Hello! I’m an award-winning author, artist, and photographer.
Last year, after losing my job, I decided to take a leap of faith and turn my passions into a full-time career. This led to an intense schedule of setting up a booth at a variety of pop-up markets, festivals, conventions, and other events where I could connect with people and share my books and artwork.
One of the challenges I faced was finding a service that could produce high-quality prints of my artwork at an affordable price since I didn’t have a printer that was up to the task, nor did I have the materials I wanted (canvas, artboards, et cetera).
In my search, I came across Photo Canvas Land. I started with a small sample order before placing a larger order that included artboards and canvases. Here’s my review based on my experience with this company so far.
Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links. However, this is not a sponsored post. I do NOT write any articles that are sponsored by the company or product I’m reviewing. All opinions shared in this article are my own. For more information about how affiliate links are used on this website, click here.
For a long time, I used Walgreens for my photo prints and canvases. Their quality was good, and I could usually pick up my artwork on the same day or following day. However, I had to time my orders around the company’s online promotions. If I wasn’t getting at least a 40%+ discount on my order, then my profit margins were way too low to be sustainable when I sold my art prints at festivals, markets, and other events.
That was what drove my initial online search to find a better alternative. Ultimately, Walgreens is a retailer selling directly to consumers. I needed a B2B company that offered wholesale prices to artists who intended to resell the prints.
I scoped out several websites and even ordered samples from Canvas Discount before I discovered Photo Canvas Land.
1. About Photo Canvas Land
Photo Canvas Land advertises itself with the tagline “Museum Quality Canvas and Prints for Professionals.”
It’s a USA-based company located in Atlanta, Georgia. Photo Canvas Land has been operating since 2000, and according to its website, “All of our products are handcrafted at our production facilities in Georgia.”
Their website also claims, “PhotoCanvasLand.com is committed to high quality photo canvas and your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed! If for any reason you are not completely satisfied with your purchase, you may return it within 30 days of receipt and receive a free replacement or a full refund for the price of the product.”
The company claims that it can do custom work such as color correction, red-eye reduction, cropping, et cetera upon request. However, since I do my own corrections prior to placing orders, I have not utilized this service and can’t personally attest to how easy it is to work with Photo Canvas Land for customizations.
2. Products & Quality
As of June 2023 when this article was written, here is the list of products available from Photo Canvas Land:
Canvas
• Wrapped (Gallery Style @ 1.5″ depth or Standard Style @ 0.75″ depth)
• Rolled
• Mini Canvas Board
• Mounted (Gatorboard/Sintra PVC/Bamboo/Bamboo Board)
Fine Art Prints
• Fine Art Paper (Elegance Velvet/Optica One)
• Gatorboard
• Sintra PVC
• Foamcore
• Styrene
• Bamboo
• Bamboo Board
Photo Gifts
• Fabric Wall Cling
• Bamboo Magnet (Canvas/Print)
• Ornament (Canvas/Print)
• Desktop Block (Canvas/Print)
Their selection of photo gifts is rather limited, especially if you compare it to the online selection at Walgreens. However, for an artist who is simply looking for top-quality prints on canvases and artboards, it provides exactly what you need! Photo Canvas Land might have a limited selection of products, but that means they’re able to do a handful of things very well instead of a wide range of services at mediocre quality.
For my first order, I started with artboard samples to see how my artwork printed on PVC. Check out my video showing off the new products when they arrived:
I had to do some research to determine what type of artboard to order. Photo Canvas Land offers foamcore, Styrene, Gatorboard, and Sintra PVC. Here’s what I learned:
Foamcore is essentially a Styrofoam center that has been sandwiched between paper coatings. It’s the cheapest option, but it tends to warp and is susceptible to corner dings and moisture damage.
Styrene is a flexible polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic. It’s semi-rigid and can be rolled up.
Gatorboard has more rigidity than Styrene due to having a dense inner core. Unlike foamcore, Gatorboard has a rigid coating that is resistant to moisture. It’s a middle-of-the-road option as far as durability.
Sintra PVC is a lightweight yet very rigid polyvinyl chloride board that has a low-gloss matte finish. It comes highly recommended as the best option for durable artboards that are unlikely to warp or suffer from corner dings, moisture damage, fading, et cetera.
From a quality standpoint, I debated between Gatorboard and Sintra PVC. However, when I discovered that these middle-grade and high-grade options were the same price, it was a no-brainer — I chose the highest quality. I was not disappointed when the sample arrived.
My customers weren’t, either! I sold some of the new artboards at my next pop-market, and they’ve continued to do well at events as I phase out my matted prints and replace them with the PVC artboards.
For canvases, here are some highlights from Photo Canvas Land‘s website:
3. Photo Canvas Land Pricing vs. Canvas Discount
I had originally been ready to use Canvas Discount for my prints. I’d already ordered canvas, artboard, and poster samples. But once I paid closer attention to their artboard prices, I knew that it wasn’t the right company for my needs. Not only did they not offer the sizes that I wanted (8×10 and 11×14), but even their smallest artboard was more expensive than I had anticipated.
I knew that I could find better. That prompted my online hunt for high-quality artboard prints at a reasonable wholesale price. I browsed several different websites before finding Photo Canvas Land.
