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Wall paper is changing...

Whether by accident or design, wallpaper is not just making a comeback, it is back, and it is going to be here for some time to come. Yes, we know that wallpaper has been around for just about as long as there have been printing presses, but in more recent years, a combination of a lack of imagination, coupled with a British obsession for DIY, Sanderson flock wallpaper was replaced by anaglyptas, woodchips, and plain good old-fashioned paint.

Digital printing is driving down the costs of personalised wall paper

As the printing process embraces the digital revolution and has become transformed as a result, the breadth and scope of print capability is greater than it has ever been before, and the ‘high street’ consumer is benefitting every step of the way, as is the interior designer.

For those of you who have a PC at home, doubtless you also have a printer, and while you may not fully understand how it is possible to print photograph-quality pictures with just the click of a mouse, you know that it is not just possible, it is commonplace and something we now take for granted. It exists and it works.

Extend this into the commercial printing environment and you will have a better understanding of exactly what our own capabilities are here at the Entwistle Group, but to a scale and quality that would boggle your mind if you stopped to examine closely the technology involved. Not only do we now have printers with thousands of inkjet nozzles per square inch of printer head, but we are now entering the realms of durable, longer-lasting and scratch resistant solvent-free inks, in particular latex inks, which are further revolutionising the digital printing industry and our own capabilities.

One area in particular that is now occupying more and more of our time is the printing of bespoke wallpaper – the beauty of digital printing is that for such wallpaper to be cost-effective, you don’t have to have a minimum number of rolls of wallpaper printed for each new design. We can and will print exactly the amount you need and digital printing now means that the hefty printing set-up costs are a thing of the past.

Software can create a 3D model of your room 

Now, if this were not enough, the power of computer programs has also been incorporated within the printing process for wallpaper using latex printing technology with Hewlett Packard’s WallArt Suite. Now the range of products that can be produced for decorating the inside of your home provides options for you to create the perfect and highly individual look.

WallArt Suite works in a number of ways, some which you would expect, and others that will surprise you and likely overcome any initial reservations you may have had.

To begin you can choose what medium you want your wallpaper printed on – from a smoother and finer, yet still durable paper, to a canvas to provide more of an artwork feel. The images can range from a chosen photograph to the reproduction of a small design into a grander scale.

However, HP have also tackled one of the biggest problems with digitally printed wallpaper, and that is how to get it to fit a specific wall. Up until now, the principal drawback has been that as walls are seldom the same size, exiting wallpaper shave to be trimmed to fit, and particularly where patterns are concerned, you can end up with abrupt and unsightly endings to the pattern at either end of a wall if you are opting for the more popular one-wall with wallpaper look. Now, HP’s software will take the measurements you provide for a wall, the location of doors, fireplaces and other obstructions, and create a 3D model of your room. With a repeating pattern wallpaper, the software will make minor adjustments throughout the pattern to ensure that at either end, the pattern is still complete. The difference is quite remarkable and really needs to be seen to be appreciated.

The same applies to images used as a form of ‘mural’ where you can take, for example, a panoramic view of a rural setting, and once again after providing the precise measurements of the wall the wallpaper is to go on, the printer’s software will make minor adjustments to the image to ensure that the whole wall will be covered with the image and that there will not be gaps at either end, or at the top or bottom. To get started we need one of the following from you:

• favourite photo
• digital photo from your phone or camera
• sample of a pattern or design you like
• hand drawn sketch
• a description over the phone! 

Not content with producing wallpaper and picture canvases, HP’s WallArt Suite can also be used for creating wall decals, which remain extremely popular and which allows you to experiment with different size stickers, or even combine different sizes on the same wall.

Whether you are an interior designer or have been considering creating your own wallpaper, now would be a good time for to call us 0161 839 0661. We will be more than happy to explain in greater and clearer detail all the benefits of latex printed wallpapers and show you just how affordable bespoke wallpaper has now become.