What Are Giclée Prints?

Giclée (pronounced zhee-clay) means "spurt" or "spray" in French.

This advanced inkjet process forces already fine ink droplets through the print heads to be dispersed as even finer micromist. Though often called a "print", each giclée image is essentially identical to the others in its edition. Therefore a giclée image is technically a reproduction; not a print. That it is derived from a digital data file instead of physical plates further underscores this distinction. Giclée printing offers one of the highest degrees of accuracy and richness of colour available in any reproductions technique. The prints provide a luminosity and brilliance that represents the artist's original work better than any other fine art reproduction technique available today.

Giclée is a newcomer in the art marketplace, but is now embraced for its technical fidelity. Giclée inks are constantly improved by laser-accelerated aging experimentation and compatibility testing. Offset lithography also produces multiples, but its limitations are crude by comparison and its resulting images less vivid and not so archivally sound.

Giclée's are printed on a variety of substrates or mediums, the most common being watercolour paper or canvas. Image permanence is a concern to artists and collectors. Estimates are based on laboratory simulations of aging to give a fade & colour shift resistance of 200 years, in ideal conditions.Tests developed and conducted by Epson.

Thanks to computer technology, the giclée process joins the menu of acceptable methods for producing high quality archival reproductions from original art images with up 200 years archival quality.