Giclee Canvas Prints
I have seen this method of print explained on the web over and over again. They tend to start off with
Giclée, pronounced as "zhee-clay" yada yada yada
The word "giclée" is derived from the French language word "le gicleur"
then they carry on going yada yada yada about there print service.
So I thought I would explain on how today's giclée canvas prints came about.
I have been in the print trade since 1987 and obtained a Diploma in print at PCAD. In those days Mac computers just started to become a key tool for the Graphic Design and Print Industry. Even though Macs had its ups and down, they still play a big part in the print and design industry.
Ok so you are wondering how this is leading to Giclée Canvas Prints. Well I am getting there, you just need to know a little about pre Giclée.
Once I left collage I worked in a Reprographics House as a Traditional Bench Planner and Scanner operator. I use to get asked allot what type of job it was. In a nut shell - The Graphic Designer use to create the artwork and the printer use to print and I do the bit in the middle - converting the designs to a printing plate so that the artwork could be printed.
This method of conversion to print was expensive and took time. An additional service to this was to create colour proofs (3M Match Proofs or Cromalin Proofs) from the films produced to make the printing plates.
The idea of the colour proofs was to show the end customer how his job will look before it was printed. The proof was also then given to the printer to match to. The problem with this type of proofing was that the proof was always glossy and there was only one type of substrate.
The other option was a wet proof which was very expensive. The advantage of the wet proof was that the customer could see how exactly his final print job would look like on the paper it was going to be printed on.
As the printing industry progressed and invested more into digital, new devices came alone. Slow at first, the image setter arrived. This device produced film direct from the Mac with the main application being Quark at the time.
But when the Film was produced a proof still had to be made.
Then came along digital proofing devices. The idea was that you could produce a digital proof from the Mac without having to run film. Even though the early day digital proofs were not as good as the traditional proof, it did save time and money on film.
One of the digital proofers was the Iris Printer, which was originally developed by Iris Graphics and exhibited in 1987.
The Iris printer was originally developed for prepress proofing and was quickly recognised as a way forward for proofing because of the quality of the print it produced and the different substrates it could print on. This inkjet printer differs in many ways to the type of inkjets you have on your desktop. Looking at the Irus printer the first thing you would notice is that the Paper for printing is loaded onto a drum. When in operation the drum will spin while the print head will transverse along the drum to create the image.
The Purpose of the Iris was to produce prepress proofs. However Photographers and Artist quickly realised that there was another use of these printers. This is when two new invented names came about which were Giclée and Digigraph.
Simpy Iris is a digital printer. But can you imagine trying to sell a Limited Edition
Digital Print, It dose not have quite the same appeal as "Limited Edition
Giclée Print.
In 1991
Jack Duganne wanted to define the difference between Digital Proofs and Digital Art Prints. So after playing around with a few word "Giclée" was invented for digital fine art prints. Giclee prints were born and first advertised by Bartz Studio Newsletter for ArtExpo California. These were printed on paper and were not canvas prints.
The Name Digigraph came about the same time and was named by Graham Nash and Mac Holbert after an incident of some negatives went missing and their contact sheets were scanned and printed out on the iris printers. But again not onto canvas prints.
The Iris printers did have one major problem producing fine art prints, and that they were designed as proofs for the printing industry and because of this the inks started to fade after a couple of years. Knowing the potential of this new the use of new inks and substrates extended the longevity and light fastness of fine art Iris prints.
In time the inkjet industry developed more types of printers for different purposes. Epson (and Agfa sherpa) produced a range of large format printers with Micro Piezo Print Head Techology. This type of printer allowed you to produce a lower dpi print but at a better quality than its thermal type print heads. Because the wide colour gamut the Agfa sherpa and Epson were used for Prepress proofs. Also the Epson became the affordable Giclée printer which could produce giclee canvas prints. There was a period That Epson was know for its quality and HP was know for its speed, then only a few years ago Canon came up with the New IPF range and out smarted Epson for Quality and HP for Speed (They can both print onto canvas). The Canon new 12 colour printer became the leader in Giclée Printers and produce outstanding Giclee canvas prints
In the past 7 years there has been an explosion in Giclée Canvas Prints because the cost effective printers on the market, but also it has been a miss leading trade because of cheap import of canvas from China which has not been tested and has unknown chemicals in them.
The original idea of a Giclée over the years has been distorted. So I thought it's time to redefine a
Giclée Canvas Prints.
Giclée Canvas Prints has to be:-
Light Fast inks used that are branded.
Produced by an inkjet printer that produces smooth tones
Canvas used are branded like the Hahnemühle Canvas.
The Printer uses a RIP and ICC Colour Profiles ensuring accurate colour reproduction onto canvas prints.
Anything else isn't quite like a Giclée Canvas Print.
If you want quality canvas prints - You can order your Giclée Canvas Prints Here!
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