What is a giclée?
A giclée print (pronounce it as "zjeeclay") is originally a French word meaning, "fine spray". A giclée is produced using modern printing techniques by spraying the ink on paper or fine-art canvas. To make a good giclée it is necessary to have a high resolution scan or digital image of the original image, painting or print. The material, museum quality paper or canvas is specially prepared for this type of printing. When the print is ready it is finished with a special UV protection layer. Modern quality giclée prints have a light-fast long life expectancy of more than a 100 years.
Usually the artist gives out a signed and numbered limited edition. One of the advantages of modern giclée prints is the possibility for the artist to sell high quality reproductions of the original artwork for a reasonable price. Another advantage of giclées over lithographs for the artist is the possibility to print on demand and lower the inventory costs. Lithographs have to be bought at once and this can be a significant investment. With the modern inks and printing techniques giclées have a higher resolution than lithos as well.
And last but not least, if the scans, photos or digital material are of an excellent quality, larger reproductions than the size of the original artwork can be made and/or digitally enhanced. |
