Picture Salon, a fine art giclee printing company, has recently purchased an Epson StylusPro 11880 printer that is capable of printing on rolls of either paper or canvas media as wide as 64". This new printer employs a micro-piezo print head technology. The archival inks include a vivid magenta capable of making possible an even wider color gamut than previous printers in its class.
The term giclee actually refers to the process of digital ink jet printing. The print head sprays the nine inks (two blacks, a dark and light gray, a light magenta and a vivid magenta, a cyan and light cyan and yellow) on the paper or canvas to provide a realistic and true depiction of the digital file used to produce the print.
Giclee prints are now the most popular medium used by artists and many photographers to reproduce their work. Once scanned and proofed, the images are ready to "print on demand" at any time thereby enabling artists to place their work for sale on a web site and to then have the print made "on demand" once the order is placed. Giclee prints also make it possible for an artist to sell his or her work to a customer that typically might be able to afford purchasing an original work of art. This in turn allow the artist to potentially expand their customer base by making their art more accessible.
Picture Salon offers a wide variety of media on which to print including a 19 ml. canvas and a selection of over ten different papers ranging from 100% cotton to photo papers. By combining archival inks and fine art, 100% cotton papers, an artist can be assured that their reproduction will last for a minimum of eighty years without fading. In certain conditions, the prints can last more like two hundred years. Many fine art museums and galleries are beginning to add giclee prints to their collections as well as offering reproductions from their works of original art as giclees in their shops.
The most popular type of giclee today is one made on canvas. A canvas print lends a different dimension to an original image. Also, the canvas can be "gallery wrapped" on stretcher bars, thereby avoiding the need for expensive framing services. The finished print looks contemporary and is a welcome addition on any wall. History
The term "giclee" is derived from the French noun "gicleur" meaning "jet, stream of liquid or gas forced out of an opening". More loosely translated, it means "to spray". The term was created by an early proponent of digital ink jet printing who wanted to elevate the awareness of the superior nature of this new printing process over traditional offset printing -- that a giclee was a print that was "sophisticated"
Giclees were originally made using Iris printers that used archival dye inks. The paper was loaded on a rotating drum and took extremely long to print. Then, Epson came along with a new, more improved printer and introduced a line of pigmented inks that were far superior in terms of their color-fastness when compared to dyes inks.
Pigmented Inks
Pigmented inks are very stable. Some of the more current inks are rated to last up to two hundred years without fading according to testing lab Wilhelm Research. Even though dye inks have a larger color "gamut" or range, pigmented inks are overall superior for their stablility.
The papers and canvas types that are used to make giclee prints are all specially coated to make the substrate's surface more receptive to pigmented inks.
Pigmented Inks
Pigmented inks are very stable. Some of the more current inks are rated to last up to two hundred years without fading according to testing lab Wilhelm Research. Even though dye inks have a larger color "gamut" or range, pigmented inks are overall superior for their stablility.
The papers and canvas types that are used to make giclee prints are all specially coated to make the substrate's surface more receptive to pigmented inks.
The advantages of giclee prints are:
* Superior detail and color fidelity or "gamut"
* Color permanence rated to last at least one hundred years
* A wide choice of 100% cotton papers and canvases
* Print-on-demand
Giclee prints offer the ability to reproduce artwork on a variety of specially treated substrates including canvas, fine art papers and photo papers. They also make reproducing artwork more cost effective than offset printing -- especially when produced in limited runs.
The term may sound foreign, but it is a pretty good deal all the way around!
Selecting a Giclée Printer
Selecting a giclée printer is a very personal choice. In certain ways, it is like choosing a doctor. You need to be able to trust their experience and their judgment. After all, your printer will be, in many ways, an extension of your work. Some artists will feel more comfortable working with their printer in person. Others won’t mind working remotely with printers via the Internet. Wherever they are located, you will need to know that you’ve made the right choice.
So, how do you begin? There are three main criteria: quality, cost and value-added services. The most important starting point is cost.
Cost: The rule-of-thumb is that you should be able mark-up your giclée prints a minimum of at least two-to-three times your cost. If the cost of making a giclée reproduction is too high, it probably isn’t worth your while -- especially if you are trying to make a living as an artist. The higher your costs, the more difficult it may be to mark- it-up and sell.
So, when you evaluate a giclée printer based upon cost, you need be aware of the fees that they may charge. One is called the “setup fee”. A setup fee is a very broad term. It can include the cost of scanning and proofing your original work or it might just mean the time it takes to open your file on the computer and change the media (paper or canvas) on the printer. Some printers charge for that effort, whereas others don’t. Another major cost “hurdle” is the “minimum order”. Some printers won’t even talk to you unless you plan to spend a minimum of at least $250! It would be difficult to inexpensively evaluate their quality if they charge so much up front.
Additional fees to look out for are storage fees (to keep your files on record), copying your work onto a CD or DVD and any other rush fees. They can all add up. If you work with a remote printer, you also need to consider the cost of shipping (which is usually offset by not being charged any sales tax).
Quality: So now you have a short list of contenders that meet your cost criteria. Evaluating the quality of their work is the next step. If you are a photographer or a digital artist, you can place a small order – perhaps one or two different images – to check their quality. If you are a painter, you will first need to have your original art scanned or photographed. Then you will need to have the image proofed.
Picture Salon is also the parent company of Big Canvas Prints and Print-It-BIG. All three companies now have the capability to make very large prints on paper or canvas.
http://www.picturesalon.com
http://www.bigcanvasprints.com
http://www.print-
