Choose canvas when you want the words: a calligraphy print on cotton canvas is sturdy, needs no glass, can be any size, and costs from AED 60 rolled or AED 100 framed. Choose paper when you want the hand: an original is ink on burnished paper, written and signed by the calligrapher, from AED 550, and it asks for glass and a little more care. At The Calligraphy Gallery the two are different things, not two finishes of the same piece: our calligraphy paints are prints on canvas, and our originals are on paper. Here is how each is made, how each ages, and how to choose.
Calligraphy on canvas: what our paints are
A calligraphy paint is a composed design, a verse, a proverb or a name set from real calligraphic typefaces in Mashq Studio, printed with archival inks on cotton canvas in our workshop. It comes three ways:
- Rolled: the canvas alone, sent in a rigid tube for your own framer. A3 is AED 60.
- Framed: stretched over a bar and framed by hand in one of eight mouldings: polished gold, antique gold, light wood, oak, dark walnut, matte black, white or silver. A3 is AED 100, A2 AED 195.
- Framed with acrylic glass: the same, glazed under clear acrylic that keeps off dust and hands. A3 is AED 105, A2 AED 210. Glazed pieces ship inside the UAE only.
Because the design is set once and printed to order, a paint can carry your own words and run from A4 to 90 × 120 cm. «في التأني السلامة» in Diwani, "in taking your time there is safety", is a typical one; every paint is in calligraphy paints, and our guide to choosing the size has every size and price.
Calligraphy on paper: what an original is
An original is the sheet itself: ink on paper, written by the calligrapher whose name it carries, and signed. The paper our calligraphers use is burnished, coated and polished smooth in the traditional way, so the reed pen glides and the ink sits on the surface. Two examples by Anwar Alhulwani, both in Thuluth:
- «فاذكروني أذكركم», on plain burnished paper, 60 × 44 cm, AED 550.
- «قد أفلح المؤمنون», on natural burnished paper, 68 × 35 cm, AED 1,655.
An original cannot be resized or reworded: it is written as it is. It ships unframed, rolled in a rigid tube, exactly as it left the desk. To have it mounted and framed behind glass in our workshop, add framing with glass, a flat AED 300 whatever the size; framed originals are delivered inside the UAE only. All originals are in original Arabic calligraphy.
«في التأني السلامة» — Calligraphy Paint
From 65 SR
Framing with glass — one artwork
315 SR
«فاذكروني أذكركم» — Anwar Alhulwani
575 SR
Canvas vs paper, side by side
| Print on canvas (paint) | Original on paper | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A composed design, printed | Ink from the calligrapher's own pen, signed |
| Words and size | Any words, A4 to 90 × 120 cm | As written; one size |
| Glass | Optional acrylic glass | Glass recommended |
| Price | From AED 60 rolled, AED 100 framed | From AED 550, framing with glass AED 300 |
| Travels as | Rolled in a tube, or framed | Rolled in a tube, unframed |
How each ages, and how to look after it
We do not promise a number of years for either; how a piece ages depends on where it hangs. The same few rules serve both:
- Keep it out of direct sun. Sunlight fades ink and paper over the years, and canvas too. A wall with daylight that the sun does not reach directly is ideal.
- Keep it dry. Not in a bathroom and not beside a kitchen. Paper is the more sensitive: humidity can ripple it, and water can mark both ink and sheet.
- Glass for paper, by choice for canvas. An original on paper is best mounted behind glass, which keeps hands, dust and air off the sheet. A canvas print is usually hung without glass; choose acrylic glass if it hangs near a kitchen, a children's corner or a busy hallway.
- Handle paper by the edges, with clean dry hands, until it is framed. A framed canvas needs only a soft dry cloth on the frame.
If a verse hangs on the wall, the courtesies are the same for both: at eye level or above, never in a bathroom or near the floor.
How to choose
- Choose canvas when the words matter most: a particular verse or phrase, a name, a size that fits a wall, a gift on a gift's budget, or a piece that has to travel. Try any line first in Mashq Studio, free, in six scripts.
- Choose paper when the object matters most: the hand, the signature, the sheet a calligrapher wrote, a piece to pass to the next generation.
The difference between the two is set out on original vs print, and the whole buying decision, from script to frame, in our buying guide.
Quick answers
Is a canvas calligraphy print written by a calligrapher? No. A paint is a design set from real calligraphic typefaces and printed on cotton canvas; only an original is ink from the calligrapher's pen.
Does an original on paper need glass? It is best behind glass; we mount and frame one with glass for a flat AED 300, for delivery inside the UAE.
Which travels better? Both travel rolled in a rigid tube. Emirates Post Express, at the shipping rate shown at checkout, in 3 to 5 days.
Paints are made to order in our workshop in 5–7 working days, originals not in hand in 3–4 weeks; UAE delivery is AED 50 per order for wall art.
Keep reading: Buying Arabic calligraphy art in the UAE · How to choose the size of an Arabic calligraphy painting. To set your own words on canvas, open Mashq Studio, free.
About this guide: written by MASHQ, which makes Arabic calligraphy pieces to order in its own workshop (1click2open LLC, Sharjah). Materials, sizes and papers are taken from the product pages. Prices were checked against the shop in October 2026.