I recently stumbled on a archived thread here that mentioned a company I've never heard of for canvas prints: CG ProPrints. Just checked them out, and they seem legit, high quality and MUCH cheaper than Bay Photo/Smugmug which I currently use for my canvas vendor.

Anyone have experience with them? I'm probably going to order some samples but I'd love feedback if there's any to be had. Thanks!

They are awesome. Plus it is perfect to do dropship. They dont put their marking/brand. They just put their office address, that's it. They are in Colorado about 1.5 hours from me. They wrap it nicely, put backing right behind the canvas, finish the back, and put hanger for horizontal and vertical. They also dont sell it to general public if clients do find the website.

Love them! Great quality and great prices. I especially love that they include backing and hanging hardware for no extra charge. However, the internal structure is not made of wood, but a hard foam/cardboard, which some professionals think lowers the quality. I dont mind it.

Here is a great review: http://www.slrlounge.com/canvas-print-review-editorial

mirrorrim wrote:
Love them! Great quality and great prices. I especially love that they include backing and hanging hardware for no extra charge. However, the internal structure is not made of wood, but a hard foam/cardboard, which some professionals think lowers the quality. I dont mind it.

Here is a great review: http://www.slrlounge.com/canvas-print-review-editorial

Saw that review. Crazy quality for the price.

These guys seem too good to be true.

Robin Usagani wrote:
They are awesome. Plus it is perfect to do dropship. They dont put their marking/brand. They just put their office address, that's it. They are in Colorado about 1.5 hours from me. They wrap it nicely, put backing right behind the canvas, finish the back, and put hanger for horizontal and vertical. They also dont sell it to general public if clients do find the website.

The fact that they put their prices on the site for the public to view REALLY bothers me. But the likelihood of my clients ever googling canvas vendors is about 0%... C'est la vie, I guess.

I'm really happy with them, and I used to print my own canvas, so that's saying something. I found that it's actually cheaper for me to use them than to do them myself, and the results are fantastic. I don't like the idea of drop shipping, because a curious client could always google their address, and like you said their pricing is publicly available, so that sucks. I don't know how they are able to offer the prices they do, but who am I to complain?

That pricing is insane! I think I just found a new canvas vendor.

... I just used them for the Christmas season and I loved the results! My clients were thrilled, and I was thrilled with the pricing! Just wish the pricing wasn't publicly visible.

FYI, I just looked at their website and gave them a call.

They say they use 8 color printers but wouldn't provide the printer brand, type of ink?
They say they have icc profiles for their printers but don't supply them to customers?
While only having 8 colors claim to produce neutral black and white prints. Hard to say they don't, but typically you need more than one black to get a neutral print.

For me I found their lack of knowledge (phone person), and unwillingness, or inability, to discus any specifics, or details pretty much a deal breaker.

While the pricing is attractive it's hard to see how one could be comfortable with a company who claims to cater to professionals yet will not discus any specifics or provide an icc profile for soft proofing.

Sam

I just ordered from them to see how they compare to Simply and BayPhoto. I like the de facto overnight shipping since they're only 2 hours from me. Hopefully they are as good as Robin says

FLSTCSAM wrote:
FYI, I just looked at their website and gave them a call.

They say they use 8 color printers but wouldn't provide the printer brand, type of ink?
They say they have icc profiles for their printers but don't supply them to customers?
While only having 8 colors claim to produce neutral black and white prints. Hard to say they don't, but typically you need more than one black to get a neutral print.

For me I found their lack of knowledge (phone person), and unwillingness, or inability, to discus any specifics, or details pretty much a deal breaker.

While the pricing is attractive it's hard to see how one could be comfortable with a company who claims to cater to professionals yet will not discus any specifics or provide an icc profile for soft proofing.

Sam



Whatever floats your boat man. I'm sure not going to write them off because one CSR happens to not know everything about ICC profile. Seems like a really arrogant/short sided thing to say.

The pricing is more than attractive. It's ridiculously cheap. For the quality they provide, it seems too good to be true.

I have ordered a few and they have been very nice for the price. They certainly stand up to a Bay or BRI "photographic canvas" and are much less expensive.

This probably doesn't show up great but this is the first one I ordered - 16x24

I ordered two from them. No issues so far.

R---

FLSTCSAM wrote:
FYI, I just looked at their website and gave them a call.

