A giclee (zhee-CLAY)
is an individually produced, high-resolution,
high-fidelity reproduction done on a special large
format printer. Giclees are produced from digital scans
of existing artwork. Also, since many artists now
produce only digital art, there is no "original" that
can be hung on a wall. Giclees solve that problem, while
creating a whole new vibrant medium for art.
Giclees can be printed on any number of media, from
canvas to watercolor paper to transparent acetates.
Giclees are superior to traditional lithography in
several ways. The colors are brighter, last longer, and
are so high-resolution that they are virtually
continuous tone, rather than tiny dots. The range, or
"gamut" of color for giclees is far beyond that of
lithography, and details are crisper.
Lithography uses tiny dots of four colors--cyan,
magenta, yellow and black--to fool the eye into seeing
various hues and shades. Colors are "created" by
printing different size dots of these four colors.
Giclees use inkjet technology, but far more
sophisticated than your desktop printer. The process
employs six colors--light cyan, cyan, light magenta,
magenta, yellow and black--of lightfast, pigmented inks
and finer, more numerous, and replaceable printheads
resulting in a wider color gamut, and the ability to use
various media to print on. The ink is sprayed onto the
page, actually mixing the color on the page to create
true shades and hues.
They are priced midway between original art and regular
limited edition lithographs. Limited edition litho
prints are usually produced in editions of 500-1000 or
more, all at once; but giclees rarely exceed 50-100
reproductions, one at a time.
Giclees were originally developed as a proofing system
for lithograph printing presses, but it became apparent
that the presses were having a hard time delivering the
quality and color of the giclee proofs. They evolved
into the new darlings of the art world. They are coveted
by collectors for their fidelity and quality, and
desired by galleries because they don't have to be
produced in huge quantities with their large layout of
capital and storage.
