Know Your Giclee Print

What is Giclee

Giclee printing (pronounced zhee-clay) is a method of printing to create high quality Images. Originating from the French term, “la giclée,” it means, “that which is sprayed or squirted.” Giclee printing began in the 1980s, when high-resolution digital scans were used in conjunction with archival quality inks. In 1991, printmaker Jack Duganne coined the term for fine digital prints that are made on inkjet printers.

Giclee printing is a type of inkjet printing, where fine microscopic droplets of pigment inks are sprayed on paper/canvas and these droplets blend together to form the image. but not all inkjet prints are giclee prints. The intention of giclee printing is to produce a product at a higher quality, with a full spectrum of all hues and tones including all intermediate tones as well as deeper blacks, and a print with an everlasting lifespan and to this end, a highly sophisticated printer with 12 nozzles spraying 12 (4 primary colours and 8 intermediates) pigment inks.

The choice of paper is crucial: the paper or substrate used to print the final piece must be of archival quality, acid free and 100% cotton or rag base These types of papers are the best for longevity and true colour reproduction,

What is Digital

Unlike the conventional method of offset or litho printing in a printing press, The digital printing process involves printing on different media like paper, fabric, acrylic, plastic, etc., directly from a digital image via large format inkjet printers.

Despite the elimination of making printing plates, digital printing is more expensive per page than conventional methods. The printers used for digital printing processes are inkjet printers with 6 nozzles that drop six different water based dyes (4 primary colours and 2 intermediates) on numerous substrates like paper or canvas. Usually the dye ink only forms a slim layer on the surface without permeating the substrate, and the prints only last a few years before fading as dye inks fade over time.

Giclee or Digital

The biggest difference between a standard digital inkjet print and a giclee print is that Giclees are printed using pigment-based inks rather than dye-based inks that are found in office or home  inkjets. Pigment-based inks have a longer lifespan: they can last anywhere from 100 – 200 years without significant fading. have a higher the colour range, with all in between colours, as well as deeper blacks.

Giclee prints besides being a true 100% reproduction of the original art, are also resistant to smudging, sun or humidity damage.

The Posters Photography Print:

The Posters Photography print whether Giclee or Digital is therefore far superior both in resolution and colour, as the artwork is high resolution at 300dpi and processed by expert photographic technicians in ai guided photoshop, a true reproduction of what a human eye would normally see in real life, as against a print made by downloading an image from the net  and printing it on a home printer or at a nearby photo shop or xerox outlet, where the resultant print will not only not have the fine detail being a 72 dpi internet download image, but also miss out all the different intermediate hues and the print may look pixelated and blotchy, with missing or different hues and tones, and in a few months the print fading or turning a undesirable yellow from sunlight and room humidity exposure

Difference Posters Photography Print and Local Digital Print:

How long will giclee prints last?

If properly cared for by the owner, a giclee print will last at least 100 years without significant fading. If your giclee print is framed and hung in a location outside of direct sunlight, it can last even longer.