Giclée Prints Explored
Dateline: December 8, 2007
Every artist has probably heard the word Giclée even if all they know about it is that it is some sort of fine art printing process for limited editions and archivable to make prints collectable and more valuable. Fine art collectors have to know what it means and what it does not mean if they want to protect their financial investment when buying fine art prints.
As an artist, I fall into the limited heard about it but knew next to nothing about it category. I had heard the word Iris attached to the word Giclée and knew it was something to do with printers. Until the last year or so, I had not sold fine art prints per se … I either sold original artwork or put the digitized artwork on t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.
I opened several galleries at ImageKind to sell fine art prints reproductions or posters - not Limited Editions. My target audience for my ImageKind Galleries are regular normal every day people who want great images for their homes or offices or cubicles at great prices with a choice of fine art papers or posters, matting and framing - people like me who shop for “disposable” art - if I get tired of something hanging on the wall and want something different, I want to be able to replace it and not feel that I threw out a boatload of money that should continue to hang on the wall in open sight even though I want something new. BUT … I also want to sell quality and ImageKind has museum quality fine art papers and you can read about their papers at:
http://www.imagekind.com/create/about_fine_art.aspx
and I quote for those who do not want to read the entire page:
About our inks
The same printing system we make available to online shoppers is commonly found in museums, art galleries, and photographic galleries. Using the new Ultra-Chrome K3 pigmented inkset, from Epson, our fine art printers will allow users to print outstanding color and neutral black & white prints on a variety of media includ- ing glossy, satin, matte, fine art and canvas. Without a doubt, the beauty and brilliance of a pigment giclee on canvas, watercolor or satin paper is unparalleled. Fortunately, they´re made to last too! The Epson system of Inks and Paper have received lightfast permanence ratings from the Wilhelm Research Institute that well exceed 100 yrs (with proper UV protection), so you can be assured that your prints will look just as good in 30 years as they do today.
and yes, I ordered one of their media kits to find out first hand how the papers feel and how they look printed.
Open Reproductions / posters are not valuable for art collectors - they do not appreciate in value because they are not rare - there could be 1 to 1 million of a reproduction fine art print or poster produced - rare is what makes a fine art print financially valuable. Unknown and emerging artist rare Limited Editions are valuable at the bottom of the scale and subject to increasing in value as or if the artist becomes better known. Great art is rare great art no matter who makes it and rare is valuable.
I still have not ventured into the Limited Editions or signed Limited Editions or Artist Proofs world of art at this time … but I am considering it. I decided today was a good day to start exploring the truths and the myths, before talking to a printer about signed Limited Editions or Artist Proofs. Educating yourself about something first leaves less room for ordering the wrong items or nasty surprises when trying to sell your art. Art collectors are knowledgeable people who have thoroughly researched collecting Giclée fine art prints - my research will not make me as knowledgeable as they are, but it will allow me to have what is required to sell my Limited Editions or Artist Proofs to art collectors.
From Wikipedia and I quote:
The earliest prints to be called “Giclée” were created in the early 1990s on the Iris Graphics models 3024, 3047, 4012 or “Realist” colour drum continuous Hertz inkjet printers (the company was later taken over by Scitex). …snip… Early Iris prints were relatively fugitive and tended to show color degradation after only a few years. The use of newer inksets and printing substrates have extended the longevity and light fastness of Iris prints.
Beside its association with Iris prints, in the past few years, the word “giclée,” as a fine art term, has come to be associated with prints using fade resistant “archival” inks (including solvent inks) and the printers that use them. …snip… The most common printers used are models from manufacturers such as Canon, Eastman Kodak, Epson, Hewlett-Packard, ITNH Ixia, Mimaki, Mutoh, ColorSpan, and Roland DGA. A wide variety of substrates are available including various textures and finishes such as matte photo paper, watercolor paper, or cotton canvas.
1. My research next took me to Giclée - Guide to Ordering and Marketing which I found very informative - I read through the entire website and I feel that I learned a lot in a short time there. One interesting point was that the Ixia printer is basically the old Iris re-named - a different company owns the technology now than back in the 90’s.
2. Being a skeptic who needs several viewpoints, hopefully all concurring on the major points, I next read at ArtSource Studio - Giclée Info. One of the founders of this printing studio is an artist. That tells me this person had the same need to know for art collectors that I do … and the major points also agree with what I read at #1.
What I’ve learned / decided so far: Certificates of Authenticity are important and it is important to verify the types of printer being used … older technology may be obsolete so be careful in your research of a Giclée printer.
3. For Caution, see below: This website may not be what it appears on first glance - always take claims of neutrality as caution words 
… I happened to find Giclée Printer Review Organization - very useful info for watercolorists on watercolor papers though at
http://www.gicleeprinterreview.org/ip/watercolorpaper.html.
One bad news about this website is that it took me awhile clicking around to actually find the useful info - it is not intuitive or useful or informative in several places.
CAUTION - it appears to me to be a website run by a fine art inkjet paper manufacturer, Breathing Colors, on closer reading - I quote from the Fine Art Papers page at
http://www.gicleeprinterreview.org/ip/inkjetfineartpaper.html
Inkjet Fine Art Paper Confusing Issues
There are actually relatively few manufacturers of high quality papers. The distributors sell many papers made by some manufacturers under different brand names, which makes for some confusion. Claims by some of these re-branders that they specify different coatings for the paper they sell often - if not always - appear to be untrue. The aim of this re-branding is to lock the user into using paper supplied by them, when the same material (but under a different name) may be available more cheaply elsewhere. Breathing Color does not participate in such a strategy and our customers appreciate the exlcusivity and uniqueness of our product line.
I wish they would have just said that at the beginning if they are - it would have given them better credibility with me, an artist. As it is, this makes them suspicious to me. But thanks to these websites, I have a beginning general idea of what questions to ask and what to be wary of if and when I go to a local printer who will issue Certificates of Authenticity to go along with the fine art prints.
ImageKind is still exploring ways for them to offer Limited Editions
