I recommend Sakura’s Pigma pens for marking canvas and transferring designs to canvas. Few outlets used to carry them, but as they have become more popular, you can now find an assortment of them at big box crafts stores.
The pens pictured above were all bought at a local Michel’s. I bought one of each size available. You can see in the picture that the five pens on the right and the last pen on the left all say Pigma Micron. The second and third pens from the left say Pigma Graphic. All of the pens have the point size marked on both the barrel and on the top of the cap. The cap top will also be colored to match the pen’s ink color.
The difference between Micron and Graphic is important as you can see in the picture above. Microns, right, have extra fine rounnded tips protected by a metal sleeve. Graphics have chisel points with no sleeve. This point makes them unsuitable for transferring designs or marking canvas.
Microns come in several thicknesses: .005, .01, .02, .03, .05, and PN. Are they all thin enough to mark canvas?
The pens are arranged, except for the first, from widest to thinnest. The first pen is the Micron PN. Next you can easily pick out the chisel-point pens after that are the microns from thickest (.05) to thinnest (.005). I can’t tell the difference between them.
That’s great news! If you are looking for a pen to mark your canvas, Pigma Microns in sizes .005-.05 and PN will work as long as the color can be seen on canvas. I try to match the marker color with the main color of the project but it isn’t critical.
Feel free to buy the Microns you can find!
About Janet M Perry
Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family
Leave a Reply