Giclee Information

As manufacturers come out with better and faster printers, giclee printmaking is only bound to produce better results. The technology has reached maturity in the sense that beautiful, rich reproductions can be made now. Gamut (the range of colors reproduced) is only going to get better. Substrates are also part of the equation with color rendition and archival properties.

What do we expect to see in the future?

As far as technology is concerned, expect printers that will self calibrate and check nozzles on the fly. The switch between matte and photo black is already a feature in the newest printers, allowing users to print both on glossy and matte papers without switching inks

The marketing

Being a professional printmaker with over 200 current clients, I have a unique perspective on the pulse of the market. When we started, no one knew what a giclee was. Photographers we have in our client roster were lucky to make $500 per show selling paper prints. Now they make large canvas prints and sales have gone up 500 to 1000% per show.

Because giclee is a relatively new product, many buyers not in the field are still not educated about it. Once they see the brilliance and high quality of a print on canvas or watercolor paper, they appreciate the texture, feel and deep blacks. Our sales are going up by about 50% every year. Considering all of our clients resell to the public or through art galleries, you can see the trend in end consumer growth.

There is no other current mechanical method of reproduction that can even approach the quality of pigments and materials. The canvas and watercolor papers used for giclee printing are the real deal. Most of the manufacturers of inkjet fine art papers are well known names in the art supply field. T name a few, Fredrix, Arches, Somerset, Hahnemuhle.