On this page 8 sections
These guidelines help your photo come out on canvas the way it looks on your screen. Every upload is checked automatically for size and resolution before anything is printed; add File check and a person looks at it too. Getting it right first saves you a day.
Your photo: the 60-second check
- The original file: straight from your camera or phone, not a screenshot or a copy sent through a messaging app.
- Big enough: about 150 dpi at the finished size for canvas, 300 dpi for art prints looked at close up.
- Same shape: a landscape photo on a landscape canvas, a square photo on the 30 × 30 cm square.
- Clear edges: faces, heads and words away from the outer edge, which wraps round the frame.
- Bright enough: very dark photos print darker than they look on a phone screen.
- Spelt right: names, dates and captions checked twice, because we print the file you send.
Which file to send
A high-resolution JPG straight from your camera or phone is ideal. PNG and TIFF are fine, and so is a PDF for a finished design. Made a collage in Canva or another app? Export it at the largest size and best quality it offers rather than sending a screenshot.
How many pixels each size needs
A canvas is looked at from a step or two away, so 150 dpi at the finished size looks sharp. These are the pixel sizes that gives:
| Canvas size | Pixels for 150 dpi |
|---|---|
| 20 × 30 cm | about 1,200 × 1,800 |
| 30 × 30 cm (square) | about 1,800 × 1,800 |
| 30 × 40 cm | about 1,800 × 2,400 |
| 40 × 60 cm | about 2,400 × 3,550 |
| 50 × 70 cm | about 3,000 × 4,150 |
| 60 × 90 cm | about 3,550 × 5,300 |
Most phones from the last few years take photos of 3,000 × 4,000 pixels or more, which is plenty for every canvas size. Photos saved from social media are usually much smaller and suit only the smallest sizes.
The edges of a canvas
A canvas print is stretched round a wooden frame, so the outer edge of your picture wraps round the sides. Keep faces, heads and any words well inside the edge. In the online designer you can see the wrap line, and you can choose a plain colour for the sides if you would rather keep the whole photo on the front.
Photo panels and Plexiglas prints
Photo panels and Plexiglas prints are cut flat to the size you order and nothing wraps round, so the whole picture shows. Add 3 mm of extra background on every edge if you are sending a finished design, and keep words at least 10 mm inside the edge, more if you chose drilled corners.
Art prints and wall art prints
Art prints are looked at close up, in a frame, so they need about 300 dpi at the finished size: around 1,750 × 2,480 pixels for A5, 2,480 × 3,510 for A4 and 3,510 × 4,960 for A3. Add 3 mm bleed on every edge and keep important detail at least 5 mm inside the trim, more if a mount will cover the edge.
Colours
Screens glow, ink does not, so very bright greens, blues and oranges can print a little softer than they look on a phone. Turn off strong filters and night-mode colour tints before you upload, and if a photo looks dark on your screen, it will look darker on canvas.
No time to fix the file? Four ways round it
If the automatic check finds your photo too small for the size you picked, you can upload a better file, tick that you will send the right file later, add File check (£4.99) so a person looks at it and holds the order until the right file arrives, or hand it to our artwork and design service, which can lay out a collage, set a name or a caption, or redraw a logo at a fixed fee. Not sure? Ask us.