Giclee Printing Service
We at CityPress, offer our clients the best giclee printing services. From artists and photographers to businesses, we provide fine art giclee prints with museum quality.
We are a top printing company dedicated to perfectly reproducing our client's original paintings or images.
Source: shutterstock.com / Photo Contributor: Mike_O
What Is Giclee Printing?
The origins of giclee printing
Unlike most art mediums, giclee art or fine art giclee printing traces its origins to more recent times. The term was first coined in the 90s by the printmaker Jack Duganne and has since been used to refer to fine art prints.
The term "Giclee" first referred to the type of prints the giclee printers were producing on a modified inkjet printer. On this modified high-resolution prepress proofing inkjet printer, the giclee paper receiving the ink spray sits attached to a rotating drum.
Giclee is based on the French word "Gicleur", meaning jet or a nozzle. Today, the term is associated with most giclee fine art prints techniques that use dyes or fade-resistant archival inks.
So, giclee or fine art printing uses an inkjet printer to produce prints on cotton or other natural fiber paper (rice, bamboo, etc.) with specially formulated inks.
Advantages of fine art printing over traditional methods
Even while traditional art printing is of excellent quality, giclee art prints are of a considerably higher caliber. With fine art printing, you get art prints that perfectly capture every detail of the original artwork they want to be reproduced.
Moreover, traditional methods are more suitable for commercial copies, while giclee art prints are excellent if you want museum-quality prints. Another advantage giclee has over traditional printing methods is the inks.
For giclee art prints, we use archival inks, vastly different from dye-based inks. Instead, archival inks are pigment-based, leading to greater:
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Quality
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Scratch-resistance
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Fade-resistance
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Color stability
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Longevity
Giclee vs. Screen printing
Screen printing is one of the industry's most widely used printing methods. The method is suitable for creating high-quality prints on textiles and fabrics for commercial purposes.
But while the results may be of good quality, they are not on the same level as giclee prints. In other words, giclee art printing essentially creates two-dimensional artwork. Unlike screen printing, which uses CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black), giclee uses other colors.
The colors involved in fine art include light cyan, light magenta, and three types of gray, orange, and green. Giclee art prints typically start with a resolution of 300 DPI or more with 9 or 12 ink sets for color accuracy.
Digital technology in giclee art printing
In giclee art printing, a fair bit of technology is involved, such as inkjet printers, scanners, computers, photo editors, etc. This digital technology allows us to achieve unmatched results in our giclee fine art prints.
Thanks to digital technology, we can take high-resolution scans of original artwork and calibrate parameters to get art prints with the highest possible quality.
Our Giclee Printing Services
We provide the best giclee art printing services in the industry. We supply outstanding art prints to you as a client, whether you be an artist, photographer, or a company. So, when acquiring our fine art giclee printing, you may expect the following:
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High-resolution scanning and capture
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Premium archival materials and inks
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Customization options for clients
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Quality control and assurance processes
Our commitment to excellence in art reproduction and printing is unmatched, as evidenced by our satisfied customers.
Source: shutterstock.com / Photo Contributor: Eugenio Marongiu
The Giclee Printing Process
The steps of fine art printing
Making a digital copy
What are giclee prints? The first step in the giclee art printing process is making a digital copy of your original piece. To achieve a clear digital copy, it is vital to use a good-quality scanner, which is what we do.
If the image is not scanned properly, the image quality will be low, and the giclée prints will be blurry. Once we capture the digital copy, we adjust the brightness and contrast and edit any issues from the copy, after which it is ready for the next stage.
High image resolution
The image resolution must be high for the art prints to be considered giclee. Original images or artworks are scanned at resolutions of 300 DPI or higher to produce giclee art prints.
Using proper paper
We print giclee art print on archival paper. Otherwise, the giclee on paper would not be considered fine art. Archival papers are those that meet the limits on metallic content and are free of the following:
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Acid
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Brighteners
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Groundwood
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Unbleached pulp
The archival paper helps prevent the yellowing of the prints over time and their breakdown.
Printing with an inkjet printer
We use an inkjet printer to spray the pigment-based inks on the archival paper. Other types of printers will not provide you with the same results. This is because inkjet printers can produce giclée prints that perfectly emulate the details and texture of the original piece.
Fine art prints: Archival materials and inks
What makes a print a fine art is the use of archival materials and ink. This means using only pigment-based inks and no dye-based ones.
Pigment inks are made from finely ground powders suspended in a liquid. Pigment-based inks are not water-soluble. Additionally, archival inks dry faster, bind with paper fibers, and offer exceptional color vibrancy.
The archival inks are sprayed on archival paper for the best results. Archival paper is a heavy-weight, thick, and luxurious paper that prolongs the longevity of your prints and is fade-resistant.
Advantages of Giclee Art Printing
Color accuracy and vibrancy
Due to the special inks, the results are high-quality art prints that look manually produced. The exact color mix depends on the type of inkjet printer. As mentioned, we use pigment-based archival inks in fine art printing.
Giclee art prints retain tonality and hue, meaning the colors will not change. Inkjet printers also have more ink cartridges, allowing for greater color accuracy and vibrancy in the art prints.
Long-lasting and durable prints
Since giclee prints incorporate pigment-based ink and not dye-based, it provides significant longevity to the prints. The predicted longevity of giclee art prints is beyond a century.
Giclee art prints are also more durable than regular ones. They are not as prone to scratches or other damage.
Preservation of fine details and textures
With giclee art printing, all of the fine details of the original can be perfectly captured and reproduced. This makes giclee art prints virtually indistinguishable from the original image or artwork.
We may replicate the original piece with fine art printing to its finest details and textures. With giclee art printing, there will be no yellow overcast, which is an unfortunate possibility for regular prints. Instead, the color matching is almost identical to the original.
Versatility and customization options
Besides getting a superior quality in your art print with vibrant colors and clarity, the giclee method is also suitable for printing on various mediums. Whether you prefer traditional canvas, textured paper, or other innovative surfaces, giclee printing allows you to showcase your creations in unique and personalized ways.
Who Can Benefit From Giclee Art Printing?
Giclee art printing is suitable for anyone looking for museum-quality and long-lasting prints.
You can monetize your work without having to part with your original artwork. Giclee art prints are of exceptional quality and capture the original pieces in-depth, so much so that there are virtually no noticeable differences.
Also, galleries and museums can display accurate reproductions of original artwork without risking potential damage to the art. Besides the art world, giclee prints are also suitable for commercial purposes.
For example, interior designers and decorators use fine art prints to decorate their clients' properties. Moreover, businesses can use giclee art printing to create posters, leaflets, flyers, etc., for their services.
Why CityPress for Giclee Art Printing?
By choosing CityPress, you get our expertise and experience in giclee art printing as well as our commitment to quality and craftsmanship.
We use state-of-the-art technology and equipment for our printing services, ensuring our clients get the best art prints. Also, we pride ourselves on providing fast turnaround times so you won't have to wait long to get your giclee art prints.
Hence, choose CityPress, and you can customize your order per your needs and preferences.
Source: shutterstock.com / Photo Contributor: VIS Fine Art
Jump Into Giclee Printing Services With CityPress
If you are interested in our giclee printing services, contact us by phone at 262-523-3000 or email: sales@citypressinc.com.
Happy printing!