Giclee (zhee-klay)
Giclee (pronounced zhee’klay) is a French term meaning to spray or squirt, which is how an inkjet printer works. In giclee printing, no screen or other mechanical devices are used and therefore there is no visible dot screen pattern. The image has all the tonalities and hues of the original painting.
Giclee prints are produced on a wide variety of museum-quality acid-free fine art papers and canvas, including Matte and Gloss Hi-Textured Canvas, Smooth and Textured Watercolor paper, Lustre Photo papers and transparent acetates. Giclee prints are produced with archival quality inks and are superior to traditional lithography in several ways. The colors are brighter, last longer, and are so high-resolution that they are virtually continuous tone, rather than tiny dots. The range, or "gamut" of color for giclees is far beyond that of lithography, and details are crisper.
Images are generated from high resolution digital scans and printed with archival quality inks onto various museum-quality substrates including canvas, fine art, and photo-base paper. The giclee printing process provides better color accuracy than other means of reproduction. Giclee prints are created typically using professional 8-Color to 12-Color ink-jet printers. They are coveted by collectors for their fidelity and quality, and desired by artist and galleries because giclee prints do not have to be produced in huge quantities. Among the manufacturers of these printers are vanguards such as Epson, Canon & 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.
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.
Joan's Murals uses Dean Wallace Photography to capture all of the digital images that are used to produce the Giclee. Dean is located in Seattle, Wa.. Dean uses Extremely High Mega Pixel Canon Cameras. He is able to capture the true essence of your original painting. Please contact Dean Wallce Photography if you should need his services.
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