Ordering a Custom Canvas for Christmas: How Early to Start

A custom canvas is one of the best Christmas gifts you can give, and one of the easiest to leave too late. Because each piece is made individually, there is a production time to plan around. Here is how to approach it, so the canvas is under the tree and not on its way.

Know the time it takes

Custom canvases take up to 20 business days from order confirmation and payment. That does not include delivery, and it does not include the time you spend designing and approving. In practice, you need to allow for the whole sequence: design, our reply, your approval, payment, production and delivery.

Work back from the date

Start with the day you need the canvas in your hands, and work backwards:

• Allow time for delivery at the end.
• Allow up to 20 business days of production before that.
• Allow time to review and approve the design, and to make payment.
• Allow time to design in the Builder, and for us to reply, which we do within 24 hours.

If that all sounds tight, it probably is. Start earlier than you think you need to.

Tell us the deadline

When you send your design, put the date you need it by in the first line of your notes. We cannot promise what we do not know, but knowing the date helps us advise you honestly.

Prepare before you open the Builder

The fastest way to design is to arrive with decisions made. Before you start, settle:

• The words, spelled and punctuated exactly.
• The size, or at least the wall it is for.
• The colours, ideally echoing the recipient’s home.

Our guide to what to write on a custom canvas helps if the words are still undecided.

Consider a ready-made piece

Our gallery has finished canvases, from £25, for people who need something sooner or prefer to choose from what exists. Browse the gallery and ask us what is available.

Plan the hanging too

A canvas is only a gift once it is on a wall. Include our guide to hanging a canvas safely, or offer to hang it yourself. When you are ready, open the Canvas Builder and begin.