Walk into almost any South African home and the art on the walls tells you something about the people who live there. At Artworld we print that art every day, and the one question we hear more than any other is simple: is a canvas print actually good quality? The honest answer is that it depends entirely on how it is made. A canvas print can be a flimsy, washed-out poster stapled to soft wood, or it can be a rich, vibrant piece that stays bright on your wall for years.
This guide explains what separates the two, and why, after years of making wall art in South Africa, we chose canvas as the heart of everything we do. We'll walk you through our printer and inks, the protective glaze, the timber inside every frame and our hardwood floating frames, so you know exactly what you are buying. Ready to browse? Every design in our canvas prints collection is made this way.
What is a canvas print?
A canvas print is an artwork printed directly onto woven canvas, which is then stretched tightly around a wooden frame called a stretcher. The print wraps around the sides (a "gallery wrap"), so the piece looks finished from every angle and can hang on its own with no frame at all.
That is where the similarities between canvas prints end. Three things decide whether a canvas print looks great on day one and still looks great years later:
- The canvas itself: how wide a range of colours it can hold, and how stable it stays over time.
- The printer and inks: how many colours the printer can lay down, and whether the inks are pigment or dye.
- The surface protection: whether the print is sealed, or left bare to collect dust, fingerprints and fading.
- The structure: what the stretcher bars are made from, and how the canvas is held flat and square.
You may also have come across the term giclée, which usually describes fine art prints made on archival papers and canvases for collectors and galleries (we explain it in what is a giclée print). Our canvases use the same professional Epson pigment inks, on a canvas chosen for vivid colour and everyday living spaces.
Why we chose canvas over paper behind glass
Paper prints behind glass have their place, and we still offer fine art paper prints for people who love that look (we compare the options in framed art vs canvas prints). But for most homes, canvas simply works better, and here's why we built Artworld around it.
No glass, no glare
Glass reflects. Put a glazed print opposite a window or under downlights and you often see the window or the light, not the art. A canvas print has no glass at all, so the colours read clearly from every angle, at any time of day. That matters in South African homes with big windows and bright light.
Safer and lighter
With no glass, there is nothing to shatter in a kids' room, a busy passage or a home in a windy coastal town. Canvas is also far lighter than a glazed frame of the same size, so even large pieces are easier to hang securely.
Texture and depth
Canvas has a subtle woven texture that gives prints a painterly, gallery feel, especially for paintings, African landscapes and abstract art. The deep 45mm edge adds real presence on the wall, so a canvas looks like an object, not a poster.
Our canvas: Angelo Matte synthetic canvas
Great colour starts with the surface you print on. We print on Angelo Matte Bright White, a 280gsm synthetic canvas chosen for its excellent colour gamut: it can hold a wider range of colours than ordinary canvas, so vivid hues stay vivid and subtle tones stay subtle instead of turning muddy.
Because it is synthetic, it is also stable. Natural cotton canvas reacts to moisture in the air, which can make it slacken or ripple over time. A synthetic canvas is far less affected by humidity, so it stays smooth and tight on the stretcher, whether you live on the humid coast or the dry Highveld. Its bright white base gives punchy contrast and a crisp, modern finish, which the semi-sheen glaze (more on that below) then seals and protects.
Our printer: 11 colours and Epson UltraChrome pigment inks
Every Artworld canvas is printed in our South African workshop on a professional Epson large-format printer that uses 11 separate ink colours. Most desktop and budget printers use four. More inks mean the printer can mix far more precise colours, which you notice most in:
- Smooth gradients: skies, sunsets and soft backgrounds blend without banding or blotches.
- Deep, rich blacks: black and white prints have real depth instead of looking grey and flat.
- Accurate natural tones: ochres, greens and earth colours, the palette of so much South African art, stay true to the original.
- Fine detail: the texture of a zebra's coat or the brushstrokes in a Van Gogh stay crisp.
Just as important is the type of ink. We use Epson UltraChrome pigment inks, not dye inks. Pigment particles sit on the canvas surface and are far more resistant to fading than dyes, which is why professional print studios use them. They are highly UV- and fade-resistant, so your colours stay bright and brilliant under normal indoor light.
The glaze: a semi-sheen coat that protects the inks
Here's a step many canvas printers skip. Once a print is dry, we coat it with a protective glaze with a semi-sheen finish. Think of it as an invisible shield over the Epson UltraChrome inks. It does three jobs:
- It protects the inks from moisture, scuffs and everyday handling, and adds an extra layer of protection against fading.
- It makes the canvas wipeable. Dust and fingerprints come off with a lightly damp cloth, so your art stays clean without special products.
- It gives a beautiful finish. Semi-sheen sits between flat matte and high gloss: colours look rich and saturated, but there's no mirror-like shine to reflect your lights.
