For those who are looking to make prints of their original artwork, then you need to be looking at what are known as giclée prints (pronounced as “zhee-clays”). Giclée prints can be used to reproduce a variety of different types of art, from the traditional to digital.

Now, the word giclée is a French word that means “to spray,” and refers to how an inkjet printer and the giclée prints are typically created. Giclée printing utilizes large format inkjet printers which are equipped with small sprayers that can match both color and apply ink in a precise manner, giving artists a high-quality print of their original artwork.

However, it is important to know that not all inkjet printers are capable of producing giclée prints. There are four elements involved in a giclée print: resolution, paper, ink, and printer type.

Creating a Giclée Print

In order to create a high-quality print, the camera or scanner that is used to scan or capture the art needs to do so with a high resolution. The image file of a giclée art print is recommended to be 300 DPI. Although with modern software, with a large enough starting point, and clean files, the file can be upsized without quality loss, in most cases.

When it comes to the ink and paper involved in a giclée print, they must not only be considered of the highest quality, but must be archival quality as well. Usually, this is achieved using pigment-based inks, rather than dye-based ones, and the surface used – whether canvas, watercolor paper, or specialty printing paper – must be designated as being archival.

Lastly, the printers used in the giclée printing process are far larger models than are otherwise available. These larger models are capable of holding up to twelve ink cartridges, which are able to produce a far wider range of colors for duplicating an artist’s work.

High Resolution

Think about how when you zoom into a photo, you begin seeing pixels. That is similar to how DPI works. But when it comes to giclée printing, the higher your DPI, the higher the quality of your image’s resolution – meaning that the final print will be sharper and incredibly detailed, even upon a close examination.

High Quality Equipment

Now, one of the key factors that sets giclée printing apart from more traditional digital prints is the type of printers and inks used in the process. Your standard desktop inkjet printer is not appropriate for producing giclée prints. In order to produce a proper giclée print, the printer needs to be a wide-format aqueous inkjet printer.

Giclée prints are well-known and revered for their long lifespan, especially when compared to traditional digital prints. Giclée prints are resistant to sun, and humidity damage. This is achieved by utilizing pigment-based ink, rather than dye-based inks. Pigment inks, unlike their dye-based counterparts, are naturally UV-resistant and much more resistant to damage.

Archival Quality Paper

The quality and type of paper used in giclée printing also sets it apart. That is because giclée prints require the use of archival quality paper or canvas, which are 100% acid-free. The important takeaway here is that archival paper and canvas are well-known for their durability and longevity. By utilizing this quality of material, your giclée print will not degrade as it would with regular paper.

What’s all the fuss about?

Giclée prints are not just all about using fancy inks, printers, and papers. This is because giclée printing is about high-quality printing that is long-lasting. If you were, for example, to print a picture off of your home computer using a regular desktop printer, you are likely going to notice that it begins to show wear and tear – most likely from sunlight and humidity. Or it might have gotten smudged when you handled it while parts of it were still wet.

Although with printed text documents, you might not notice such imperfections – or even mind that they are there – with paintings and art photography, where color and detail matter most, any flaw quickly becomes an eyesore.

That is why giclée printing is so highly regarded. It captures the colors and details of your artwork or photography perfectly. And is proven to last against the test of time.