03/07/2008 by conrad.

Anaglypta is a white, thicker relief paper with an embossed pattern. It is then painted over with either emulsion or resin based paint. It is an ideal covering for a poor surface as it disguises many lumps and bumps. The decoration can be changed with extra coats of paint.

Flock wallpaper has a fine pile synthetic or natural embossed surface, glued to backing paper. It often gives a velvet texture and is rich in colour. It is one of the more expensive wallpapers. It is a difficult paper to hang as any paste touching the surface will ruin the pile. If it becomes stained, it can be carefully sponged, otherwise it can be gently brushed to remove surface dust.

Foil wallpaper has a metallized plastic film on a paper backing. They are suitable for darker areas because the shiny surface helps to reflect light. It is a hardwearing wallpaper available in fine textures and many colours and can be wiped clean. However it is a fine paper which is unsuitable for poor wall surfaces as the uneven areas will show through. As the paper has a metallized coat it can conduct electricity so should not be tucked behind switch / plug covers when hanging. When using foil wallpaper, paste the wall instead of the back of the paper and take care not to splash paste on the front of the paper.

Lincrustas were very popular in the past. It was particularly popular on staircases due to its durable, easy to clean surface. The raised pattern is a solid film of linseed oil and filers fused onto a backing paper.

Lining paper is a plain paper which can be used before wallpaper on poor or painted surfaces. Papering a ceiling is much hard than papering walls, but it is often the best way to cover cracks. It is available in different thicknesses.

Novamura is made from foamed polyethylene. It is available in a wide range of patterns and colours. It is an easy surface to hang and is very light to manoeuvre as there is no paper content. The surface is warm to the touch and often resembles fabric. Due to the foam polyethylene surface it can be knocked and damaged in a busy area. It is particularly suitable for bathrooms and kitchens, where it can ease condensation.

Polystyrene sheeting is used to line walls before papering. It makes the wall warm to touch, reduces condensation but dents easily if marked by furniture. It is therefore unsuitable for busy areas where damage is a possibility through everyday heavy use and possible knocking.

Printed wallpaper is often machine printed in numerous designs and colours and is reasonably priced. Hand printed wallpaper is available but is obviously more costly. These papers are not as hard wearing as the machine printed variety. Their colours are not as fast and can tear when wet. They can be lightly wiped if dirty but cannot be washed, so are unsuitable for busy areas. Delicate patterns are also more difficult to match. If they are hand made designs the accuracy of the pattern is not as reliable as the machine printed papers. Printed papers are not particularly suitable for areas where there is a build up of steam or condensation.

Supaglypta is a stronger version of Anaglypta. Cotton fibres are used in place of wood pulp, which allows a deeper embossed pattern. It is then painted over.

Vinyl wallpaper has the design printed on a layer of vinyl. It has a fine paper backing and gives an easy to wipe surface. Expanded vinyl has a texture similar to a heavy embossed paper, but require less paste for hanging. It is a very durable surface, which can even be lightly scrubbed, making it particularly suitable for kitchens and bathrooms.

Washable wallpaper is ordinary wallpaper which is either coated with a thin glaze of polyvinyl acetate -PVA or is printed with water resistant inks. It gives an easy to wipe surface and is particularly suitable for kitchens and bathrooms.

Woodchip paper is an inexpensive way of covering walls. It is a plain paper with a textured oatmeal surface, made by impregnating the pulp with sawdust and woodchip during its manufacture. It then needs to be painted and can be covered in a variety of coloured emulsions.

Cellulose paste is the best choice for light wallpapers as it does not stain.

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03/07/2008 by conrad.

Finally, it took a long time but we got there in the end. CanvasDezign have launched their new site for ordering canvas prints online. The new site sports a completely new look and is probably one of the best I have seen. Canvas prints are not something new and what you have to do with a product like that is to never try and re invent it. CanvasDezign have not done that.

What they have done is come up with a brand new interface for ordering canvas prints. The online ordering system is unique and makes ordering  canvas prints very easy.

For more canvas prints information visit Canvasdezign

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19/06/2008 by conrad.

Canvas Prints

Yesterday CanvasDezign launched its new site for ordering your Canvas Prints. The site was live all day and was proving very popular amongst the audience.

The site was taken down this morning at 12.40 am to iron out all the bugs that we found in the Canvas Prints ordering system. These are tiny bugs that we do not see when we are testing the site.

Stay tuned to CanvasDezign for all your Canvas Prints.

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05/06/2008 by conrad.

Wallpaper Damaged edge:  generally caused by improper handling either by the carrier from factory to supplier or from supplier to installer.  Many times the edges are only damaged within the first turns of the wallpaper, but that should not be a huge problem.

Scalloped edge:  result of the trimmers in the factory moving back and forwards as the wallpaper
is passing through. This results in the seams weaving in and out when they are supposed to be cut perfectly straight. The installer should identify this problem within the first roll hung, the remaining product should be returned to the supplier for replacement.

White edge:  a common problem that is especially evident when installing dark colored background wallcoverings because the edges show white when butted together. White edges are caused when the steel at the factory is either dull or is slightly tilted towards the center of the strip, the edges, prior to installation, are actually beveled leaving the substrate or backing of the wallpaper exposed at the edge.  When two strips are joined together this problem is magnified.  After installation, color white seams with colored chalk or permanent water colors of a similar color to the background of the paper.  If either of these remedies are unacceptable, the remaining wallpaper should be returned to the supplier for replacement.  Note:  seams may be apparent after the installation process due to expansion/contraction factors inherent to the installation process and are not manufacturer’s defects.

