Canvas Quality

When looking to get photos printed onto canvas there are likely to be two main concerns:
Price and Canvas Quality

While we all probably guess that cheap means poor quality and expensive means good quality it's worth considering what actually makes canvas prints good or bad.

Once again there are 2 key elements.
The canvas itself and what goes onto the canvas.

The Canvas itself.
Material
Canvases come as a mixture of two key types of material, cotton and synthetic fibres.
Synthethic canvases are cheaper to produce than cotton canvases but are also considered by many to be of a lower quality.

In particular, people concerned with the quality of synthetic canvases often note that synthetic canvases have been known to yellow over time due mostly to the concoction of chemicals that go into them.

However synthetic canvas also has some strengths over cotton canvas. Most notably it is usually stronger. This is important as it means that synthetic canvas is less likely to sag over time. Also the concoction of chemicals that concern some people can help to make colours appear more vibrant.

As such there is no clear answer when it comes to the material you should use for your canvas print. Your best option is probably to find a canvas printer who prints onto cotton and synthetic canvas and ask to see some samples. Then you should simply choose the one that looks best.

Thread Weight
Thicker weighted canvas costs more than thinner canvas but is also more likely to hold its shape over time. Again, owing to the resilience of synthetic fibres, you can probably get away with a lower weighted synthetic canvas than cotton canvas.

Once again it is probably best to find a printer who offers a range of options then decide based on aesthetics.

What goes on the Canvas
Ink
Higher quality inks will give better quality colours and a higher fade resisitance.

Lacquer
Lacquer adds a number of benefits. First it protects the ink meaning that your canvas will be more resilient to knocks, dust and cleaning. Second it usually includes a compound that helps protect the ink from UV damage. By covering the ink it also helps protect your print from moisture.