Playful Cows print

Playful Cows Giclee print

What is a Giclee?

A Giclee is a high-resolution digital print made of an archival ink and media

combination. This type of art reproduction is quickly becoming the new standard

in the art industry, and is widely embraced for its quality by major museums,

galleries, publishers, and artists.

The word giclee itself is French, and means spray, in this case meaning, spray of

ink. From hundreds of inkjets, more than a million droplets of ink per second are

sprayed on canvas or watercolor paper. Once completed, an image is comprised

of almost 20 billion droplets of ink.

The resulting print has no perceptible dot pattern, an endless array of richly

saturated color, and every nuance of the original image. The most archival, water

based lightfast inks available in the world are used. The latest inks offer at least

70-years of lightfastness and UV-resistance under museum archival conditions.

A Giclee Print is simply the closest duplication of the original artwork that

is humanly, mechanically, or technically possible.

What are the advantages of giclee over

traditional litho prints?

Longer life. Giclees are printed on archival, acid free papers and canvases with

long lasting pigment based archival ink.

Better image quality. Giclee prints offer more richness, detail and depth than

traditional offset lithography. Greater color gamut can be achieved.

Customization. Giclees can be printed in custom sizes and on a variety of

papers and canvases. Artists can enhance the giclee by hand painting or

embellishing.

Framing. High tech coatings on Giclees printed on canvas and paper allow the

print to be displayed in a frame without glass.

This saves money on framing costs, and some buyers appreciate being able to

view their print without looking through glass.