When it comes to fine art printing and reproduction, materials and methods are of utmost importance. Fast-paced technological advancements in the print industry have given the average consumer the power to print artwork and photographs for an affordable price without ever leaving the comforts of home. While high quality home printers and even commercial digital printers might be able to output a piece that appears to be of fine quality at a very affordable price; upon closer inspection, a few key factors become evident and set giclée printing apart from the rest.

Giclée printing was first introduced in the late 1980’s and has since revolutionized the reproduction of fine art worldwide. The word originates from the french term gicleur, which refers to a jet or nozzle. In it’s most basic form, a “giclée printer” is a large format inkjet printer. However, there a few key components that differentiate these printers from your average inkjet.

First and foremost, giclée equipment employs higher quality and more precise printheads, allowing for finer details to be reproduced accurately. Second, the number of and quality of inks used is far superior to those used in regular inkjet printing (or in toner based digital printing). Most home inkjet and laser printers will range from four to six color printing, while giclée printing usually employs a minimum of eight different ink channels. This allows the printer to accurately reproduce a larger color gamut, therefore providing a closer match to the original artwork.

Lastly, the quality of inks used in giclée printing results in more vibrant colors with a greater longevity when compared to regular inkjet or digital printing. While the latter methods might be able to reproduce images efficiently at a cheaper cost, the difference in quality will become apparent immediately. Furthermore, ordinary non-archival prints will degrade and fade at a much faster pace than fine art giclée prints. Acid-free fine art prints will last a minimum of 100 years without any kind of fading. If displayed properly, their longevity will be much greater. This is in part due to cheaper inks employing dyes instead of pigment (with pigment providing greater longevity and fade resistance).

These, along with other factors which affect print quality and longevity (such as substrates, environment, and storage) will be discussed in depth in future articles.

Sources:

Grant, D. | The Baltimore Sun

Johnson, H. | Mastering Digital Printing

Q. Tuan, L. | An Overview of Large Format Color Digital Printing