The Fine Art Giclee: Information and Background

The fine art giclee refers to the process of creating prints from ink jet printers. The word is derived from the French, gicler, meaning “to squirt or spray”. The name was first used by printmaker Jack Duganne to represent his inkjet-based digital fine art prints.

The earliest fine art giclee prints were created in the early 1990s on Iris printers. These early prints became known as “Iris prints” and original works were subject to ink degradation after a short amount of time. Developments in inksets and printing substrates have significantly improved the longevity of the prints.

In recent years, the fine art giclee has become associated with prints created using archival inks and the printers that use these special inks. A giclee print may be printed on photo matte paper, artist textured vinyl, canvas or watercolor paper.

The fine art giclee utilizes professional 8-color to 12-color inkjet printers, which produce extremely detailed fine art prints. These prints should not be confused with modern Iris prints which continue to use 4-color printers.

The fine art giclee is a digital means of reproducing artwork created by traditional means such as drawing, painting or photographing. The fine art giclee has become a mainstay of media artists and photographers alike.

Giclee prints have ingrained themselves in the printmaking world, and for good reason. Giclee printing has made it easy and economical to distribute original works of art to the masses. The fine art giclee has become synonymous with high quality, digital fine art prints with stunning color saturation and definition.

In 2001, the Giclee Printers Association (GPA) was formed and created standards to which each giclee print must adhere. Giclee printing members must meet nine different principals in order to display the Tru Giclee logo. This logo holds the fine art giclee to the highest standards and ensures high quality work. Although this organization is no longer applicable it served an important role in the beginning days of the giclee. During those days wide format printers by Roland were widely used, whereas today Epson Stylus Pro printers are more commonly used. For more information please visit these writeups on giclee canvas and fine art giclee printing

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