Shading:  normally the fault of the manufacturer’s printing process.
1.  Edge shade:  where there is a color variation from one side of the sheet to the other, with plain all over designs and some textural type designs the technique of reverse hanging can be applied. This involves reversing every other strip to match up shading variations.
2.  Shade roll to roll:  this is where there is a color variation between rolls in the same batch number. This product shouldn’t be installed and should be taken back to the supplier for replacement.
3.  Uneven emboss:  where the embossment of the wallcovering is deeper or lighter on one edge, this will give an effect of shade variation. This is normally most prevalent when looking along a finished wall where the light dark variation is most conspicuous.

Trimming Errors:  caused by manufacturer’s cutting error.  These may be discovered by comparing the patterns of each roll, and insuring they are identical especially where they meet the edges of the wallpaper.
1.  Over-trimming is a result of too much of the wallpaper being trimmed away. When an excess amount of material has been trimmed away, there is no way to compensate for the missing pattern. If it is noticeable at a glance or is unacceptable, you should return the wallpaper to the retailer for replacement.
2.  Under-trimming is the complete opposite to over-trimming. This means not enough of the wallpaper has been trimmed away which results in a slight double image forming at the seam. This excess may be trimmed at the work table using a straight edge and razor, or may be “double cut” on the wall.

Printed on a bias or cut on a bias:  where the print is cut or printed on a slight diagonal so that the pattern drops down about 1/4 inches on every sheet. This error makes for bad ceiling lines.

Out of register:  where multi-pass printing of a wallpaper design is out of alignment.  For example, the out line of a leaf is printed first, then the inside green part. The inside green part is out side of the outline. Or the yellow center of the flower is an inch off. Some times the print will be OK and then further into the pattern, it will start to go outside the lines again.  A good example of this type of error is the Sunday comics, where the color can sometimes appear outside of the lines.

Vinyl runs out on front of vinyl coated paper:  caused by acrylic coating running out during final coating process.  This would call for replacement of affected rolls.

Paste missing on prepasted paper:  if using additional wallpaper paste, this isn’t a major concern.  If you use plain water to activate the paste or activators, then replacement would be prudent.

Ink spots:  caused by leaks and drips of colorant during the manufacturing process.  Depending on the location and severity, this type of error may be cause for replacement.

Drag lines in ink:  caused by the manufacturer when the paper runs through the various bars and rollers of the printing press.  These lines may either be blank lines resulting from scraping or ink colored lines due to still wet colorants coming in contact with the rollers of the press.

Ink runs out for certain colors:  simple factory error where the colorant level runs low and causes faded to no coloring in the pattern.  This defect will always be cause for replacement.

Delamination:  this is a manufacturing error that can effect various substrates.  It is caused by improper lamination of the ground material to the substrate.  Some of these errors may be repairable during the installation process, but others may require the replacement of the defective materials.  Sometimes this error may be caused by improper booking time during the installation process.

Paste on front and vinyl on back of vinyl coated paper:  normally this is caused by factory errors relating to the reverse installation of the paper into the coating machines.  Paste on the front calls for a good washing during the installation process, though delicate wallpapers may require replacement with this defect.  Vinyl coating on the back of wallpaper generally requires replacement.

Ink runs when paper is rinsed with water:  this can be caused by improperly sealed wallpaper or delicate colorants used in the manufacturing process.  In the case of normal wallcoverings, this may be an indication of lack of coating on a coated paper and calls for replacement.  Some wallpaper is naturally delicate and installation instructions should pre-warn the installer that care is needed in the installation process to ensure that no liquid comes in contact with the surface layer.

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21/05/2008 by conrad.

Wallpaper borders are the easiest way to liven up your house while showing  your fashion style in the process. With a vast variety of styles and colors available in the market place, Wallpaper borders have become one of the most fun parts of the wallpaper industry.

“Wallpaper borders are truly the phenomenon of the ’90s, so hot that they have become not only the catalyst for sidewall sales but a separate merchandise category,” said Duncan Campbell of Sunworthy Wallcoverings.

Wallpaper borders now serve as a main focal point in the room and can often be used to brighten up a dull, painted room

Some of the most popular Wallpaper borders are scenic, nostalgic and antique-looking, as well as children themed Wallpaper borders still proving quite popular.

Other wallpaper experts say bright, fun borders with clean, fresh colors are the trend and will become once again popular this year. And licensed properties definitely are successful. Disney’s cars has proved to be a very popular choice.

And Wallpaper borders aren’t just for kids or women, nor are they banished to the bedrooms, baths or kitchens. Hunting scene Wallpaper borders can also prove quite popular as well as sporting Wallpaper borders. And many people are experimenting with Wallpaper borders in the living room, dining room, laundry room and kids’ play areas. With the variety of Wallpaper border styles available, there is a Wallpaper border for every room in the house.

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14/05/2008 by conrad.