That wipe-clean surface is why our canvases do so well in rooms where paper and glass struggle. Steam, splashes and cooking grease are part of life in a kitchen or bathroom, and a sealed canvas copes with them happily. Browse our kitchen wall art and bathroom art collections for pieces made for exactly those spaces.
Inside the canvas: kiln-dried pine stretchers
What's behind a canvas matters as much as what's on it. The stretcher bars are the wooden frame the canvas is pulled over, and if they bend, twist or shrink, the canvas sags, ripples or stops hanging flat.
Our stretchers are made from kiln-dried pine. Kiln drying slowly removes moisture from the timber under controlled heat before it is ever cut into bars. Wood that still holds moisture keeps moving as it dries out in your home, which is how cheap canvases end up warped. Kiln-dried timber has already done that moving, so it is far more resistant to warping and stays straight and square.
South Africa is tough on timber. Coastal homes from Ballito to Cape Town deal with humidity and salty air, while Highveld winters are bone dry. A stable, kiln-dried stretcher keeps your canvas tight and flat through all of it.
Hardwood floating frames: the finishing touch
Our ready-to-hang canvases look great on their own, but for a truly finished, gallery look, many customers choose a solid hardwood floating frame. The canvas is mounted inside the frame with a fine shadow gap around the edge, so the artwork appears to float. It's a cleaner, more modern look than a traditional frame, and because there's no glass, nothing gets between you and the art.
We make our frames in three finishes:
- Knysna Blackwood: a rich, dark-brown South African hardwood with beautiful grain.
- Ash: a pale, natural wood that suits Scandi, coastal and light interiors.
- Black Sprayed Ash: a crisp matte black for bold contrast and modern spaces.
Together, a glazed canvas on kiln-dried pine stretchers inside a solid hardwood floating frame is a very durable combination. The hardwood protects the canvas edges from knocks, adds rigidity to large pieces and looks every bit like a piece from a gallery. Read more about how they're made on our floating canvas frames page.
How to choose the right canvas size
We print every artwork to order, from A4 up to A0 and a large 95 x 135cm, as well as square and panoramic formats for the artworks designed for them. A few quick rules of thumb:
- Above a sofa: aim for art about two-thirds the width of the sofa. One large canvas or a set of 3 art prints both work well.
- Above a bed: go wide and keep it 20 to 30cm above the headboard. Our guide to wall art above the bed covers sizes in detail.
- Hanging height: the centre of the artwork should sit at roughly eye level, about 145 to 150cm from the floor.
- Not sure? Use the See it in your room button on any product page: upload a photo of your wall and preview the artwork at real size before you order.
Planning several pieces together? Our step-by-step guide to creating a gallery wall shows you how to plan the layout and spacing.
Caring for your canvas print
One of the best things about a glazed canvas is how little care it needs:
- Dust it now and then with a soft, dry cloth or a feather duster.
- For marks or fingerprints, wipe gently with a cloth that is just damp with clean water. No chemicals, solvents or abrasive cleaners.
- Avoid hanging any artwork in harsh direct sun for hours every day; even the best inks last longest out of strong UV.
- Don't hang canvas directly above a heater or fireplace where it gets very hot.
How to spot a quality canvas print
Whether you buy from us or anyone else, here's a quick checklist to help you judge a canvas print:
- A quality canvas with a wide colour gamut, ideally a stable synthetic that won't slacken with humidity.
- Pigment inks, ideally from a professional multi-ink printer, not dye inks.
- A protective coating, so the surface can be wiped clean and the inks are sealed.
- Kiln-dried timber stretchers that feel solid and sit flat on a table with no rocking.
- Tight, even canvas with neat, square corners and no ripples.
- A clean gallery wrap with the image continuing around the edges.
- Made to order locally, so you know who made it and who to call.
Frequently asked questions
Are canvas prints good quality?
They can be excellent, but quality varies widely. Look for pigment inks, a protective coating and kiln-dried stretchers. Every Artworld canvas is printed on Angelo Matte synthetic canvas with 11-colour Epson UltraChrome pigment inks, glazed with a semi-sheen protective coat and stretched over kiln-dried pine.
Do canvas prints need glass?
No. A sealed canvas doesn't need glass, which means no glare, no reflections and nothing to break. Our protective glaze does the job glass would, while keeping the colours clear from every angle.
Can you clean a canvas print?
Yes. Because our canvases are glaze-coated, you can wipe them gently with a lightly damp cloth. Avoid cleaning products or solvents.
Will my canvas print fade?
Our Epson UltraChrome pigment inks are highly UV- and fade-resistant, far more so than dye inks, and our glaze adds another layer of protection. Hang it out of harsh direct sunlight and it will stay bright for years.
Find your canvas
Every Artworld canvas is printed, glazed, stretched and framed to order in our South African workshop, and delivered nationwide. Shop all our canvas prints in South Africa, start with our bestsellers, explore African decor and our Earth and Spirit collection, or browse our full range of canvas prints and wall art. Want to know more about the people behind it? Read our story.
