Giclée, pronounced giee-clay, is based on the French word “le gicleur” meaning “nozzle”, or more specifically “gicler” meaning “to squirt, spurt, or spray. It was initially coined as a marketing by Jack Duganne in the early 1990’s to define the process of creating a fine art print with the use of highly calibrated ink-jet printers. A number of years before this term was coined, people were using IRIS ink-jet printers, initially manufactured as pre-press proofers, to create fine art prints.
Before this ink-jet technology was available many artists created fine art prints through lithography, using a traditional printing press, where the unit price is lower however because of the way the presses work the quantity ordered is much higher (roughly 500 prints at a time). Due to the larger inventory there is a lower perceived value by collectors and art buyers and the inks and papers tend to be less archival.
Today the term giclée is the most popular term used today to refer to digital ink-jet printing to create archival fine art prints. The artwork being printed can start its life as an original piece of fine art (painting, drawing, etc) or as a digital / computer generated art file. There are many other people who take advantage of this technology, for example people who are reproducing historical documents or family heirlooms.
When choosing a printer to produce your giclée prints there are a number of factors to consider in order to guarantee the highest level product for your clients:
The way a digital file is created from your original artwork
The way your digital file is color managed and prepared
The use of archival inks (pigment based)
The papers and or canvases are archivally manufactured for ink-jet printing
Giclée printing allows todays artists to provide a museum quality print to their clients in a very cost effective manner. The prints can be produced in small runs or even on demand. With current technology your giclée prints should be rated for an archival life-span of 50-200 years - far outliving any of us.
At Opacolor customer satisfaction is our bottom line and we pride ourselves on customizing our workflows for each of our clients specific needs. We have clients as close as 3 blocks away and others as far away as Italy. We look forward to being able to discuss your individual needs and creating a workflow to meet them.
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