GICLEE vs LITHOGRAPH PRINTS

What are Giclee Fine Art Prints?

The Giclee printing (pronounced "ghee-clay") process was born in the early 1990's as rock musician Graham Nash & and his associate Mac Holbert uncovered a new capability of the Iris inkjet printer called the 3047. These early machines had been developed for digital graphic proofing but it had not occurred to the manufacturer that its equipment would be adopted by artists as a digital method of fine art printing. In 1991, thanks to Mr. Nash's vision, the world's first digital fine art atelier opened its doors. Since this early beginning, the technology in equipment, media, inks and craftsmanship have advanced immeasurably.

Hence the French term" Giclee" which means to spray and that more like a mist, each droplet is the size of a red-blood-cell.

 

Frist IRIS giclee printer 1990

 

In 1990 a photo exhibition for Grahan Nash of Crosby, Stills and Nash. Nash was so impressed with the quality of the IRIS prints, he purchased his own IRIS Graphics 3047 ink-jet printer for $126,000 to print further editions of his work and eventually set up Nash Editions, a digital reproduction company based on the IRIS printer.

 

Inkjet technology is little more than a decade old. That's nothing when you consider it was over 500

years ago when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press and artist such as Albrecht Durer, Martin Schongauer and Lucas Van Leyden began printing engravings.

Now artist are turning to the once-lowly inkjet for fine-art printing.

It's called "giclee"

 

 

 

Todays Epson Giclee printer

 

 

Giclee vs Lithograph Prints

 

As a giclee printer we are aware of differing choices an artist has regarding making prints of their artwork. The most popular choices today are either giclee prints or lithograph prints. Each has their advantages and disadvantages. An artist may want to decide which option is right for them based on a printing company’s production time, efficiency, quality and cost. A decision can be made once the artist understands more about each type of print.

 

First, a giclee print is made by the same process as used when someone prints a photo on an inkjet printer at home. Now days most giclee printers use the same name brands people are familiar with such as Canon, Epson and HP. The printers are wide format printers will typically have 8 or more colors which are used to render the printed image onto a variety of materials from textured art papers to canvas. These media types usually are on rolls which automatically feed through the printer as the printer lays out ink in a horizontal motion. The process has become advanced enough many photographers also use it for printing large photographic prints. People order giclee prints are also able to take advantage of a growing range of paper and canvas types which might not be available in other forms of printing.

Unfortunately because the process uses inkjet technology, the time to print a single image can take up to a minute or more depending on the size of the print. It is not unheard of for a 24x30 inch image printed at the printer’s highest quality setting to take up to 20 minutes. As the technology improved, the speed of the printers has also increased cutting down on production time of each print. While the printing may see to last a long time, so too will the print. Manufacturers of ink, canvas and papers have invested a lot into making sure giclee prints will last allowing giclee producers to boast longevity of 100 to 200 years.

 

Unlike the slower printing process a single lithograph can be printed in less than a second however the cost to setup a lithograph print is the same regardless if you are going to print one or many copies. For this reason lithographs can be produced at a lower cost per print and have more room for volume discounts. Since the papers usually in sheets, more care has to go into making sure each sheet is consistently fed. This might limit what the lithograph company will want to print to. When it comes to actual total cost, the lithograph process makes sense if you are going to have 100s to 1000s of copies made at a time. When it comes to how long the print will last, much is dependent upon the paper and inks used. Most should retain their quality for about 30 years but after that like any printed item, it may start to yellow and fade.

                                                                 

Giclee

Pros of Giclee:  ......  Able to keep up with the current advances in inkjet technnology.

                                     Able to use more colors to match the tones of an original work.

                                     Uses archival grade inks and media such as printing on quality paper,

                                            such as Arches watercolor paper, Somerset Velvet.
                                       Best quality for longer lasting color and light fast inks that are archival.

                                      Can be printed on an as needed basis

                                       No inventory needs to be stored

 

Cons of Giclee: .........Slower to produce each print.

                                       More costly per print, even with high volume runs.

 

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Lithograph

Pros of Lithograph.....less expensive per print

                                        Quick to produce higher volume runs

 

Cons of Lithograph......Not cost effective unless producing 100's or more copies

                                          Usually less accurate in color with an original

                                           Fades and yellows sooner

                                           Requires inventory space

 

 

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All my prints for Marti Green fine art are Giclee prints and are on 140lb watercolor paper and Somerset Velvet paper for the best quality. 

 All paper is 100% archival.  This is the best quality for my customers and a much better investment for an archival print.

 Any print or an original painting , should  never be displayed in "strong ultraviolet  radiation",  such as direct sunlight, hang over a fireplace that will be used.

 

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