What is a Giclée?
A Giclée (ghee-clay) is a limited edition fine art print that is the highest quality print available today. Giclée is a French word which loosely translates to "little squirt" or "to spray". The process produces exceptional museum quality prints.
Why create Giclée prints?
The benefits are numerous and varied. Giclée printing gives artists a way to leverage their time spent on creating unique art. Limited editions of museum quality Giclée prints can often produce more income for the artist than sale of their original art.
The initial investment in a Giclée edition is minimal, allowing the
artist to test the market of a print without the
need to print the entire edition up front. With PRINT ON DEMAND you
can even have your Giclée sold before they are printed.
Lower initial investment also allows the artist to offer a wider range of styles and choices to their collectors.
Giclée prints offer detail, depth and a richness that set them apart from traditional offset lithography.
How is a Giclée produced?
Producing a Giclée
print is a slow and meticulous process which requires the skill of
an artist to create the highest quality edition possible. The process
begins by obtaining a high resolution scan of your original artwork
or photo. While we can work from your digital files our experience
has shown that allowing us to scan and work from your original art
always provides superior results.
Once we have produced a high-resolution scan the next step is to color
correct for output. This process takes time, many hours in fact. Each
color is meticulously adjusted so that the final Giclée is as accurate
as humanly and technically possible. Once the color correction is
completed we print a proof for your approval. PROOFING is an important
step, it gives us a way to get your feedback before we begin the final
printing of your Giclée's.
Once we receive your final approval we print out the image at your
requested size. After the Giclée is printed we careful inspect
each and every print to assure it meets our high standards for quality
controlled.
How accurately does a Giclée come to matching my colors?
Fine art Giclée reproduction by a skilled giclée printing artist is the most accurate method available today. Certain colors, hues, and intensities are simply not within the gamma range of any printing process, whether it be Giclée or any other commonly used lithography process. An example would be Ultramarine blue and Cobalt blue, which tend to become either too warm or too cool. Cadmium orange is a color with a chroma too intense to be duplicated. Although extremely close color matching is possible, absolute accuracy cannot always be attained.
What type of printer do you use?
EPSON STYLUS PRO 9600 - printing capabilities up to 44 inches wide x 100 ft. long. Epson created a brand new Micro Piezo DX3™ print head which a capable of producing a resolution of 2,880 x 1,440 dpi. Epson's most advanced print head ensures a level of print quality that must been seen to be believed.
What
type of materials (media) do you print Giclée's on?
We print on Epson media canvas and watercolor paper. Epson canvas is acid free, 100% cotton duck. Epson watercolor paper (Somerset Velvet) is acid free, 100% cotton rag. Both are archival quality and when used with Epson Ultrachroma pigment inks are rated up to 100 years light fastness.
Why are the inks so special?
We use a specially
formulated 7color ink system that offers a wide gamut and a high UV
resistance. These revolutionary, super penetrating pigment inks
are engineered to deliver incredible print quality and color brilliance
with a light fastness rating of up to 100 years under glass on certain
Epson media. The wide color gamut of these inks, combined with the
evenly milled micro encapsulated pigments, make it the perfect choice
for museum quality Giclée prints.
What is the expected life of a Giclée print?
At DoWit Studio
we use only Epson Ultrachroma pigment archival inks and materials
for your Giclée prints. While the predicted display life depends on
many variables, under typical home or office lighting, Giclée
made with wide-gamut pigmented inks are estimated to last 100 years
without noticeable fade, outlasting some original watercolors & most
lithographs.
Are
Giclée's accepted as collectable's?
Giclée's
are widely accepted in the art world. They are bought and sold in
world class auctions as well as in galleries. Many museums across
the world have either hanging exhibitions of Giclée's or have purchased
prints for their permanent collections.
My art is already scanned. Can you use my file to print my Giclée's?
Although we prefer
scanning your original art ourselves, as this gives us much better
results in color matching, we can use you digital files if they meet
our requiremnents. Your digital file needs to be at least 300 dpi
with a 1:1 ratio on image size. Example: Original is 12" x 16",
digital must be image size 12" x 16" at 300 dpi or 3600
x 4800 pixels at 300 dpi. We also need a sample print or color photo
of how you want the image to look. Monitors vary from screen to screen,
this gives us something to match to. This also speeds the process
because we don't have to run as many proofs. This sample
has to match the colors in your art as it will be what we match colors
to. We do our best with any adjustments with the understanding that
we are not the artist and don't know, without seeing the original,
what it is supposed to look like.
How do I price my Giclee's?
Many artists price
their Giclée at 1/5 - 1/3 the value of the original art when
the Giclée is the same size as the original. Prices need to
be adjusted for Giclée's that differ in size to the original
art.
If you paint on or embellish your Giclée, known as Artist Enhanced
Giclée's, you can price your embellished print at 1/2 the price
of your original. These are only general guidelines and you will need
to adjust your prices to your own collectors and market.
How do I know what size Giclée's can be printed from my original art?
You can either
ask us what sizes can be printed from your original or you can purchase
a Proportional Scale wheel, for around $5.00, that will tell you what
sizes can be printed from your original. Proportional Scales are available
at most art supply shops.
My edition size will be 150 prints. Do I have to have them printed all at once?
PRINT ON DEMAND
eliminates the large front-end investment required by traditional
methods of art reproduction. We will print only the number of prints
you need, when you need them. When you are ready to have more Giclée's
printed simply contact us by e-mail, standard mail or telephone. Since
we will have your image on file no further set up fee will be required.
Do Giclée's require special care?
We recommend you
treat your Giclee prints the same as any original watercolor. It should
be protected from water and dust and should not be place in direct
sunlight. Giclée's printed on paper should be frame mounted
behind glass. Giclée's printed on canvas may be stretched and
framed as you would an original oil or acrylic painting. Giclée's
should be treated with a UV protective coating to aid in their protection.
We can either spray your prints for you, at a minimal cost or you
may purchase the spray from us. The spray is easy to apply and is
a lower cost to you when you apply the coating yourself. We offer
the spray on our pricing list.
What happens to the high resolution file of my art after a Giclée is printed?
We keep an archived copy of your image for the production of your edition. We honor your copyright and keep your images strictly confidential. DoWit Studio does not allow any images to be printed without the artist’s explicit authorization. When the edition is complete we destroy the files.
What are terms of payment?
Payment terms
are 50% upon receipt of order and balance due prior to shipping. You
can send a check or money order along with your originals or pay by
credit card through our PayPal account. We will email you our PayPal
information if you choose to use that method of payment.
Please allow 7 business days for proof and 7 business days from receipt of signed
proof for shipment of final prints.
* Inquire about Rush Jobs.
What other services do you offer?
- We can print greeting cards, bookmarks, posters, banners and more from your art and your photos.
- We restore heirloom photos that have cracked, stained, faded or in some cases fallen apart. We scan the photo and recreate the areas that are damaged or faded. The photos that are in pieces would have each piece scanned and put together in Photoshop and the gaps would be filled in. Repaired photos can then be printed on canvas, watercolor paper, or photo paper.
- We can colorize your black and white photos.
- We can add or remove elements from a photo.
- Have an idea? Let's us know what it is and we'll let you know if we can do it.
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