You have a nice picture and you want to print it on a canvas and blow it to a large size and would like to hang it on the wall of your living room. But wondering what to do?!Then look up for companies where they do this process for you. The complete canvas prints  process is quite simple and reliable. You have to choose the picture first and be careful while choosing the canvas picture. You will have one image in your mind but later the outcome will be another that is if the picture is not good enough to edit. You need not worry about the format in which the picture you have. One can carry on the process of printing the photo on the canvas even if it’s in one digital picture, negative format, in the film or even in PowerPoint slides. When they are done with the canvas printing then they will return the original picture also back to you. All they do is just scan the picture and then edit the scanned copy. Then you have to decide upon the size of the picture you want. There are many sizes available, ranging from size of a small paperback novel size to a large image, which could be as massive as 45 x 30″ or even more. Then the canvas picture will be customized according to your specifications. You can choose from the range of effects that can be applied to your canvas picture. It could be either the black and white effect canvas picture or sepia effect canvas picture or even the new floating effect canvas picture. Floating effect canvas picture is one of the most stylish effects that one can ever see. The canvas picture seems to float between the front and back of the chosen frame. The photo is printed on the art paper which is of a very high quality. And then mounted on the frame which you have to choose. Even the range of frames available is quite wide. The frame depends upon the shape of your canvas as well. Whether it’s Square, rectangle or panoramic shape. The company even offers you choices and suggestions, when it comes to the frames. Since the decision of frames is purely based on the effects done on the picture. For example, the black frame suits the black and white effect picture or a dark brown frame will suit the picture in which sepia effect is applied. Then the designers working on the concept will create an image. The image will consists of your picture, the effects applied on it, the size, the shape and as well as the frame that you have chosen. Then they will send the image to you for the preview. You can go through the image and the details and could even inform them if you are not satisfied with the complete outcome. If you want to make any changes, such as changes in the effect, or changing the frame size, then you can tell them and then they will do the corrections. Then the canvas will be delivered to you at your doorstep, whenever you want. As simple as it sounds!!

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25/04/2008 by conrad.

We are currently producing 4 very large wall murals for York Racecourse.  We were selected out of the many printer because of the knowledge we have of the decorative industry.

Full pictures of the wall murals in place will be posted soon.

We are also working with a big UK wallpaper company , trying to secure their business on the digital printing side.  More details when the deals are done.

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17/04/2008 by conrad.

Canvas Dezign posted a really good article recently about canvas pictures and wallpaper.  The basic idea is that you combine the two printed mediums to give an on the wall, off the wall feel.

On the one hand you have wallpaper, pasted to the wall and flat. On the other you have the canvas pictures that follows the pattern of the wallpaper. In many cases the canvas pictures change colour to give an extraordinary effect.

See the canvas pictures website, Canvas dezign for details

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10/04/2008 by conrad.

There are two options when one paints in watercolor on a secondary support like the watercolor canvas prints or clay board. Precautionary steps can be taken to ensure that painting doesn’t go directly in to contact with the glass which is being framed with a traditional watercolor. Also, it can be ensured that there is a gap between the glass and the canvas picture artwork or else one can seal the work and even frame as an acrylic or oil painting. Since, painting comes out easily out of such surfaces, the safest to be considered would be varnishing and sealing.
However, there are certain advantages while painting on larger surfaces as it would be expensive to purchase the matted painting frame and also it would be heavy for hanging. On the other hand, few artists have remarked the importance of pictures to canvas that are sealed and varnished as they are easy to frame with no glass and also that they are sold better. Moreover, there exists a thought that oils are priced higher than the water colors. Perhaps, oil painting would be considered to add certain secret to the work in the long tradition or may be because of the advantage to frame without glasses. Watercolorists from Victoria have taken great pains in using gum Arabic and body color to enhance a painting to look similar to oil painting in order to be rewarded with higher rates for their work. For people with different views, it may look a frame without a glass and easier for transport and nothing more would be said as it is completely safe.
There are several methods for sealing which gives a glazed finish and the products which are mentioned further helps in achieving the goal. Clay board fixatives give a fine start to clay board as well as pictures to canvas and nearly three coats can be given permitting enough time for it to be dried between the coats. Also, Krylon triple-thick clear glass can be used where the “triple-thick” signifies that a single coat of the product levels three coats of various acrylic fixatives. Along with Krylon, UV tolerant varnish can be used and six consistent coats can be sprayed typically to end up the process. However, certain things are to be borne in mind while doing such a process and it is to be ensured that there lays a large space to carry out literal spraying and nothing lies near to it which may have the chance to be sprayed. One would need to remove the glasses in case they wear it. Of course, it needs to be ensured that good ventilation surrounds the room and since much of spraying goes along, necessary precautionary steps needs to be taken.
It is obviously rated high when the works done on the pictures to canvas are neat and elegant. Sealing and varnishing one’s work gives a glossy finish to the product once they are done. It really supplements a lot to the product as the painting reflects like the watercolor when they are initially applied wet and juicy.

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05/04/2008 by conrad.

Digital printing technology has revolutionized the way printing is done and uncovered a whole new world for everyone in general. Digital photography has been very convenient for photographers in order to enable them to not only take astounding photographs but also delete the unnecessary ones and take as many photos as wished with no extra cost added and also to edit the photos in order to add some special effects to make the photographs more presentable.
Digital prints can be made on canvas in order to make them livelier. By printing digital photos on canvas, memories can be made into wonderful pieces of art that have longer life and have special impact as well. Digital prints on canvas have become a good potion for interior decoration of offices, residence, restaurants and many other places. . There are numerous standard digital canvas photo printing companies that offer state of the art digital canvas photo printing services.
Digital photos are printed extensively on high quality exhibition grade cotton using full color inkjet printers and long-lasting UV proof pigment inks. Canvas fabric made of 100% pure cotton is prototypical for producing realistic images. Digital printing is done on canvas sizes ranging from 32 cm x 25 cm to 117 cm x 90 cm. The canvases are usually coated with latex in order to provide utmost durability and the canvas is laminated to ensure print permanency.
The quality of the print on canvas ultimately depends on the quality of the actual photograph, therefore in order to get a realistic print on your canvas it is advised to ser your camera at its highest resolution and opt for an appropriate canvas size for the image.
Artist’s original artwork has been emulated for a long time on to canvas using offset printing. Canvas printing since the 1990s has been associated with either dye sublimation or inkjet printers. With the help of these printers photographers and artist can transfer their work on to canvas quite easily.
Once the required image is printed on the canvas, it is trimmed to the actual size and stretched on bars or wooden panel and displayed. It is either displayed in a frame or a gallery wrap depending on how it is printed. Certain artists prefer to paint on the printed images so as to get a more individual image.
With the advancement in science and technology, printers can produce many meters of canvas every hour enabling suppliers to provide many frames per day. These advancements have not only made making of the frames faster but also quality of the output has also increased by leaps and bounds.
Extensive research has been done on the ink being used in order to make them more durable and more effective, as a result high quality inks have come into market providing a longer life for the prints on the canvas. varnishing of the canvas is of vital importance in order to make them resistant to UV rays, as years have gone by better varnishing methods are formulated to further more protect the canvas from UV rays which causes yellowing or fading of the canvas print.

