Turning Problems into Artistic Solutions for Canvas Photo Prints

The paperless world is slowly coming upon us. While some folks were certain that ‘paperless’ was coming years ago, we’re all still dealing with paper: Paper mail, newspapers, and print photos. While it’s entirely conceivable that someday we’ll do away with most if not all paper products, for the moment we still have them – and that means dealing with their vagaries.

And when it comes to photos we’d like to use as canvas photo prints for our walls, it’s not just paper we have to worry about: Even our digital files can be corrupted, or start off problematic to begin with. Unfortunately, sometimes the photo that really speaks to you, that really carries the emotional heft you want to use in your rooms, has problems. And sometimes those problems don’t have technical solutions. Here are some creative ways of dealing with some of the most common problems with photos destined to be wall art.

A Low Resolution Photo

It happens: You’re going through your photos from a special night or a big event, and you discover that somehow you’d set your camera to take low-resolution photos. When you scale the perfect photo up to a size ideal for canvas photo prints, it’s a blurry mess. As you know, you can’t add pixels easily, so most people would give up and either get a small print made or choose a different photo.

Our Creative Idea: Embrace the lo-res aspect, and add in more by turning your enlarged photo into an impressionistic painting with the application of cartoon or oil painting filters in your image manipulation program of choice. It will look like it’s on purpose, but it will also be a beautiful artistic statement instead of a reminder of the night you had the settings wrong on your camera.

Canvas Photo Prints and the Photobomb

Sometimes our settings are ideal, the lightning is perfect, and our subject is perfectly in focus. The problem is that when we find that perfect photo, someone or something had photo-bombed by popping up in the background at the worst possible moment, with an inappropriate expression, gesture, or activity that ruins the mood. Removing background aspects without leaving a trace isn’t easy, even for professionals.

Our Creative Idea: Don’t try. Just clip out the background completely, and past your subject on a surreal pattern and turn it into a piece of Pop Art. Don’t try to use a stock image to replicate a natural background – embrace the artificiality and go as abstract as possible. It will make your subject pop.

Water/Sun Damage

Specific to physical printed photos, sometimes we open up an old box with treasured photos to discover they have been damaged by water or sunlight, and are now faded and mottled. Naturally, you scan them in immediately to at least preserve what you have, but how can you use these as gorgeous wall art pieces in this condition?

Our Creative Solution: Again, steer into the disaster by adding a sepia filter and some more damage to give the photos a vintage patina like an old-timey photo. Even going so far as to digitally add some tears and missing chunks can add some real character and turn your disaster into a focal point.

So don’t despair: No matter what happens to your photos, digital or physical, you can still turn them into impressive wall art. And when you’ve saved your chosen photos, click here and we’ll deliver the highest-quality canvas you’ve ever seen.