Giclee prints?
Discussion
Here we go, all you need to know
www.gicleeprint.net/abtGclee.shtm
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.
The Market : Numerous examples of giclee prints can be found in New York City at the Metropolitan Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Chelsea Galleries. Recent auctions of giclee prints have fetched $10,800 for Annie Leibovitz, $9,600 for Chuck Close, and $22,800 for Wolfgang Tillmans (April 23/24 2004, Photographs, New York, Phillips de Pury & Company.)
Dave
>> Edited by pug406 on Wednesday 8th December 20:10
www.gicleeprint.net/abtGclee.shtm
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.
The Market : Numerous examples of giclee prints can be found in New York City at the Metropolitan Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Chelsea Galleries. Recent auctions of giclee prints have fetched $10,800 for Annie Leibovitz, $9,600 for Chuck Close, and $22,800 for Wolfgang Tillmans (April 23/24 2004, Photographs, New York, Phillips de Pury & Company.)
Dave
>> Edited by pug406 on Wednesday 8th December 20:10
I had a look into this a few months back, and came to the conclusion that it is just a posh name for good quality ink jet prints (for example fine art paper + archival quality pigment inks on a top line Epson printer).
I couldn't find anything that suggested otherwise, so if anyone knows what makes a print Giclee rather than plain old inkjet, then I'd like to know too.
I couldn't find anything that suggested otherwise, so if anyone knows what makes a print Giclee rather than plain old inkjet, then I'd like to know too.
ehasler said:
I had a look into this a few months back, and came to the conclusion that it is just a posh name for good quality ink jet prints (for example fine art paper + archival quality pigment inks on a top line Epson printer).
I couldn't find anything that suggested otherwise, so if anyone knows what makes a print Giclee rather than plain old inkjet, then I'd like to know too.
Thanks for the info everyone. I got this from the artist:
'Over the past five years Giclee printing has become more and more common with most of the fine art publishers going over to print on demand Giclee rather than Litho.
Giclee is indeed a form of inkjet printing but not ordinary desktop inkjet.
I use an Epson wide format 7600 printer which uses seven colours(Litho uses four) The inks are Epson Ultrachrome and are claimed by Epson to be light-fast for seventy years, The prints are on Epson radiant
white watercolour paper.
Most of the big publishers like Solomon and Whitehead
are now selling Giclee prints,you can find them advertised on their website.
My U.S. distributer Carartinc.com sells Giclees on behalf of many of the top names in motoring art.'
ehasler said:
So presumably I could call my prints Giclee then, as I have an Epson 2100 which uses exactly the same inks as the 7600? Does it have to be "art" images, or can prints of photos be called Giclee as well?
I reckon it's the combination of inks and paper that makes it a Giclee, not the source. So yes, a photo would qualify I think.
ThatPhilBrettGuy said:
From a friend in the printing industry :-
Giclee = Con.
Nuff said.
Well you can't really expect a solo artist or photgrapher to pay for a four-colour litho print run. I know there is something called 'digital printing' that is used for smaller scale work... don't know how that works though.
Still, as long as a Giclee print looks good and lasts for a long time, I don't really mind: it's just the sort if thing I might do one day if the exhibitions take off.
Yep, giclee is just a posh name for the more durable and lightfast prints you get from injet printers using pigment based inks and printed on acid-free paper - such as the Epson Stylus Pro x600 and 2100 ranges. The printers, inks and paper do cost a bit more as you well know, so there is reasonable justification for charging more than some git with an old inkjet, a recharged ink cartridge and a ream of paper from the local stationer's.
I'm quite happy to call my prints giclee from my Epson 9600 - in fact it mentions this somewhere in the advertising blurb ! If you want to do a short run of high quality prints at reasonable cost then there's nothing better.
I'm quite happy to call my prints giclee from my Epson 9600 - in fact it mentions this somewhere in the advertising blurb ! If you want to do a short run of high quality prints at reasonable cost then there's nothing better.
te51cle said:
Yep, giclee is just a posh name for the more durable and lightfast prints you get from injet printers using pigment based inks and printed on acid-free paper
Hmm - as I plan to be selling prints next year, can I do the same thing with my existing HP Deskjet 970CXi? It uses pigment-based inks anyway - maybe I just need the special paper (currently using HP Premium Photo paper). Any ideas?
I've printed photos out on Premium Matt and they definitely fade badly in strong light.
Looking at reviews on the 'net your machine seems to have pigment black but dye-based colour. They're meant to interact but I don't think you get the colour stability required for commercial purposes - hence the fading you've seen.
I've been using Epson Premium Glossy and Semi Glossy papers with my Epson 9600. I've left a couple of prints partially covered in a south-facing room with no curtains for nearly a year with no sign of fading. The window is double glazed and the prints were left on the floor allowing sunlight to shine directly on them. Not particularly scientific but it made me happy that that particular cobination of printer and inks was stable so I'm happy to stick with it. Matt prints should be even more stable.
I think you'll have to invest in another printer if you want to sell your work or you run the risk of having lots of unhappy customers.
I've been using Epson Premium Glossy and Semi Glossy papers with my Epson 9600. I've left a couple of prints partially covered in a south-facing room with no curtains for nearly a year with no sign of fading. The window is double glazed and the prints were left on the floor allowing sunlight to shine directly on them. Not particularly scientific but it made me happy that that particular cobination of printer and inks was stable so I'm happy to stick with it. Matt prints should be even more stable.
I think you'll have to invest in another printer if you want to sell your work or you run the risk of having lots of unhappy customers.
Thanks Te51cle (damn that's hard to get right!)
Latest from artist:
'My printer cost around £3000 and I needed
a new Mac to drive it, so altogether about £4500
The Epson 7600 can print up to A1,The Epson 4000
prints up to A2 using the same Ultrachrome inks
and is well regarded by photographers because
it has the ability to use Matt Black or Photo
Black ink without changing the cartridges.
With the 7600 you have to change blacks if
you change say from glossy photo paper(photo black)
to watercolour paper(matt black)and this wastes
ink.No such problem with the Epson 4000 as both
black cartridges are installed in the printer.
The 4000 is about £1000 cheaper.'
Latest from artist:
'My printer cost around £3000 and I needed
a new Mac to drive it, so altogether about £4500
The Epson 7600 can print up to A1,The Epson 4000
prints up to A2 using the same Ultrachrome inks
and is well regarded by photographers because
it has the ability to use Matt Black or Photo
Black ink without changing the cartridges.
With the 7600 you have to change blacks if
you change say from glossy photo paper(photo black)
to watercolour paper(matt black)and this wastes
ink.No such problem with the Epson 4000 as both
black cartridges are installed in the printer.
The 4000 is about £1000 cheaper.'
Or if you only need A3, then consider the Epson 2100 for less than £500 - it uses the same inks as the 4000/7600/9600 and is also very well regarded. Unlike the 4000, you do need to swap the matte and photo blacks over when you change paper, but with a bit of carefull planning when you print, you can minimise the number of times you need to do this.
I have compared two prints made approximately 12 months apart, and there has been no noticable fading at all. I've also had another print hanging near a window for the last 4/5 months, and again - no fading as far as I can see.
I have compared two prints made approximately 12 months apart, and there has been no noticable fading at all. I've also had another print hanging near a window for the last 4/5 months, and again - no fading as far as I can see.
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