Digital printing gets away from the need of a rotary screen engraver 

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22/03/2008 by conrad.

CanvasDezign recently released a mini Canvas Prints. These canvas prints are regular 6×4inch in size and are a brilliant canvas prints gift idea.

Have canvas prints on your desk at work or even give canvas prints as a special gift to your loved ones.

Give canvas prints today and make somebody smile!!

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22/03/2008 by conrad.

There have been Paper Mills in Darwen since the 1820s. This began at Darwen Old Paper Mill in around 1826 as a small-scale, family-run concern. Richard Hilton began making paper as an expansion of his bleaching business. He and his sons later diversified into making different types of paper including tissue and wallpaper lining papers in the 1830s. Papermaking required huge amounts of water and was usually supplied by local rivers and reservoirs. Darwen’s location and climate made it ideal territory for making paper, just as it was ideal for the textile industry. In the case of Darwen Old Paper Mill for example, the River Darwen and Jack’s Key Reservoir would have supplied water.

Papermaking is a fairly labour intensive process with many different processes. Associated trades sprang up in Darwen including bleaching and dyeing works and wallpaper making. There were mills in Darwen that made wallpaper, indeed there still are but the mills in Darwen also made other types of paper. Mills produced paper such as newsprint, tissue, coloured and enamel papers, linings, brown paper and wallpaper base paper. The raw materials required for papermaking were originally rags and esparto (a rough grass from Spain and North Africa needed to make fine quality paper). Today papers are mostly made from either wood pulp or synthetic pulp. Only very fine ‘hand-made’ papers are today made from rags. Collins Paper Mill in Darwen mainly produced brown paper made from rags whilst Grimshaw Bridge Paper Mill produced cap and biscuit papers. Mills then were powered mainly by water wheels and horizontal engines.

Many people were employed in the paper making industry. Hollins Paper Mill employed over 250 people. It was considered to be one of Darwen’s staple trades and even today people in Darwen are still employed to make paper and wallcoverings for the rest of the world.

However, this article is slightly out of date as there are now houses were the great wallpaper mill once stood.

The image/text was provided by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council for use in the Cotton Town digitisation project: www.cottontown.org.

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22/03/2008 by conrad.

Charles and Harold Potter took over Hilton’s Paper Mills, the largest paper making works in the world, in 1844. In 1864 James Huntington, a designer for paper stainers and calico printers, joined the company at the Belgrave Mills. In 1853 Belgrave Mill was burnt out and a few years later the Hollins Paper Mill was rebuilt and enlarged. It was there that a laboratory was set up to try and make a reliable water paint.Paint manufacture commenced in August 1906 and ‘Hollins Distemper’ was transferred twice daily by horse-drawn wagon to Darwen Station. By 1910 the company was employing six men to travel the country exclusively selling paint. By now it was know as WalPaMur after the initials of ‘The Wall Paper Manufacturers’ Company. In the same year depots were set up in other parts of the country to ease the pressure on the Darwen factory and speed up distribution. In the same year too the manufacture of oil based paint commenced.

In 1929 the Company took over the paint-making plant of Arthur Sanderson & Sons in London. This was developed into a branch factory to serve the South of England. Expansion in Darwen was achieved when Peel Mill and Cobden Mill were acquired. In 1933 the Walpamur Company (Ireland) was formed in Dublin.

During World War Two Walpamur was engaged on war work producing special paints and dope for aircraft. They were asked to produce 90,000 gallons of white paint for the D-Day landings of 1944. All Allied aircraft had to be painted with white stripes. 30,000 gallons were produced in a week and transported from the factory in a fleet of US Army lorries.

This was how the Walpamur Club got its name on the Anchor Estate!!!

The image/text was provided by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council for use in the Cotton Town digitisation project: www.cottontown.org.

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21/03/2008 by conrad.

William Morris was born on March 24, 1834 at Elm House, Walthamstow. His father died in 1847 and soon afterwards the family moved to Water House, Walthamstow, now the home of the William Morris Gallery. Morris was sent to school at Marlborough in 1848 and afterwards went to Exeter College, Oxford, to study Theology where he met Edward Burne-Jones who became his lifelong friend.

It was on a trip to France where Morris and Burne-Jones decided not to take the Holy Orders but to dedicate their lives to art. Morris left college in 1856 and went to work for an architect G.E Street where he met Philip Webb. Burne-Jones moved to London and studied painting under the guidance of Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

Morris soon abandoned architecture and began to study painting under Rossetti’s guidance. He found his talents were more suited to decorative arts than painting and experimented with stained glass, ceramics, furniture, book design, wall papers and textiles.

