretch the image which is a challenge at times. We've had to go to our venders to order the supplies necessary which is normally not a big deal. Unless it's 2-weeks before Christmas.

Buffalo

28x36

John Moulton Barn (sunrise)

50x30

The images included here are those that we've sold as well as those that will be on display.  While we took an order for a few images on paper, these are all printed on canvas.  We have been using Epson's Exhibition Satin canvas for sometime now and find it gives the effect we want while being somewhat easy to stretch.

Oxbow Bend Panorama

(parent image of Fall Reflections)

60x30

Twins

30x20

There's little more to add here other than enjoy the images and we'd like to see you if you're in the Jackson Hole area the week of February 13th.

Can't forget this one....

Again, Happy New Year to all!

Sandy & Don