Unfortunately, Photo Canvas Land’s prices for canvases were higher than Canvas Discount’s. However, I’d experienced some issues with Canvas Discount when I’d ordered samples:
- Their online previewer wasn’t accurate. My print should have been fully contained on the front of the canvas based on how the preview looked, but when it arrived, the top and bottom were cut off because they wrapped around the frame.
- “Canvas Discount” was prominently printed on the back of the canvas, making the product feel cheap. It also had QR codes and additional text/numbers. I disliked not having control over the branding.
Although the canvases from Photo Canvas Land were a little more expensive, I had branding options once I joined their pro account for free. I could choose to use Photo Canvas Land’s branding, my own branding, or leave the back of the canvas blank.
Like Canvas Discount, Photo Canvas Land offers gallery-style canvases that have 1.5″ depth or standard-style canvases that have 0.75″ depth. Both companies provide options for how the canvas sides will look — mirrored, white, black, or full bleed. (Canvas Discount did have an extra option, which was a stretched edge. However, as I mentioned, their previewer wasn’t accurate when I ordered a test canvas.)
As far as pricing, Canvas Discount is the winner for canvases. However, I’m willing to pay a few extra dollars to get Photo Canvas Land’s perk of using my own branding or leaving the back of the canvas blank so my art prints look more professional.
For artboards, Photo Canvas Land is the undisputed winner. They offer an extensive list of size options (55 sizes ranging from 8×8 to 40×60) as well as material options (foamcore, Styrene, Gatorboard, Sintra PVC), not to mention their pricing was about half of what Canvas Discount charged for their artboards.
For a finish, Photo Canvas Land lets you choose from luster, glossy, metallic luster, and metallic glossy. The metallic options cost an extra $0.50. (Note: when I ordered my first samples, I chose a mix of the luster and metallic luster so I could compare the two… and I honestly couldn’t see any difference whatsoever. Either the order wasn’t right, or it’s not worth paying extra for a metallic finish that looks exactly the same as the regular luster finish.)
When it comes to artboards, Photo Canvas Land was the best option I found after searching multiple websites, and the quality so far has been top notch.
4. Shipping & Turnaround Time
Every order I’ve received has clearly been packaged with care. Each print is individually wrapped, then bundled and wrapped again for extra protection before being sandwiched between bubble wrap and fit snugly in a box that has no wiggle room.
For me, the turnaround time is a bit longer than I would like… but perhaps since I’m used to picking up prints from Walgreens the same day or following day, I’ve been spoiled by the fast production time.
Photo Canvas Land claims on their website that they usually ship within 5 business days from receipt of an order. The delivery time is 3-5 business days in the US and 10+ business days to Canada after the order has left the facility.
For the continental US, orders can ship at a flat rate of $8.95 or expedited shipping at $24.95. Flat-rate shipping is great if you’re ordering large canvases or placing a bulk order.
5. Pro Account for Artists & Resellers
This is where Photo Canvas Land is an absolute win for me. I mentioned their pro account earlier when I talked about having my own branding on the backs of canvases and artboards, but there are additional perks to joining this program as well.
First, your branding isn’t just on the back of the artwork. It’s also on the packing sheet and shipping label if you need to ship prints directly to customers.
Second, you get special discounts. For canvases and artboards, you start with an extra 10% discount on top of the already-low price. If you continue to place orders, your discount increases based on your annual spend. You can earn up to an additional 20% off.
Third, it’s free! You get your own branding on art prints plus bonus discounts just by joining the program at no extra cost. You can also get a free 12×10 canvas sample to test the company out. This program is specifically designed for artists, photographers, designers, resellers, and other creative professionals.
6. Final Photo Canvas Land Review Summary + Unboxing Video
I have gladly been recommending Photo Canvas Land to artist friends and vendors I meet at events. I’m always price shopping and asking other creative professionals about the resources they use, hoping to find the best economical yet high-quality solutions.
I am VERY impressed with the Sintra PVC artboards, and my fans have been, too! They’re affordable for me to purchase as an artist and sell for a reasonable price so people can enjoy my artwork without breaking the bank. The canvases are also good quality.
PROS:
- Best price for artboards
- Extensive list of size options
- Optional custom work
- Ability to leave products unbranded or use your own branding
- Choice of material for artboards
- Additional discounts available with FREE pro account
- Ability to create and manage folders for easy organization within your online account
- Products are well packaged when they ship
- Flat-rate shipping regardless of size/weight for big orders
- Online previewer is easy to use (and seems to be accurate)
CONS:
- Canvas prices could be a little lower based on competitor’s prices
- Turnaround time is a bit slower than I’d like (but not unreasonable)
Overall, I’m a happy customer who highly recommends Photo Canvas Land. Be sure to check out my recent unboxing video when I unpacked my first order since joining Photo Canvas Land’s pro account:
I'm an award-winning fantasy author, artist, and photographer from La Porte, Indiana. My poetry, short fiction, and memoir works have been featured in various anthologies and journals since 2005, and several of my poems are available in the Indiana Poetry Archives. The first three novels in my Chronicles of Avilésor: War of the Realms series have received awards from Literary Titan.
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