The Firm
In 1859 Morris married Jane Burden and a year later they moved into Red House, Bexleyheath, Kent, a house designed for Morris by architect Philip Webb. Morris and a group of friends (Rossetti, Webb, etc) started to design and produce their own furnishings for the house. This led to the formation in 1861 of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co.

The ‘firm’ as it became known, set up in rented premises in Red Lion Square and soon prospered. Most of the early work was commissions from Gothic Revival architects for supplying them with stained glass and furnishings for church buildings.

In 1865 Morris and the firm moved to 26 Queen Square, Bloomsbury. The ground floor was converted into workshops and offices whilst Morris and family lived on the first floor. It was in the scullery where Morris and Thomas Wardle first started experimenting in the revival of vegetable dyeing, starting with embroidery silks.

In 1871 Morris and Rossetti took out a joint tenancy of Kelmscott Manor by the banks of the Thames in Oxfordshire.

Morris & Co
By the middle of the 1870s the Firm had started to run into difficulties. Morris wanted to expand but the other members found it more lucrative developing solo careers also Morris thought the other members profited from his labours so in 1875 Morris decided to dissolve the Firm set up under his own control as Morris & Co.

The new company soon expanded and opened up a shop at 449, Oxford Street. Morris was now turning his attention to woven fabrics and employed a French weaver named Louis Bazin who set up a Jacquard Loom in a new hired workshop at Great Ormond Yard, near Queen Square. After initial problems were overcome the first pattern, the Willow was produced at the end of 1877.

In the autumn of 1878 Morris and family moved to Upper Mall, Hammersmith, now the headquarters of the William Morris Society. Morris renamed the house Kelmscott House which was to become his home until he died. He set up several carpet frames in the coach-house and stables and started to produce handmade carpets which became known as ‘Hammersmith’ carpets.

By 1881 the Queen Square and Great Ormond Yard workshops were becoming cramped and were not able to accommodate the new looms Morris required. He decided to look for premises large enough to manufacture all his goods under one roof. He needed a works near a river suitable for vegetable dying, workshops for cloth printing, textile and carpet weaving, tapestry making and a stained glass workshop. At the time William De Morgan was also looking for premises to manufacture tiles which were sold at Morris’s Oxford Street shop. After rejecting premises in the Cotswolds and at Crayford, Kent, Morris visited the printing works at Merton Abbey and found it exactly suited his needs. William De Morgan also found premises at Merton Abbey and set up close by.

William Morris and the Merton Abbey Works
Morris purchased the site in June 1881. He refused to pull down any of the existing buildings and apart from some minor alterations they remained unchanged until the works closed in 1940.

The site Morris acquired was established in 1752 as a calico printing works and continued to produce calicos until the 19th century. The owners of the works before Morris acquired the lease were the Welch family who produced table-cloth.

Morris adapted the buildings to suit his needs. Next to the entrance to the works was the office and caretaker’s house, next door was the drawing and design room, next door again was the dormitory for the apprentice boys. The two-storey shed to the rear of the High Street buildings contained the dye vats on the ground floor with the stained glass studio on the first floor. Outside this building was a small single-storey weaving shed. On the south bank of the River Wandle was a large shed overlooking the millpond. The ground floor housed the carpet and tapestry looms with the first floor used for fabric printing.

Before Morris could start production a number of alterations had to be undertaken to the buildings. The sheds were strengthened, trenched and puddled to keep out the damp, roofs heightened and re-tiled to fit the looms, floors re-laid and eight (6- foot cubes) dyeing vats were sunk into the original floor of one of the buildings.

Furniture, tiles, embroidery and wallpaper were made elsewhere and not at the Merton Abbey works.

The Processes

Dyeing
Fabric dyeing was undertaken in the dyehouse in large sunken vats; smaller vats were used to dye the silk and wool yarns.

All the dyes Morris used were made from natural substances based on early herbal recipes. These dyes gave a softer tone to the textiles unlike the aniline dyes which gave harsh colours and soon faded.

One of the main reasons Morris decided to move to Merton was that he found the water of the Wandle ideal for dyeing. Many of the fabrics Morris & Co produced used the indigo discharge method. First the cotton cloth is dyed to a shade of blue in one of the large indigo dye vats and then the cloth is printed with a bleaching agent to remove the blue as the patterns requires. Mordants (fixing agents) are then printed on the white parts and the cloth dyed a second time with madder and again with yellow. The three superimposed colours gives green, purple or orange. The access dye was washed away and the colours set by passing the fabrics through soap at nearly boiling point. Afterwards the fabric was laid out in the meadow to dry.

Block printing
Block-printing was undertaken on long padded tables which ran the length of the workshop. The printer would first place the printing block on the dye pad and then press the block onto the cloth. The block was pressed down with the aid of a lead weighted mallet to produce an impression. The dye pads were carried on trolleys which the printer could pull along as he worked along the length of the cloth.

After the first set of impressions was dry a second set of blocks was printed on the cloth and the process repeated. Small pins projected from the blocks so each successive impression could be aligned. The early printing blocks were carved from pearwood which were later replaced by blocks with metal inserts padded with felt to hold the dye.

Stained glass
Morris based his stained glass on the style of the later medieval period which had an emphasis on rich glowing colours in a free-flowing pattern unlike the stained glass of the 17th and 18th centuries which were literally over-precise painted reproductions of medieval stained glass.

The designs for stained glass were first drawn on small sheets which were photographically enlarged to full size as a working drawing known as a ‘cartoon’. Different coloured glass was placed over the cartoon and cut to size. The stained glass artist would then place the individual pieces on his easel and paint on the design. These would next be fired in a kiln located next to the office. After firing the painted glass was leaded together to form the overall picture. The finished design was polished with linseed oil and bran polish to give a high gloss.

