Canvas on Wooden Frames in Dubai: The Traditional Stretcher
Timber stretcher bars are how canvases have been mounted for centuries, and they are still the default. Canvas on wooden frames in Dubai suits most interior work, and the things to understand about it are all to do with how timber behaves in this climate.
Surface finish: Matt · Mounting: Print only
An estimator replies with a firm, VAT-inclusive price and a production date.From your file to the finished job.
Six steps happen between the brief and the finished job. Here they are, in the order they happen on our floor in Dubai South.
The Bars Have a Raised Edge
A stretcher bar is not a plain batten. The outer edge stands slightly proud so the canvas touches only that lip, which stops the timber showing as a line through the printed surface.
Corners Are Mitred and Keyed
Joints are cut at forty five degrees and held with keys or wedges. Those keys allow the frame to be expanded very slightly later, which is how a canvas that has slackened is re tensioned.
Timber Moves With Humidity
Wood takes up and gives back moisture, so a canvas in an air conditioned room sits slightly differently from one in a humid stairwell. Kiln dried timber reduces this substantially but does not remove it.
It Is Warm to Look At
On a gallery wrapped canvas the frame edge is visible from the side, and timber reads warmer there than metal or plastic. On a piece seen from an angle this matters.
Weight Is Moderate
Heavier than PVC, lighter than aluminium at the same size. For anything up to about a metre and a half a timber frame hangs on standard fixings without difficulty.
Made to the Finished Size
Frames are built to the piece instead of cut down from stock, so the canvas tension is right from the first stretch. Keep the corner keys that come taped to the back. They are the only way to re tension a canvas that has slackened, they are specific to the frame, and almost nobody can find them two years later when the canvas actually needs them.
The straightforward limitation is scale. Beyond roughly two metres a timber frame needs serious bracing to stay flat, and at that point aluminium does the job with less weight and no movement at all.
Compare with aluminium frames, PVC frames, and custom canvas framing.
What you get.
- Surface finish
- Matt · Satin · Gloss
- Mounting
- Print only · Framed · Ready to hang
- Size
- Made to your width and height
- Turnaround
- Usually 2–4 working days
- Proof
- A digital proof before anything prints
- Delivery
- All seven emirates, or collect from Dubai South
What every order includes
- A free prepress check on your file
- A digital proof before anything prints
- One VAT-inclusive quote with a production date
- Delivery to all seven emirates, or collection from Dubai South
Setting up your file.
- 01Work at full size or to scaleBuild the file at full size, or at a stated scale such as 1:10 when the canvas gets too big, and tell us the scale.
- 02Match resolution to distanceSomething read from a few metres away needs far less resolution than a business card. Around 100 dpi at full size is usually plenty.
- 03Tell us how it will be fixedHems, eyelets, pole pockets and frames take up material around the edge. Tell us the fixing and prepress allows for it.
- 04Send logos as vectorsAI, EPS, SVG or PDF keeps edges sharp at large sizes. Embed or outline the fonts.
Quick answers.
Yes, using the corner keys.
Comfortably to about two metres with bracing.
No. The raised bar edge prevents it.