Giclée Prints

What are Giclée prints?

A giclée (pronounced zhee-clay) is a reproduction of an original painting digitally printed on an archival, museum quality canvas using a minimum of 7 ink colours, and 2880dpi. It is the closest duplication of an original ever produced. Giclées are quickly becoming the new standard in the art industry.

What makes giclées a higher quality print than the traditional paper fine art prints?

Over time, paper prints (often referred to as a fine art prints) can wrinkle and/or fade due to moisture and direct light. They also require matting and glass when framed to protect them, which adds cost and weight to the finished product. Giclées are printed on an archival museum quality canvas and treated with the same varnish as original paintings. This process eliminates the possibility of fading and the need for matting or glass.

Will canvas giclées ever fade or will the colors bleed?

No Giclées are fade resistant. The special varnish applied to the giclées will protect it from fading or colors bleeding. In fact, lighting, such as a spotlight, is encouraged to illuminate the color and detail of your giclée.

How can I tell the difference between a Canvas Giclée and an Original painting?

It is difficult just looking at them – they look identical, but there is one easy way…the price! Otherwise, simply look at the artist’s signature. Original paintings have one signature and giclées have 2 artist signatures. One is the reproduction of the original signature (in paint), and the other, (usually in pen), is signed in the vicinity of the original signature with numbers representing the size in the reproduction, or giclée, series.

To be truly considered a giclée, a print should:

1. Begin with a high quality digital file, either from professionally scanned film, digital capture or computer created art that has been color worked and profiled for the intended output.
2. Be printed using state-of-the-art inkjet printers which have been calibrated and use a minimum of 7 colours.
3. Be printed with archival pigmented inks, specifically formulated for the substrate.
4. Be printed on archival canvas.