Edward Burne-Jones designed most of the stained glass made by Morris & Co but after Morris’s death Dearle became responsible for the artistic direction of the company’s stained glass.

Weaving
The looms Morris & Co used at Merton were the Jacquard looms invented in 1802 by a Frenchman, Joseph Marie Jacquard and became widely used from the 1820s. The advantage of using this type of loom rather than the more traditional draw-looms was that the Jacquard loom used a series of punched cards to lift the warp threads automatically, enabling a more accurate design. The cards could also be stored which meant that patterns could be easily and accurately repeated. The draw-looms were slower and the finished designs less accurate.

Morris spent much of his time in historical research at the Victoria and Albert Museum (then the South Kensington Museum) and was much influenced by the 14th century Italian textiles as well as Middle and Far Eastern patterns. Much of Morris’s designs were based on these early examples.

Carpet weaving
The carpets made at Merton Abbey were hand-knotted or tufted and continued to be known as ‘Hammersmith Rugs’ from their place of origin. This was to distinguish them from the machine-made carpets made by outside contractors.

Morris designed almost all of the firms carpets. He would produce a scale drawing, about one eighth of the full size. The design would then be transferred on to point paper, a squared paper with each square representing a single knot of the carpet. The point paper was hung on the loom and the design copied by the weavers. The loom consisted of two rotating horizontal rollers between which hung the vertical warp threads. Two inch long weft threads were knotted around the warp threads. A each row was finished the weft was beaten down and the process repeated. As the carpet progressed the upper roller unwound enabling a new section to be woven.

Mostly girls were employed in carpet weaving as their smaller hands were better suited to the intricate work. Each weaver would produce around two inches of carpet a day.

Tapestry
The tapestries were woven on high-warp looms. The high-warp or upright loom is a type of loom used in the late medieval period by Flemish tapestry weavers.

Almost all of the tapestry figures were designed by Burne-Jones. He would draw the figures around 15 inches high. The drawings were photographically enlarged full size, mounted, and Morris and Henry Dearle would draw in the foreground and background. The finished drawing was then placed against the loom and traced onto the warp. The tapestries were woven using the plain weaving technique which had a parallel set of warp threads interwoven across the warp with the weft threads. The weft treads were then packed down with a comb to hide the warp threads. Three looms were initially set up with three people working at each loom. Each weaver would sit facing the back of the tapestry with a mirror positioned in front to reflect the design.

Wallpaper

Wallpaper was not made at the Merton Abbey factory but by an outside contractor Jeffrey & Co. The process of printing wallpaper was similar to that of printing textiles. The paper was printed with wooden printing blocks, pressed down with the aid of a foot operated weight and the process repeated.After William Morris died in 1896 the Merton factory continued production under his junior partners Frank and Robert Smith, with John Henry Dearle promoted to Art Director. Burne-Jones died two years later and the majority of the designs for wallpaper, stained glass, textiles and carpets fell to Dearle.

In 1905 Henry Marillier joined the company as managing director and the new company was named Morris & Co. Decorators Ltd. In 1925 the company was renamed as Morris & Co Art Workers Ltd. With the death of Dearle in 1932 the company lost its artistic strength, the quality of work gradually fell and with the depleting market the order books shrank. The company continued to decline until it went into liquidation in May 1940.

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19/03/2008 by conrad.

Canvas Dezign are about to launch their new canvas prints at the end of this month. Some of the newer features being offered on the canvas prints website will be :-

1. canvas prints featured designers
2. canvas prints blogs
3. canvas prints user groups
4. canvas prints stats on best selling designs and designers
5. canvas prints new preview section after upload
6. canvas prints customisable sizes and all new bespoke ordering section
7. canvas prints new shopping cart
8. canvas prints new checkout procedure, plus much more

Please visit our canvas prints website in the next month and see the changes yourself.  They are going to be awesome

Visit www.canvasdezign.co.uk for your canvas prints

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15/03/2008 by conrad.

Rotary Screen Engraving

In an engraving world driven by yesteryear, are the tables/times finally changing???

Rotary Screen Engraving has been around in the UK for many a century now, but there are very few people left who know about Rotary Screen Engraving.

One of the biggest problems in the decorative/Rotary Screen Engraving industry is the amount of people that shy away from change.  The biggest problem with change in the Rotary Screen Engraving industry, is that people fear it.

If you feel like a change today and want your Rotary Screen Engraving doing by a reputable UK Rotary Screen Engraving company, contact Planbseparations today.

Rotary Screen Engraving by Plan B

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09/03/2008 by conrad.

Wallpaper borders are a well-kept secret used by many interior decorators that I know. These simple and affordable narrow strips of wallpaper can add color and a theme to an otherwise plain-vanilla room.

Wallpaper borders are a true wallpaper product, but they differ from regular wallpaper in the manner in which they are installed and their relative size. Traditional wallpaper is hung vertically from the ceiling to the floor Wallpaper borders are hung horizontally.

Traditional rolls of wallpaper might be 21 inches wide and 20-30 feet long. A wallpaper border might be 20 or 30 feet wide but only 6 to 9 inches high. But this is perfect sizing since you want the border to dress up your wall surface in the same way as a ribbon adorns a gift box.

A wallpaper border is commonly applied to a wall surface where the wall meets the ceiling. However, I have routinely installed a border about 36 inches high off the floor. Wallpaper borders can also be used to separate two different wallpapers in a room.

For example, my basement bathroom has a tropical-themed border that separates a bamboo wallpaper from a light-colored wallpaper that has tropical plant leaves in its background. The border brings together two vastly different wallpapers making the three wallpaper products look like they were made for one another.

