What is a Giclée print
...and why is it so special?
Giclée printing has been one of my latest obsession but I have come to realize that only few people know what that beautiful printing method is about. In this short article I hope to explain a few of the most important aspects of Giclée printing so that you come to appreciate it as much as i do.
So what IS Giclée?
You may have come across artists gleefully put the words Giclee and print together in the same sentence, but you don’t know what it means or what the enthusiasm is about. You may also have found yourself at an art fair wondering why two art prints of fairly the same size are priced 50 or even 100 dollars apart. So let me explain what it all means.
In short a Giclee print is an archival quality, fine art inkjet print on high end paper.
The first thing to notice about such a print is its incomparable depth of black ink. Every colour from intense vibrants to smooth skin tones, are reproduced truthfully and on top of that, it is as mentioned before, archival.
What makes it archival is the quality of ink which is designed to preserve its depth and vibrance for well over 100 or even 200 years, according to manufacturers estimates.
Those printers can have anything from 6 to 12 individual ink cartridges of the CMYK colour mode, with additional colours for perfect transitions and truthful reproduction of the source image.
The cost of the printer therefore is much higher than a normal office printers cost. Especially models that are used by professional printing shops can cost into the thousands and require regular maintenance. However there are some affordable options for small businesses which of course come with paper size and weight restrictions.
The main thing that affects the cost of each print so much though is the price of the ink cartridges. The quality of the dyes and pigments used make each individual cartridge a very costly maintenance fee on its own.
Lats but not least, its pointless to print using this type of printer and ink on the wrong paper. This too must be of the same high end quality and specifications in order to ensure that we get all the perks of printing Giclée. In order for a print to actually be archival, the paper needs to be acid free, so that the paper itself doesn't react to the ink over time causing discoloration.
All the above shoot the production cost of each print as high as 10 times more than a regular one.
So essentially Giclee is an archival, museum quality, accurate representation. This is why it’s the perfect printing method for art prints that you intent to love and cherish for as long as you live.
So next time you see the term Giclee print, you will know the effort and care that has gone into producing art in the highest quality possible.
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