You may have noticed that we haven’t hosted an awesome giveaway lately. We’ve sponsored our fair share of online contests, but as our resident rapper Andrew Conweezie noted on Twitter, we’ve been neglecting the PrintFirm community a bit as a result:
So let me be the first to say we’re sorry if we made anyone feel unloved. Since we’re getting ready to celebrate Valentine’s Day, we figured we’d show you how much we love you with a custom canvas print!
How to win a custom canvas photo print for your valentine
Here’s your chance to win a beautiful, one of a kind gift for the special someone in your life. Naturally, singles, photographers, artists, and designers may enter on their own behalves. We are hoping that the winner will embrace the spirit of loving generosity; if you prefer to have us deliver the good news directly to your loved one, just let us know! We’ll be happy to contact a gift recipient on February 14th.
Either way, please enter the contest using the widget below!
Valentine’s Day canvas printing contest rules
- Grab your favorite photo or digital art, and be sure to read these rules carefully!
- Contest starts on January 31st at 4:00 pm PST and ends on February 14th at 4:00pm PST
- 1 Lucky WINNER will be chosen at random via Random.org on 2/14/14.
- Prize details- 1 free 12″ x 18″ mounted canvas print
- Product features large format printing on high quality 17 mil. artist canvas
- Mounted on all sides (suitable for display as is, no framing necessary)
- Turnaround time 7 business days
- Complementary shipping included in prize package
- Limit 1 entry per person, must be 18 or over and a US resident to be eligible. No purchase necessary.
- Winner will be notified by email and must respond within 48 hours, or we will choose another contestant.
- Winner must supply photo or artwork; we do not have ready-made designs for this item available.
- Sorry, PrintFirm will not customize or otherwise modify your file beyond simple resizing.
- For questions about this contest, artwork, etc. please contact Katherine at marketing AT printfirm DOT com.
- To feature this contest on your blog, contact Katherine at the above address for the widget code.
Mounted canvas file prep tips
I realize that many of you passionate people may not have a lot of experience with professional printing, much less wrapped canvas art. I tried really hard to find you an easy to follow Photoshop tutorial; alas, I came up short as nothing described our process accurately. I won’t leave you hanging, though. I’ve personally created my own wall art from a photograph, so I like to think I know what I’m talking about. Here are my top tips to help you get the best looking print possible!
Use a picture from a camera, not a cellphone- You may already have a photo in mind for this project or you’re planning the perfect shot. We want you to be happy with the finished product, which is why I’m warning you to please use a camera instead of your phone. Image quality is super important in print, and unfortunately, cellphone pics are generally lower resolution or simply too small to fit the large 12″ x 18″ size without stretching. You don’t want to mess up your picture by trying to enlarge it because then the picture will appear blurry, fuzzy, or otherwise distorted.
We always recommend high resolution photos (300 dpi). If you’re not sure what that means, we might run into trouble. We can check the image resolution for you if you don’t have Photoshop, but we can’t perform miracles. If we think your photo won’t work out, we will ask you to send another picture.
Send us a 14″ x 20″ file- Wait, didn’t I say this would be a 12″ x 18″? What’s with the extra inches? Let me explain. We always need a bleed area no matter what you order because ink expands. In this case, we don’t need the extra space due to expansion. We need to be able to wrap the artwork around the stretch bars. 2 inches all the way around should get the job done, so be sure to account for this when you’re getting your artwork ready.