What is a giclée print (pronounced “G-CLAY”)?
A giclée print is a print made from a digital file using high quality printers that lay down pigmented or dye-based inks on artist grade print substrates. These printers give the printmakers great flexibility over the print, so they can perfect the color and print in any size. The giclée prints we offer are printed with a premium grade 7-color pigmented ink set.
Why is a giclée superior to a traditional photo?
1. Brighter colors. The printing process we use utilizes pigmented inks, like paint, not light sensitive emulsion. This means colors are much brighter than a photo print. This is especially visible in photo artwork, such as Chalk Pastel, Cartoon Art and Pop Art, allowing for a vibrant painterly print – not duller photo print colors.
2. Water resistant. Giclées are more resistant to water than photo prints. This makes our prints great for non-framed prints, such as those used in a scrapbook.
3. Look and feel is superior to photo paper. Giclée paper is thicker than photo paper and has an elegant, professional look and feel (deeper grain/texture). No plastic-like emulsion.
4. Greater control over color. A skilled giclée printmaker has far more control over the print than in traditional photo processes. Each color may be controlled with great accuracy. The overall print has a painted quality showing subtle details, color blends and tones. These details are impossible to capture with a standard photo printer. The ability to properly capture a full range of tones is essential for printing beautiful photo restorations.
5. Same printers used to reproduce fine art. Giclées are printed with graphic arts printers, the same used for fine art duplication in galleries. The giclée process has largely replaced lithography and serigraphy as the standard for fine art duplication.
6. Non-toxic and green. Standard photo printing processes generate environmentally unfriendly chemical waste products. Giclées create no liquid waste.
7. Flexibility to print in any size. The giclée process is essential for photo restoration.
Print It or lose It
In this digital world we take for granted the images we capture with our digital cameras, cell phones, and iPads. Too many times these images are left on the device they were captured with or on another storage device such as computer, HDDs, flash disks, memory cards, CDs, DVDs and never printed or shared. There is great risk in storing your photos in digital format with computer virus, damage to the storage media, carelessness, or simply losing the device. When families don’t make prints or manage their electronic images correctly, they risk finding themselves without a photo history. Making prints will help record times gone by & capture memories that can be lost forever.
What good is a photo if you never get to see it? Most of use grew up with printed photographs and viewing an image on the computer or the small mobile screen just doesn’t have the same effect. A printed photo of the new baby in Grandmas brag book, a photo frame on your desk, or the enlarged picture on you wall is much more adorable. Photographic prints should be made so they can be seen and shared.
The beauty of the digital age is the convenience of being able to capture a moment in time with such ease. We don’t have to print the hundreds of images that can be captured on just one memory card, but it is important to handpick the finest for printing & viewing. In our world of technology having your photographs developed has become much less expensive, more convenient, and fun. In addition to printing standard sized prints, you can crop & edit your image giving you more control over the final print, make enlargements, have it printed to canvas, put a collage of your images onto a poster print, transform it to Pop Art, and make it look like a watercolor or other artistic style. No matter what the final product, always remember how important it is to print it so you don’t lose it.