casts_by_fly
Suspended / Banned
- Messages
- 694
- Name
- Rick
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Hi guys,
I thought I'd give my review as canvasses are popular and these guys are relatively inexpensive. I now have canvases from 3 sources so I can make some comparisons.
One click had a groupon in April for 100 quid of product for a 28 quid groupon. My wife and I wanted to get a BIG canvas (48" x 32" or so) of one of my Africa photos and something that size was 100 quid. Made the groupon an easy decision- who can beat a 48x32 for 28 quid? Well looking through the pictures and the overall quality, I didn't think I could blow up a 6 MP from my D40 to enough quality, so we went with 3 pictures at 30"x20" and paid an extra 50. Ordered them on May 25th, website said 2 wks for delivery. After 2 weeks I followed up and was told it was taking 4 weeks because of the rush of orders. At 6 wks I followed up and was told "I can't give you a date since I don't print them myself. There is a backlog from the rush of orders". I wasn't happy with that so after some pushing they agreed to rush the order to meet my deadline (I'm traveling for a month starting next week). Sure enough, they came yesterday to work.
The packaging was disappointing. There were three canvasses total. There were 2 sheets of thin bubble wrap between #1 and #2 and #2 and #3 which was okay. There was then another 2 sheets of wrap on the outside edges (which is also fine by me). But then the outer pack was a thin plastic wrap, about the equivalent to a big bin bag. Nothing substantial to protect and it would have been easy for something to poke right through it. There were a 2-3 places where the corners/edges were ripped down to the bare canvas and in 2 places the canvas was marked (one rear corner, another rear edge. Both are on the edge where the canvas touches the wall so it is close enough to hidden that it isn't obvious.
The canvas printing looks good. I will put them on the wall today, but overall the canvas is of a good weight (pretty heavy) and the colors are exact to what I sent and expected so big plus there. The canvas is wrapped and stapled as you'd expect. No backing tape though. I didn't expect it would, but it is a nice touch. I'll probably get some and do it myself as I have a bunch of others (bought by work) that are the same. The canvas is a little loose and 'flappy'. They looks okay on their own, but when you compare to higher quality canvases it doesn't look as nice. It is a solid wood frame, but no spacers/stretchers so I can't tighten the canvas.
Overall, I would give them a 'just okay' rating as a source. I'll grant them some time delay on the printing because of the volume of orders that the groupon surely created, but not that much and with no communication. The overall quality is acceptable as a casual print. They are a decent value for money if you can live with the shortcuts they have taken to keep the costs down (stretchers, backing tape, packaging, etc). I would not use them if I was selling the canvas as this isn't the quality that I'd sell to someone else.
I'll post a picture of them on the wall once I have them up later today.
Thanks,
Rick
I thought I'd give my review as canvasses are popular and these guys are relatively inexpensive. I now have canvases from 3 sources so I can make some comparisons.
One click had a groupon in April for 100 quid of product for a 28 quid groupon. My wife and I wanted to get a BIG canvas (48" x 32" or so) of one of my Africa photos and something that size was 100 quid. Made the groupon an easy decision- who can beat a 48x32 for 28 quid? Well looking through the pictures and the overall quality, I didn't think I could blow up a 6 MP from my D40 to enough quality, so we went with 3 pictures at 30"x20" and paid an extra 50. Ordered them on May 25th, website said 2 wks for delivery. After 2 weeks I followed up and was told it was taking 4 weeks because of the rush of orders. At 6 wks I followed up and was told "I can't give you a date since I don't print them myself. There is a backlog from the rush of orders". I wasn't happy with that so after some pushing they agreed to rush the order to meet my deadline (I'm traveling for a month starting next week). Sure enough, they came yesterday to work.
The packaging was disappointing. There were three canvasses total. There were 2 sheets of thin bubble wrap between #1 and #2 and #2 and #3 which was okay. There was then another 2 sheets of wrap on the outside edges (which is also fine by me). But then the outer pack was a thin plastic wrap, about the equivalent to a big bin bag. Nothing substantial to protect and it would have been easy for something to poke right through it. There were a 2-3 places where the corners/edges were ripped down to the bare canvas and in 2 places the canvas was marked (one rear corner, another rear edge. Both are on the edge where the canvas touches the wall so it is close enough to hidden that it isn't obvious.
The canvas printing looks good. I will put them on the wall today, but overall the canvas is of a good weight (pretty heavy) and the colors are exact to what I sent and expected so big plus there. The canvas is wrapped and stapled as you'd expect. No backing tape though. I didn't expect it would, but it is a nice touch. I'll probably get some and do it myself as I have a bunch of others (bought by work) that are the same. The canvas is a little loose and 'flappy'. They looks okay on their own, but when you compare to higher quality canvases it doesn't look as nice. It is a solid wood frame, but no spacers/stretchers so I can't tighten the canvas.
Overall, I would give them a 'just okay' rating as a source. I'll grant them some time delay on the printing because of the volume of orders that the groupon surely created, but not that much and with no communication. The overall quality is acceptable as a casual print. They are a decent value for money if you can live with the shortcuts they have taken to keep the costs down (stretchers, backing tape, packaging, etc). I would not use them if I was selling the canvas as this isn't the quality that I'd sell to someone else.
I'll post a picture of them on the wall once I have them up later today.
Thanks,
Rick