Giclee

Hi and welcome to my page on giclee. I have been in the business of making giclee prints for professional artists and photographers for almost 20 years. I own a giclee printing company based in Tampa, FL.

Many people call us about this method of printing both photographs and paintings and more often than not, there is a lot of confusion about what a giclee is.

Let me explain: the term giclee was coined by a printmaker in California in the early 80s. He discovered that a series of printers made by the now defunct Scitex corporation was not only good at making pre-press proofs but also at printing on watercolor paper. He started experimenting until he achieved results that were surpassing any other method of reproduction available at the time. Although he was using an inkjet, he wanted to differentiate his output compared to the lowly inkjets, dye subs etch available at the time. He made the term "giclee" that in French is derived form "gicler", to squirt. He obviously referred to the mechanics of the inkjet nozzles squirting inks onto paper.

Fast forward 20 years and giclee has taken the photography and art reproductio world by storm. Printers have now up to 12 inks. Pigmented inks are the norm and a huge selection of canvas and fine art papers is available from the best manufacturers such as Arches, Hahnemuhle, PremierArt, Epson etc.

But what makes a giclee print opposite to a lowly inkjet print? Here are a few pointers:

-The use of professional grade printers. Sorry, the $99 printer you buy at Office Depot will not make a giclee.

-The use of archival, acid free papers

-The use of pigments, not dyes

-Of course the skill of the printmaker in color correction and making sure the best results can be achieved.

This is the short of the story but there is a lot more if you are interested in researching further on the web. If you are looking for a full service giclee printer, with large format scanning and canvas stretching capabilities, Allpconline.com, Inc is a good choice. For further nd more in depth information, www.greatgiclee.com will expand on the subject.