Digital inkjet printing revolutionized printing technology. Full color prints were possible, even one off prints which one could do at home using a small printer. High resolution inkjet printers reproduced color in full detail and saturation using rich inks. Inkjet printers usually use water or solvent based inks. One other form of inkjet printing uses dye sublimation. Solid waxy colors are heated and sublimated on to the print substrate producing a depth and range of color that was astonishing and breathtaking. Such is the marvel of digital printing. Progress was made in this area and printers were developed that could print on any substrate, even canvas.

Canvas, unlike paper, is rough in texture and even screen printing it poses some problems. However digital printing using water, solvent or solid dye sublimated inks makes printing on canvas very easy. In digital inkjet printing the ink is sprayed in the form of micro fine droplets onto the substrate so each and every part of the surface is covered with ink. There are no gaps or surfaces which receive more ink. The printing is even.

With this technology it is possible to reproduce paintings of old masters, your family photographs or any abstract art you may produce on your computer. Colors are rich, saturated and have a range of tonality and gradations that mimic the original. Blacks come out as deep rich blacks. Reds, yellows, blues, greens have a depth of color and gradation that truly impress. If you reproduce a painting by Van Gogh or Gauguin you can see for yourself the possibilities of digital canvas reproductions. Not that these printers lack or lag far behind when it comes to pastels. The light shades and hues and blends come out exceedingly well and not as washed out prints.  Digital print on canvas makes this possible at a low, low cost.

Digital printing on canvas has also revolutionized art for artists. With computers and a digital printing system, budding artistes as well as seasoned artists can and do offer a wider range of digital paintings. There is a huge saving in time, materials and costs. Artists simply sketch out their drawings, scan and transfer to a computer and use Photoshop and similar image editing packages to colorize and enhance their paintings. With such packages one can give pointillist effects or impressionistic effects to a digital painting. As a matter of fact one can have the same painting reproduced on canvas using different art styles. Mimicking Salvador Dali, Degas, Manet or Gauguin is no longer time consuming and difficult. Even the colors can be changed and one can have the same digital painting with various colors shading thanks to digitally enhanced canvas printing techniques.  Since dye sublimation uses solid inks, the end result is like having a solid layer of paint on the canvas surface same as the old masters used to do using oil paints. Solid dye sublimation can also use metallic colors such as gold, silver and copper. Digital printing on canvas has opened up mind boggling possibilities for amateur and professional artists and also the common man.