Inkjet, Giclée, and Fine Art Printing: Which One Is Right For You?
For fine artists and photographers alike, making prints and reproductions of your work is a fantastic way to share your art with a wider audience while expanding your income opportunities. Unlike the ‘old’ days when artists would be limited to selling only their original pieces, advances in digital printing technology and expertise has allowed artists to reproduce their work with virtually no limits.
When first getting into making prints of your work, it is likely that you will see many terms being used - often interchangeably - which can be overwhelming and confusing. In this article, we will explore inkjet, giclée, and fine art printing so you can make an informed decision about what type of printing is best for you.
Inkjet Printing
Inkjet printing is a broad umbrella term/category, used to describe a method of printing where an image is produced by spraying droplets of ink onto a substrate like paper or canvas. The ink is dropped onto the paper by a printhead that moves back and forth across the width of the image. Most home office printers are inkjet printers, so you can imagine a similar process to what you may have seen if you’ve ever looked inside your printer while it is operating.
Although many people will use the term ‘inkjet printing’ as a simplified and universally accepted term, there are a few key variables that will distinguish the quality and output from one type of inkjet print to another:
Printer resolution
Ink type (dye vs. pigment)
Paper/media type (archival vs. standard)
If you are an artist looking at producing your prints in bulk and inexpensively (posters, postcards, etc.), then you may be looking for a printing house that offers standard inkjet prints. These prints are very often done on medium to heavy-weight papers that are not necessarily rated as archival, and can be printed using a variety of inks. Standard inkjet printers generally do not have as many ink cartridges available, so they will be able to produce a smaller range of colours. If colour reproduction and accuracy is something you are hoping to achieve, then a giclée print may be more suitable. Generally, standard inkjet prints are designed for scale and cost-efficiency.
Giclée Printing
Giclee is derived from the French term “gicleur” meaning “to spray”. Literally, “giclée” describes the inkjet process of spraying ink onto a substrate. However, since the term was coined in the early 90s by printmaker Jack Duganne, giclée has been most often used to describe a specific type of inkjet prints made with pigment-based inks on archival substrates. Giclee printers also generally use more colours of inks, providing a larger colour gamut that enables better colour accuracy for artists. The combination of pigment-based inks on archival papers/substrates makes giclée prints very durable with the ink and paper being resistant to fading for 85-100+ years. Because of these properties, giclée prints have become the standard in digital printmaking for fine art prints and reproductions.
While there are generally accepted standards for what classifies as a ‘giclée print’,‘giclée printing’ - like ‘inkjet printing’ - can be used quite broadly by printmakers and can represent a range of print output and quality. That is to say that not all giclée prints are made equal.
While some use the term simply to indicate that they use pigment inks and archival papers, others will use the term to represent a fine art print and/or reproduction of original work. All giclée are inkjet. Not all inkjet are giclée. The differences between a standard giclée print and a fine art giclée print will, of course, be tied to the quality of materials used, but will often come down to imaging and printing expertise which will then determine colour accuracy, print resolution, etc.
Fine Art Printing
Fine art printing is yet another category within inkjet printing and giclée printing. You can think of the various categories arranged in a hierarchy like this:
Inkjet Printing
Commercial Inkjet Printing
Giclee Printing
Standard Giclee Printing
Fine Art Giclee Printing
Fine art printing will maintain the same characteristics as standard giclée printing (high print resolution, pigment-based inks, archival substrates, long life-span and archival durability, etc.), but where it starts to differentiate itself is the level of customization and involvement in the process by both the artist and the printmaker. All fine art prints are giclée. Not all giclée are fine art prints.
Fine art printing is often used to make reproductions of original artwork, with detail, image resolution, and colour accuracy being extremely important to the artist and their collectors. The reproduction will generally be offered as part of a limited edition series, and is a way for collectors to own/possess as close to an original as they can get. Achieving this result requires a collaborative process between the artist and printmaker to fine tune colours, materials, etc., involving multiple proofs and tests, which not all printing houses are set up to do. Once the initial set-up for the print is done (colour matching, testing on select media, printer calibration, etc.), fine art printmakers can then reproduce and print your editions with consistency and accuracy every time.
Conclusion:
Depending on where you are as an artist and what your clients expect from your reproductions, knowing the differences between the various printing options will help you choose the one that is right for you.
For artists and collectors with critical requirements when it comes to colour accuracy, sharpness, and overall image quality, working with a fine art printmaker, like Colourgenics, who is willing to customize your print will yield the best results for stunning exhibitions and reproductions.
You can learn more about our fine art giclée printing services on our website. If you’d like more information, to request a quote, or schedule a free in-person consultation, fill out our contact form.