Giclee printing- Something to do with fine art?

‘Giclee’- or in this context ‘Giclee printing’ – is a neologism coined in 1991 by a poignant printmaker named Jack Duganne and refers to fine art digital prints produced on inkjet printers. The term ‘Giclee Printing’ in its earliest form was originally applied to printed fine art images reproduced on IRIS printers in a process introduced in the 19th Century. Since then however, Giclee printing has, to say the least, evolved in leaps and bounds and is now utilised by many- a artist, art gallery and print shop alike to denote high quality print techniques.

Invented by Duganne, the Giclee printing process initially made use of the largest format, highest resolution printers available at the time (prior to the introduction of inkjet printers onto the market) that were adapted specifically for fine art printing. The term ‘Giclee printing’ was chosen based on the French translation ‘nozzle’ with its associated verb ‘gicler’ meaning ‘squirt’, ‘spurt’ or ‘spray’ as opposed to choosing a name referring directly to a printer of any sort that not everyone could relate to.

Giclee printing to this day is still seen as a highly advantageous printing method to produce high resolution fine art prints that would otherwise diminish in appearance should they be produced using more archaic techniques of printing.

Giclee printing however isn’t all that straightforward and there are several aspects to consider when undertaking Giclee printing. First and foremost, the presentation and quality of the paper used must be seen as equally important to the image itself and Giclee printing can in fact, only be effective when this consideration remains paramount to its undertaker. Secondly, is the Inkjet printer of a high enough calibre to successful withstand Giclee printing and finally, is the paper of a big enough scale to reproduce the fine art image to its former glory using Giclee printing?

It is only once all of these aspects have been taken into account that Giclee printing can take place to produce a superb image reproduction. Therefore, it you feel unable to accommodate Giclee printing at home, it is more worthwhile to seek a professional Giclee printing company.

For more information about Giclee printing as well as a veritable plethora of other services like photography and large format printing, visit Skylight Publishing today.

Giclee Printing from skylightpublishing.com. We provide giclee printing services to artists and photographers of all kind looking for large format Giclee Printing London.