It is very easy to install wallpaper border material. The biggest reason, in my opinion, is that you are working with less material than a large sheet of traditional wallpaper. Furthermore, when you do have to match the pattern, you are working with a strip of paper often less than a foot tall. This makes matching a breeze.

To install a wallpaper border, you do need all of the same tools one uses for traditional wallpaper. My wallpaper toolbox has a special wallpaper razor knife I use to trim paper, a smoothing brush that flattens the border once it is applied to the wall and a broad knife that you may use to help trim the border material if the ceiling line is not consistent. You will also discover quickly that you will need a measuring tape, a stepladder, a sponge and numerous buckets of water. You might also need a 4-inch-wide paintbrush to apply a paste activator.

It helps to have a large pasting table that serves as a work platform in the event you need to apply a special adhesive or a clear paste activator gel to the back of the border.

If you want the border to stay attached to the wall for many years, you must pay very close attention to the type of adhesive you will be using. Some borders come pre-pasted from the factory, but that adhesive may not be suitable if you are installing the border on top of a vinyl-coated wallpaper. In these cases, you often must use a special adhesive that bonds borders to other wallpaper products. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s written instructions, and use the correct adhesive for your situation.

Since you are applying your border to a painted wall, and you will probably buy a pre-pasted border material, the factory-applied glue will be fine. You can apply water to the border to activate the paste, but I have had far better luck with clear paste-activating gels. These gels are quickly brushed onto the back of the border.

Hanging borders requires the same techniques one would use to hang wallpaper. The biggest mistake often made by rookies is the failure to book the border. Booking is a process where you activate the paste and fold the border so the pasted surface folds back on itself. This process allows the border paper to relax. As the paper relaxes, it swells in size.

You want this swelling to happen on the pasting table while you are working with another piece of the border. If you activate the border paste, and then immediately try to hang the border, you will undoubtedly get all sorts of bubbles and blisters on the border as the border swells on the wall. This swelling action pushes the paper off the wall with each new bubble.

Avoid the temptation to wrap the border around inside corners where one wall meets another. The border may look good as you install it, but hours later the border may pull away from the corner as the adhesive dries. Run one piece of wallpaper border around the corner and trim it so there is just 3/16ths inch of border on the next wall. Then match up the pattern and start a new stip of border exactly in the corner. The second piece of border overlaps the small tab of border from the previous strip on the adjacent wall.

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05/03/2008 by conrad.

We recently completed a wall mural for a very happy customer. Steen Sorensen supplied us with his memory stick and we gave back to him his very own bespoke wall mural.

Here is what he had to say “Hallo Conrad McKee & Team!
You have done a good job on my wall mural.(Choice of border colour is perfect).

I will send you an e-mail, when it is put up (to show what it then looks like).
Yours Steen Sorensen.”

Please see pictures below of the wall murals

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05/03/2008 by conrad.

Metamerism is a psychophysical phenomenon commonly defined incorrectly as “two samples which match when illuminated by a particular light source and then do not match when illuminated by a different light source.”

In actuality there are several types of Metamerism, of which the first two described below are most commonly referred to and also most commonly confused:

Sample metamerism: When two color samples appear to match under a particular light source, and then do not match under a different light source this is “sample metamerism.” One can conclude that the spectral reflectance distributions of the 2 samples differ slightly, and their plotted reflectance curves cross in at least 2 regions. By illuminating them with lights with consideralby differing spectral power distributions you can witness and even exaggerate the visual differences between the 2 samples. The example below is how most remember this is the most commonly experienced form of metamerism.

Example: most people have experienced sample metamerism when putting on two socks that appeared to be black while in the bedroom (which may have incandescent lights), but later finding that one is black and the other is blue upon stepping into the kitchen (which may have fluorescent lights). The differences in the wavelength distribution between the incandescent and fluorescent lights interact with the differences in the spectral reflectance curves of the socks to make them appear the same in one light source and different in another.

Explanation: Incandescent light bulbs contain relatively little light in shorter (blue) wavelengths, and thus it would be more difficult to distinguish blue colors in such lighting conditions. The fluorescent illumination in the kitchen emits more short-wavelength light, and thus the dark blue can be more easily distinguished from black. In incandescent light, the socks are a “metameric match”; in fluorescent light, they do not match.

Illuminant metamerism: Illuminant metamerism is witnessed when you have a number of spectrally matched (exactly the same) samples, but when each is independently, yet simultaneously illuminated and viewed under lights whose spectral power distributions differ. You can perceive significant variations of the color.This phenomenon is rarely witnessed, unless you have a light box that allows you to see both lights separated by a divider, and your 2 identical samples illuminated by the different light sources.

Example: When you visit a lighting department of a major home improvement store they will have a bank of lights with dividers in between. Grab a number of identical sample swatches from the paint chip department and place one identical sample under each light. Stand back to winess how each illuminant affects the sample.

Observer metamerism: Every individual perceives color slightly differently. (Assuming the individuals posess adequate color matching aptitude.) This can be demonstrated in many ways, but suffice it to say, observer metamerism is the reason there were 31 individuals tested to derive the 1931 “standard observer” values adopted by the ISO and are still used as the basis for the majority of color science study today.

Geometric metamerism: Identical colors appear different when viewed at different angles, distances, light positions, etc. It can be argued that one reason men and women often perceive color differently is that the distance between woman’s eyes is, on average, slightly less than a man’s, and that slightly different angle of stereoscopic viewpoint also falls under the category of geometric metamerism.

