If you own canvas prints, such as giclee fine art prints, you may not be aware that your affordable prints may some day appreciate in value and be worth a substantial amount of money. However, if you are to get top value for your prints, you must take some simple steps to protect them from some common types of damage.

Did you know that your affordable fine art giclee prints can become damaged by high and low temperatures? This type of print needs to be kept at 60 to 70 degrees year round in order to prevent ink degradation and canvas disintegration. If your home routinely gets warmer than this temperature, relocate your canvas prints to a cooler location in the home, such as a finished basement or room in the rear of the house, away from the kitchen.

In addition, light is one of the most common way to damage canvas prints. Even short-term exposure to sunlight eventually causes the vibrant inks to fade or discolor, vastly decreasing the value of your prints, or even making them worthless. Place your prints in a room with low sun exposure, in a position on the wall where direct sunlight does not strike.

Carefully choose the location of where you want to display your prints. You need to protect your prints by selecting a safe location. Kitchen areas can be dangerous to canvas prints because they can accumulate grease, odors, and food particles which can all be very damaging. Bathroom areas can also be very hazardous because of the high moisture content. Any other areas near water are poor choices for print display.

Your print's frame is also an important consideration. Having your print professionally framed is recommended. Framing isn't a do-it-yourself project or something to leave to a nonprofessional as the canvas is very easy to damage. And be sure to ask your framer to use glass -- it can help mitigate the harmful effects of the sun.

You should never attempt to clean or repair a print by yourself. This is one of the most common ways to damage the print. Take all of your cleaning and repairing needs to a professional art restorer. They have the proper tools and knowledge to care for the prints.