They say they use 8 color printers but wouldn't provide the printer brand, type of ink?
They say they have icc profiles for their printers but don't supply them to customers?
While only having 8 colors claim to produce neutral black and white prints. Hard to say they don't, but typically you need more than one black to get a neutral print.

For me I found their lack of knowledge (phone person), and unwillingness, or inability, to discus any specifics, or details pretty much a deal breaker.

While the pricing is attractive it's hard to see how one could be comfortable with a company who claims to cater to professionals yet will not discus any specifics or provide an icc profile for soft proofing.

Sam



Your loss. They are awesome !!!

I just used them to knock out like 14 Christmas presents last week. I purchased several smaller canvases to give to family, friends, and clients of course. I'll order some more this week for some other clients. Their price is the lowest, but the quality of the product is (to me) indistinguishable from more expensive options.

I also like the fact that they use a straight-forward pricing strategy so I don't have to wait for specific sales and other promotions to get the lowest price.

So it looks like they're glued around foam core, rather than wrapped and stapled to a wood frame. I'm not sure how this would impact long-term quality. I don't think the difference would be discernible at all upon initial inspection of two otherwise identical products.

Does glue come undone over time? Will these things fall apart 10 years from now?

Does foam core hold its shape as well as a wood frame over time? Does it perform worse or better?

I'm into my second year of using them.

There is an intial problem with the fact that they don't provide profiles. Their process is, however, consistent, so I've determined the correction factor I need to apply. I've made it a Photoshop action that I apply to any file I intend to send to them.

Originally, their canvases were conventionally stretched over "composite wood product" frames (not regular lumber frames). That was quite good.

The current product is canvas glued to a thin fiberboard panel (about 1/16-inch) and that is wrapped around a 1-inch styrofoam board, then another thin fiberboard panel is glued to that as a backing. It strikes me as a cheaper product compared to true stretched canvas, and I can't sell anything with that much glue as having any kind of serious permanency--in other words, it's not a "premium" product for me.

I've just recently finished a fading test with their product. I kept a CG print in a south window through the summer since last April with a twin stored in a box in a drawer. When I compared them earlier this month, there was no visible difference.

However, I do continue to use them. I have a couple of public display venues, and Circle Graphics' prices have enabled me to pump up the print sizes for those displays, as well as allowing me to change them out more frequently. It also makes some of my "less than premium" print services more profitable.

James bjenknis wrote:

Whatever floats your boat man. I'm sure not going to write them off because one CSR happens to not know everything about ICC profile. Seems like a really arrogant/short sided thing to say.

The pricing is more than attractive. It's ridiculously cheap. For the quality they provide, it seems too good to be true.

Sorry if my post seemed arrogant. My feeling when posting was more of disappointment. I wanted to be impressed and to place an order. But, yes I am skeptical by nature. You know the old saying "If it seems to good to be true, it isn't."

Their pricing is less than I can do at home, and that is if I calculate my time, equipment and labor at zero!

I am looking for the catch, or if there isn't any catch what are the real cons?

Sam

Misty wrote:

Your loss. They are awesome !!!

Maybe, maybe not, but with posts like yours and other glowing reports maybe I should give it a try.....................but then again I am very hesitant without additional data.

Sam

Ian Ivy wrote:

So it looks like they're glued around foam core, rather than wrapped and stapled to a wood frame. I'm not sure how this would impact long-term quality. I don't think the difference would be discernible at all upon initial inspection of two otherwise identical products.

Does glue come undone over time? Will these things fall apart 10 years from now?

Does foam core hold its shape as well as a wood frame over time? Does it perform worse or better?

Finally real info and a valid question! This type of research is what I consider due diligence. I warrant my prints for as long as I live! I need to know how outside prints are done, materials used, etc.

I obviously have no idea what kind of foam core is used, but my experience with foam core is that can warp fairly easily, and doesn't have the structural integrity of wood.

Some of the new adhesives are impressive, but I haven't seen any that would out last a staple.

Sam

A good post with real info!

Thanks!!

Unfortunately the cost in time and money for trial and error method of soft proofing is not real appealing to me. :-)

Sam

FLSTCSAM wrote:
A good post with real info!

Thanks!!

Unfortunately the cost in time and money for trial and error method of soft proofing is not real appealing to me. :-)

Sam

Took me only one print (small one), not much money and no more time that it has taken me with printers who provided profiles--I've never found profiles perfectly accurate.

"Cheap and big" fits a number of my needs, just not my prestige product line.