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About Giclee Printing
The Definition
: Giclee (zhee-klay) - The French word "giclée" is a feminine noun that means a spray or a spurt of liquid. The word may have
been derived from the French verb "gicler" meaning "to squirt".
The Term : The term "giclee print" connotes
an elevation in printmaking technology. Images are generated from high resolution digital scans and printed with archival
quality inks onto various substrates including canvas, fine art, and photo-base paper. The giclee printing process provides
better color accuracy than other means of reproduction.
The Process : Giclee prints are created typically using
professional 8-Color to 12-Color ink-jet printers. Among the manufacturers of these printers are vanguards such as Epson,
MacDermid Colorspan, & Hewlett-Packard. These modern technology printers are capable of producing incredibly detailed
prints for both the fine art and photographic markets. Giclee prints are sometimes mistakenly referred to as Iris prints,
which are 4-Color ink-jet prints from a printer pioneered in the late 1970s by Iris Graphics.
The Advantages
: Giclee prints are advantageous to artists who do not find it feasible to mass produce their work, but want to reproduce
their art as needed, or on-demand. Once an image is digitally archived, additional reproductions can be made with minimal
effort and reasonable cost. The prohibitive up-front cost of mass production for an edition is eliminated. Archived files
will not deteriorate in quality as negatives and film inherently do. Another tremendous advantage of giclee printing is that
digital images can be reproduced to almost any size and onto various media, giving the artist the ability to customize prints
for a specific client.
The Quality : The quality of the giclee print rivals traditional silver-halide and gelatin
printing processes and is commonly found in museums, art galleries, and photographic galleries.
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