What is a Giclee?

...In general terms giclée is a French term meaning something is being squirted on. In the case of printing the paper is being sprayed on with pigments by a printer nozzle with an approximate diameter of one millionth of the diameter of a hair (measured in microns).

..."What is a giclée print?", the answer is: a digital printer makes it, similar to the inkjets many have at home. Contrary to a popular belief, there are some major differences between a home inkjet and a giclée printer. But as inkjet technology develops and RIPs (Rasta Imaging Processors) become more readily available for desk top printers, A skilled printer can approach print quality that respectfully competes with their large formet printer counterparts.

...Both desktop and Large Format inkjet printers can have 4 to 8 colors, and in some cases as many of 12. All of our Epson line of printers use piezo heads. The nozzles vibrate with a crystal, similar to a quartz watch.

...The beauties of Giclee printing are the number of mediums available to print on. A variety of canvas, watercolor paper, cotton rags, and velvium (textured) fine art papers from numerous manufactures are readily available, many of which carry a receptive coating particularly for inkjet printing that highten the quality and archivability of a Giclee Print. In fact, a giclee print demands specific quality standands in terms of materials and workmanship to be classified as a "Giclee".

...The quality of a giclée print is determined by a few factors, most importantly the quality of the digital file. A giclée print is only as good as the digital file used to make it and without a good scan or capture the best results simply cannot be achieved.

...The best possible prints are made with the finest papers available. Top brands like Hahnemule, Innova, and Epson (to name a few), are profiled for the printers used and printed using a RIP (a printer driver on steroids) used to control optimum ink lay down for better color accuracy, density, saturation, and gradation (the smoothness of tonal transition from light to dark.

...Pigmented inks combined with a RIP are the core to a successful recipe for Fine Art reproduction, along with proprietary we make for our combination of papers, inks, and printers. The resulting print is a museum grade archival print with a longevity that commonly surpasses 80 years.

...Your giclée printer is another important factor. Although major players like Epson, Roland, and Canon etc make excellent prints, many companies that use plotters and market giclées are usually not specialized in fine art reproduction.

Printing Method

..The most common inquiries are resolution and color space. Generally speaking we recommend a minimum resolution of 150-200 ppi at the size the image is going to be printed. (An in depth explanation of the difference between ppi and dpi is available here.> DPI and PPI for giclee printing.

...All digital cameras or scanners are not created equal. For example, an image created by a professional 5MP digital SLR with pro lenses will produce a much better file that a 5 MP point and shoot. Most individuals don’t have a digital camera capable of producing native resolution for a 30X40 giclee at 150ppi. Knowing this, We can use image interpolation to compensate.

...Example: if ordering a 30X40" print, we normally require a file that measures 30X40" at 200 ppi. The color space we work in is Adobe RGB, an industry standard, because it offers a wider color gamut and therefore better color range. If you send us a CMYK file, we convert it to our working space. Because RGB has a wider gamut than CMYK, There is no gamut loss going from CMYK to RGB.

...Whether we’re the ones to scan your originals or not, we print with one of three RIP software programs designed to apply very smooth curves and achieve the best possible image rendition. We build our own proprietary profiles designed for the papers we use. RIP stands for Raster Image Processing: software interprets the digital data to apply colors and tones to an extent not possible with printer supplied drivers.

...We use an 8-pass, uni-directional pigment layering system we regard to be the best in the industry. There is a belief held by an old school mentality that Iris printers are the best. Iris technology is more than 15 years old and the new generation of printers such as Epson, Roland and others are far better and more sophisticated than Iris. Another advantage of these new giclee printing systems is that (opposite to the 4 color Iris) they use 6, 7 or even more colors. Metamerism is almost non existent because of the advances in pigment based inks.

Color Adjustment

...It’s typically accepted that local color corrections are necessary to match the tones of the original art to a giclee print.

...Pigments used by artists are “seen” differently by scanners and cameras compared to the naked eye. CCDs are so sensitive to the chemical composition and consequent spectral properties of oils, acrylics and watercolor media that it’s nearly impossible for a straight scan can to be printed as a giclee and be perfect in any way.

...The process requires a post scanning general and local color correction. Some earthy pigment blends loved by artists may look one way when seen with a naked eye and a complete different way on the screen after being scanned. Furthermore, the reproduction process throws in a curve in regards to the inherent gamut of papers and pigmented inks.

...The first step is not make a general correction if necessary. This step is only necessary if the file is too flat, too bright or dark or if there is an overall colorcast. A good scan, with no highlight or shadow clipping should not make overall corrections necessary.

...Local corrections on the other hand may have nothing to do with how well a scan is produced. A giclee proof may be perfect in tonality and colors except for areas where a particular pigment is used. The only step that can be taken is to isolate such areas and color correct them in Photoshop.

...A color range needing adjustment can be selected using a mask as an adjustment layer or alpha channel, and can be refined with a brush to account for uneven feathering. Another technique is to use the Quick Mask tool and manually create the mask.

...Once the mask is created, it is time to decide which type of adjustment layer to use. Often it can be a combination of two or more layers such as hue/saturation and curves or levels. Brightness/contrast or color balance controls should be avoided as much as possible. These tools don’t have the necessary control to achieve the best correction.

...The beauty of keeping the corrections in adjustment layers is the freedom to go back and edit the color without further degrading the background layer. Also, these layers have many options themselves such as opacity and multiply, screen, darken etc. Photoshop books have extended sections regarding the subject. It is definitely time well-spent reading and practicing these techniques if you decide to have full control over your digital files for giclee reproduction.

Marketing limited Addition Prints

...........From a pure marketing standpoint, artists can now suggest Giclees to potential buyers.

...High-end digital printmaking has opened a new world for artists: more paper choices, better color, limited production. Giclee printing has revolutionized the marketing and quality of commercial art.

...When pricing your giclee edition for sale the general guideline is to go between 1/2 and 1/5th of the price of the original. The pricing is influenced by the number in the series as well the print number in relation to the edition. As we approach the end of the series ex. 95 of 100, the value increases. Collectors in particular want to buy art that is not made in mass quantities. When buying Limited Edition Giclees they are assured to possess something rare and exquisite.

...In some cases artists only sells giclees and retains the original to establish a solid giclee market and attract clients who are only interested in the original artwork, which would command a high premium. In regards to digital art, it’s up to the artist to price the market.

...Artists are encouraged to pre-sell the complete limited edition. You may want to track the collectors and notify them when the particular edition is sold out. This reinforces the added value of their purchase. All giclee prints should have a Certificate of Authenticity from the printmaker: it is a service we provide for free with each giclee print you order.