The Art of Giclées
Giclée (pronounced "zhee-clay") prints are the highest quality fine art reproductions available. They provide maximum detail, extraordinary color accuracy and archival quality that can sometimes offer more stability and longevity than original art. The best Iris and Roland giclée printers produce the precise quality that has previously been exclusive to museum quality limited edition prints.
The keys to the high quality are using a high-resolution digital ink jet printer with six to eight inks of special permanent pigments. The jet printer system allows printing on archival papers and canvas. Recent developments in scanning technology allow art to be scanned at 300 dots per inch or better. This yields a near photographic quality print of a quality that is virtually impossible to duplicate with conventional printing processes. When sent through a giclée printer the result is a precise one-to-one resolution of the art that is potentially of a higher quality than almost any other reproduction process.
Normally a lithograph printing process uses Cyan (blue/green) Magenta (purple) Yellow and Black, often referred to as CMY-K. While an excellent job can be done with lithographs, many colors like blues, greens and reds loose their full range of subtle tints when compared to the original. The Roland giclée printer provides a six to eight color system than includes CMY-K, but adds Light Cyan, Light Magenta, Orange and Green. With eight pigments the saturation of all variations of color is maximized, and the end result is a one-of-a-kind print that is often indistinguishable from the original. By comparing the proofs or test prints with the original painting, an exact color match can be achieved for every giclée that is sent to a customer.
Wilhelm Image Research has extensively tested the archival inks used in giclée printers and have concluded that there is no noticeable image deterioration for a minimum of 36 years in harsh office lighting and up to 100 years under optimal display conditions in the home. By comparison oil paintings can also have noticeable change in color within this period of time, and normal prints can noticeably fade under the same conditions within a few years. Depending on the types of paint and technique an artist uses, a Giclée print may actually be more stable (less fugitive) than the original painting.
Giclée printing can be applied to a wide range of traditional artists materials, like canvas and watercolor papers. By using true archival artists materials, Giclées have the look and feel of original art as well as archival longevity.
While Giclée prints do not require enhancement, the materials used allow artists to enhance prints by painting selected areas without compromising the archival stability. Some artists add re-marques or expand in a mixed media effect by hand embellishing their giclées. This allows art enthusiast to acquire a museum quality one-of-a-kind work by the artist for a fraction of the cost of a painting. Giclées and Enhanced Giclées are, by their nature, very limited in number and provide a better value for the collector than traditional limited edition prints.
Giclée prints are available for Surrender and commissions may be requested for most of the paintings in the galleries at www.davidberryart.com. Please e-mail davidberry@davidberryart.com for further information about a specific painting.
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