A giclée print (pronounced "jee-clay") is the highest quality print available today. The word giclée is a French word meaning 'to squirt', which is what an inkjet printer does. The process is digital printmaking with a printer that uses variable size, microscopic droplets of ink to create prints that cannot be duplicated by other printing techniques. Because there is no visible dot screen pattern the resulting image has all of the subtle tonalities of the original art. Each dot may have over 4 billion possible colors! This produces exceptional museum quality prints.

The reproduction process begins with the digital acquisition of the image in the form of a high-resolution scan of a film transparency of the original painting. The digital image is then sized, cropped, and color-matched for output. Once proofing begins, the artist and the printmaker form a creative partnership, the goal being the best possible realization of the artist's vision. Giclées can be made to exactly reproduce the original, or add subtle changes to enhance the color and contrast of the image, all at the discretion of the artist. Once the final proof is signed by the artist, the actual printing is ready to begin.

Canvas, paper, fabric or other substrates are loaded onto the printer. As the printer advances the substrate, a set of six ink nozzles traverses it. An incredibly small stream of ink is directed at the substrate. This stream of ink is composed of individual droplets, each about three picoliters in volume, tinier than a red blood cell. The process is controlled by the computer to provide an image that is faithfully reproduced.

Brilliant color and rich texture have made giclée prints the reproduction of choice for artists, photographers, museums, galleries, and collectors. Giclée editions are usually smaller in number than lithography, serigraphy, or offset printing, making them much more valuable. Unlike traditional printmaking processes, the last printed image in a giclée edition will be as vibrant and clear as the first one.

Laurie Bender - For the Home
3320 Longridge Avenue Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
[818] 788-3061 n Fax [818] 784-ARTS n e-mail BRITECOLOR@aol.com
www.lauriebender.com