In previous blogs, we’ve looked at some different ways to inspire you if you want to create a canvas print that is unique and individual. We have broached the concept of using stock images from the Internet and also being a little more thoughtful when taking pictures on holiday to get some great compositions for your prints – but there are other ways you can really flex those creative muscles too, so let’s take a look...

OK, you may not be a graphic designer, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t explore the potential of different software on your computer. It may take you a while to get used to its capabilities, but there are plenty of online tutorials and articles that will teach you the basics. Once you’ve learnt your way around the software, you can start to play around with different effects on some of your favourite portraits or downloaded images.

One great idea is to take a good, close-up face shot of yourself, a friend or member of your family and change saturation levels and colours. Try and re-create an Andy Warhol style image, like the famous and very colourful Marilyn Monroe series.

You can also use the software to remove unwanted items from your images; there’s nothing more frustrating than finding the perfect image for your canvas print and then realising that the tree in the background looks like it’s growing out of your head! Or having a great family photo then noticing a random stranger is doing a ‘photobomb’ and spoiling the image! A little bit of clever manipulation can get rid of these unwanted ‘extras’ and you can even learn to use ‘smoothing’ techniques, to iron out wrinkles and blemishes on portraits – this will earn you big brownie points with the women in your life!

Another way to get creative with your canvas prints is to combine text with pictures. You can find a quote, poem or even write something yourself to set off an image and add a personal touch to the print. If you’re giving a canvas print as a present, add some important dates to it, such as a birthday, anniversary or wedding date, depending on what the image is and who it’s for. For example, a collage of baby photos, documenting the child’s first year, along with their name and birth date is a lovely present for a parent, or perhaps a collection of wedding photos that capture a more natural and personal side of the celebrations compared to the official pictures, with the couple’s name and wedding date written on it.

You can also take an image of someone you love, and simply decorate the edge of the picture with words that you associate with them, such as ‘love’, ‘happiness’, ‘cakes’, ‘motorbikes’, ‘cheeky’ or anything you can think of that sums up the person or your feelings towards them.

These are just a few ideas for you to try – see if you can come up with some more!

Remember that our team are always happy to help too – so if you’ve got an image you want to print on canvas, but you’re struggling with editing it to get it just right, just drop us a line and we’ll do everything we can to get the picture perfect for you.