Giclée (zhee-clay) - French
meaning 'to spray ink.' In Giclée, a scanned image is printed on
a high-resolution inkjet printer. Giclée prints (also known
as Iris prints) are advantageous to artists who find it not feasible to
mass produce their work, but want to reproduce their art as needed. Once
an image is archived, additional reproductions can be made with minimal
effort and cost. Thus the up-front cost of mass production is
eliminated and printing is done on demand. Another tremendous advantage
to Giclee printing is that artwork can be reproduced to almost any size
and on various media, giving the artist the ability to customize prints
for a specific client.
In Giclée, the graphic artist scans the photo with a high-resolution
scanner creating a digital file on a computer. Second, the image
produced by the computer is studied by the graphic artist to determine
that the colors reproduced accurately match the original painting as
closely as possible. Third, each image is printed by a
state-of-the art fine-art replication plotter that delivers a fine spray
of ink containing millions of microscopic droplets of colored inks onto
a specially surface-treated roll of canvas or other media to produce a
print on canvas.
The print is then mounted on stretchers. At this point, some
prints will be embellished by the artist, which makes each a special
one-of-a kind piece. The print is then signed and numbered according to
a limited number of prints produced, thereby increasing its value.
Finally, the print is coated with a special finish containing
ultraviolet filters and stabilizers to further protect the piece from
ultraviolet rays and make it a piece of Fine Art for you to enjoy for
many years to come
(as long as 100 years).