Sunday, December 26, 2004
What makes a good giclee
I frequently receive requests from people new to giclee who want to try this printing process. They obviously have many questions about what they can expect from the technology. Let's start with the digital file itself: there is absolutely no way to make a great print without a good quality scan or digital capture. You can't expect to receive an 20X30" giclee from a 2 megapixel camera. Also, lighting is important in terms of reproduction. An on camera flash will not do make acceptable copy art. What make a good digital file then? One way we look at a Photoshop file is to analyze the histograms and see if there is any information missing in the highlites or shadows. Once we have acceptable digital information, the next step is to color correct the image to match either a supplied proof or the original art. There is no reason why a giclee shouldn't look identical or very close to an original. The only exception is with colors that are extremely out of gamut, for example a blue that reads 0 0 250. This usually happens with people who create digital work and really push the envelope with RGB colors.
The substrates used for giclee printing must be of the highest quality. There is no shortage of high end manufactures such as Fredrix for canvas or Hanehmule and Arches for watercolor. Inks are also an important factor. There are many secondary market cheaper versions available. For example Epson Ultrachrome inks cost twice as much as some third party versions. You get what you pay for....
I have also seen some companies that print with the direct driver supplied by the printer manufacturer. I wrote a post about RIPs and their importance in creating the best giclee possible. I will also briefly say that a professional grade large format printer such as Colorspan, Epson or Mimaki needs to be used and I will leave it at that..
Finally, possibly the most important component: the human factor. It takes advanced Photoshop skills, a deep knowledge of color and an artistic background. In over 15 years I have never been so lucky to receive or create a file that didn't need some form of color correction. Then again we have very high standards and will not stop until we achieve the best possible match.
The substrates used for giclee printing must be of the highest quality. There is no shortage of high end manufactures such as Fredrix for canvas or Hanehmule and Arches for watercolor. Inks are also an important factor. There are many secondary market cheaper versions available. For example Epson Ultrachrome inks cost twice as much as some third party versions. You get what you pay for....
I have also seen some companies that print with the direct driver supplied by the printer manufacturer. I wrote a post about RIPs and their importance in creating the best giclee possible. I will also briefly say that a professional grade large format printer such as Colorspan, Epson or Mimaki needs to be used and I will leave it at that..
Finally, possibly the most important component: the human factor. It takes advanced Photoshop skills, a deep knowledge of color and an artistic background. In over 15 years I have never been so lucky to receive or create a file that didn't need some form of color correction. Then again we have very high standards and will not stop until we achieve the best possible match.