Graphic arts and color reproduction considerations: In the printing industry, metamerism is the source of great frustration. It is perceived as a negative characteristic of color, and if it did not exist, color reproduction problems would be eliminated . In actuality, it is this phenomenon of metamerism that allows for mass color reproduction of an artwork.

Explanation: Artists paint with oils, pastels, crayons, and various dyes and pigments, and each medium has unique spectral reflectance curves. The majority of color reproductions utilize cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks or colorants. In some cases printers incorporate a few additional colors to expand their gamut. But none of these inks are exact spectral matches to the media originally used to produce the original art. Therefore, a printed reproduction of an original artwork reproduction is a metameric match to the original. Inks used to create a color reproduction can be combined to simulate an artwork, but can only be made to accurately match the reproduction under only one (D50 or D65) light source. Because of metamerism it is impossible to generate a color reproduction that can match under every light source. But without the phenomenon of metamerism, mass color reproductions would not be possible and the color reproduction industry as we know it simply would not exist.

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26/02/2008 by conrad.

Today we completed a wall mural for a working mens club that was stunning. The sports wall mural fearured lots of sports figures and the feedback so far has been overwhelming.

See below for before and after pictures of the wall mural

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26/02/2008 by conrad.

Today we completed a wallpaper restoration project for Athelhampton House & Gardens.  The 15th century estate required 2 rolls of vintage wallpaper.  We were contacted regarding reproducing the vintage wallpaper by the customer and we got the order.

This is were digitally printed wallpaper wins over conventional wallpaper because if you were going to do this project using a rotary screen engraver in the UK, they would sting you for a bill for a few grand .

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20/02/2008 by conrad.

Our sister site Canvas Dezign is launching its new site in the next few weeks.  Initial design ideas can be seen, but the main focus will be on the ordering system for your photos onto canvas.

In the meantime if you need your photos onto canvas visit  http://www.canvasdezign.co.uk

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20/02/2008 by conrad.

Flexography (also known as surface printing), and often abbreviated to flexo, is a method of printing. Flexo or surface printing is  most commonly used for packaging (Labels, Tape, Bags, Boxes, Banners, Etc). Over the last few years surface printing has become very popular as a “high end” wallpaper printing method

A flexo or surface print is achieved by creating a mirrored image of the required image as a 3D relief in a rubber or polymer material. The required amount of ink is deposited upon the surface of the surface printing plate (or printing cylinder) using an anilox roll. An anilox is the same as a Gravure roller but has a much finer screen ruling.The surface print roller then rotates, contacting the print material which transfers the ink.

Originally flexo /  surface printing was extremely basic in quality and setup. Labels requiring high quality have generally been printed Offset until recently. In the last few years great advances have been made to the quality of flexo printing presses. Finer screens have been used for flexo engraving and developments in software have meant that the “Dots” are barely visible now.

A great method for removing dot structure from a halftone screened flexo roller is to apply what is called a mezzo dither dot.  Mezzo’s have no mechanical structure to them and use clever software techniques to apply the patterns to the artworks.  (A full demonstration and instruction manual on this will be published shortly and can be achieved using only Photoshop)

The greatest advances though have been in the area of PhotoPolymer Printing Plates, including improvements to the plate material and the method of plate creation. This is achieved using photographic exposure and some chemical etching technoques. Direct laser engraving is also used.

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12/02/2008 by conrad.

Canvas Prints price cut

Canvas Dezign have reduced the prices on quite a lot of the canvas prints they produce. Canvas prints now start at £10 and the most expensive canvas prints are £99.

For more detailed information on the canvas prints price reductions, see here http://www.canvasdezign.co.uk

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07/02/2008 by conrad.

Linocut is a printmaking technique and is a variant of woodcut. In woodcut printmaking a sheet of linoleum (often mounted on a wooden block) is used for the relief surface. The design is then cut into the linoleum surface with a sharp knife or scalpel, with the raised (uncarved or embossed) areas representing a reversal (inverse or mirror image) of the parts to be printed. The cut areas can then be pulled from the backing. The linoleum sheet is inked using a printing roller (known as a brayer), and then pressed onto paper or fabric. This printing method can be done by hand or by a machine.

As the material being carved has no particular direction to its grain and does not tend to split, it is easier to obtain certain artistic effects than with most woods, although the resultant prints lack the wood character of wood block printing. Linoleum is also much easier to cut than wood, which must be carved away, but the pressure of the printing process degrades the image plate much faster. It is also more difficult to create larger image works due to the material’s fragility.

Linoleum as a floor covering dates to the 1860s, but the linocut method was invented by the artists of Die Brücke in Germany between 1905-13. At first they described their prints as woodcuts, which sounded more respectable.

Colour linocuts can be made by using a different colour block for each colour, as in woodcut. But, as Pablo Picasso demonstrated quite effectively, such prints can also be achieved using a single piece of linoleum in what is called the ‘reductive’ print method. Essentially, after each successive colour is imprinted onto the paper, the artist then cleans the lino plate and goes back into the linoleum, cutting away what will not be imprinted for the subsequently applied colour.

Due to ease of use, linocut is widely used in schools to introduce children to the art of printmaking; similarly, non-professional artists often use linocut rather than woodcut. Wallpaper / Wallcovering where made like this once but are now replaced by Flexo Printers and Surface Printers.

More recently digitally printed wallpaper has been used to replicate this effect as with a computer anything can be achieved. The advantage of a digitally printed wallcovering is that you do not have to engrave a single roller, which dependent on where you go can be in excess of £1000.

You could also have a rotary screen engraver engrave you a rotary screen and this effect can be made to look like Surface or flexo printing.

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