What is Gallery Wrapped Canvas?

by William Kenny

We use the gallery wrap canvas technique for our photo prints. But exactly what is gallery wrapped canvas?

Gallery wrapped canvas offers a clean, modern look. The canvas fabric is wrapped over a wooden stretcher frame, and the image extends around the edges, creating a finished effect. This eliminates the need for the external frame you see with many traditional canvas paintings or prints.

We think gallery wrap is the best technique for displaying photo canvas prints – robust in structure, with a timeless gallery aesthetic that looks fantastic in any setting.

When you order a canvas print from MYPICTURE, we print your photo on real archival-grade canvas. Then we attach the printed canvas to its wooden stretcher frame – by folding the edges of canvas round the back of the frame bars. So we literally wrap the canvas around the frame…hence the name “wrapped canvas”!

Read on to find out more.

In this article:

• Gallery Wrapped Canvas: A Time-Honoured Technique

• Canvas Wrap in the 21st Century

• How to Spot a Professional Gallery Wrap

• Gallery Wrapped Canvas with Premium Frame

“So the technique’s been used for hundreds of years?”

Yes! Canvas has been used as a base for paintings since as far back as the 14th century. It’s very strong, but because it’s a fabric it has a supple organic appeal that hard surfaces can’t match.

Of course, this also means that it needs to be stretched tight so that the painting looks exactly as the artist intended. That’s where the stretcher frame comes in.

Once the canvas has been securely fastened at the back of the frame, the painted (or printed) front of the picture is pulled taut like a trampoline. A professionally stretched canvas – like the ones sold at MYPICTURE – won’t have a bulge or ripple in sight.

“Surely there have been a few changes since then?”

Well, there’s been the odd tweak here and there! A canvas print bought at our shop will have the same basic structure as a traditional gallery wrapped picture, but with a handful of 21st-century upgrades:

• Pure white canvas. The canvas material used by Constable or Turner would have had a straw-like colouring, while our fabric comes in brilliant white – perfectly adapted for the requirements of modern photo printing.

• Printed edges. We print on every inch of canvas that’s visible to the eye, including the bits wrapped on the side of the frame. See the canvas product page for more details of our striking edge designs!

• Reduced weight. Advances in canvas production mean that our fabric is lighter than ever. Which in turn means we can use lighter wood for the stretcher frame.

Note that there’s one way that we HAVEN’T updated the gallery wrap technique – and we’re very proud about it too!

• Wrapping by hand. Every canvas sold at MYPICTURE is hand-stretched by our master craftsmen, just like in centuries past. Hand-wrapping is the mark of any top-grade canvas print – accept no substitute!

“How can I spot a high-quality gallery wrap?”

Production models have gone through a lot of changes since the early days of the Royal Academy. Thanks to automation, canvas print providers can turn out gallery wrapped frames at a rate unthinkable in the 1700s.

This has brought prices way down. Unfortunately, it’s sometimes done the same to quality standards. So when you buy a canvas, we recommend sticking to a trusted name in the printing industry rather than choosing your provider on price alone.

Here’s what to look for if you want to be sure your gallery wrapped canvas print is the real deal:

• Fine-grained canvas. The textured surface of the fabric is part of the traditional charm of canvas prints. But the surface of cheap canvas will be too grainy, distorting the fine detail of your image.

• Neatly wrapped corners. At each corner of the frame, one fold of your printed canvas should be tucked cleanly underneath the other – with no break visible in the image content. This is where wrapping by hand makes all the difference!

• Wooden frame. It goes without saying that the stretcher frame should be made of real wood. At MYPICTURE we use FSC-approved pine timber for our canvas prints.

• Traditional craftsmanship. The wooden bars of your print’s stretcher frame should be assembled by hand by specialists of the craft, to ensure maximum stability and longevity.

MYPICTURE canvas prints give you all this and more. Streamlined production means we can keep our prices unbeatably low without compromising on quality.

So if you want to experience a gallery wrapped canvas as it ought to be, you're in the right place.

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“Is a Canvas with Premium Frame different from a gallery wrapped canvas?”

Just to be clear, every canvas print you order at MYPICTURE comes gallery wrapped on a wooden stretcher frame. If you choose a Premium Frame for your print, this will be a second outer frame in addition to the inner wooden frame.

Our Premium Frames are so-called “shadow gap” frames (also known as “floating” frames) which surround the wrapped stretcher frame, leaving a narrow gap between the inner and outer frames.​

We think the gallery wrap effect is an essential part of a canvas print’s appeal. And that’s why we chose the “shadow gap” design for our outer frames – so the neatly-wrapped canvas edges of the stretcher frame remain visible inside the gap.

Unlike the wood stretcher frame, which comes included in the price, you’ll need to spend a little extra if you want a Premium Frame for your print. But we're sure you won't regret it. The frames come in a range of elegant designs – more information here.