Giclee: Allpconline Company Blog
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Giclee: The Price of Quality
I have already written a few posts regarding the wide variety of printing substrates available for giclee printing. Canvas rolls can be purchased for $80 from China or for over $250 from Germany or the US. So, why do we only use European and US made materials? The reason is simple: quality and consistency. Our customers demand the best and when faced with the higher costs of purchasing true giclee prints or some low quality cheap inkjet canvas or papers, they choose quality over price. Artists are very proud of their work and reputation and for them to sell a giclee that will fall apart in a matter of months is not an option. They want to be able to sell prints with consistent color and archival properties.
You would think that in this economy everyone is trying to go cheap and save a buck in any way they can but in reality this is not happening; the proof is that many low cost, high volume outfits have gone out of business and we are instead booked solid for weeks.
Enough said!
You would think that in this economy everyone is trying to go cheap and save a buck in any way they can but in reality this is not happening; the proof is that many low cost, high volume outfits have gone out of business and we are instead booked solid for weeks.
Enough said!
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Giclee Printing Companies
We are receiving a high number of calls from new customers who have found out their giclee printers have gone out of business. In this economy it is not surprising; we are actually experiencing a very high work load and had to stop accepting new customers until September 15th. Even then, the wait period is 2 weeks. Bear with us as we are working as hard as possible to satisfy orders.
What we find interesting is that many of the companies (we cannot name names) that have closed doors were lower priced than us. We have never tried to compete with low end no name products such as chinese made canvas and papers. Our standards are high and we only use european and american substrates; we use K3 Epson pigmented inks and not cheap bulk reservoirs. Even in this economy people are looking for quality products even if they cost a little more. After all, would you rather buy a $45 cheap giclee or a $55 giclee made with archival made materials? Will your "made with chinese materials" $45 giclee be worth the $10 savings if it yellows and cracks in a year or two? See what we use: our giclee prints are well described and you know what you are paying for.
What we find interesting is that many of the companies (we cannot name names) that have closed doors were lower priced than us. We have never tried to compete with low end no name products such as chinese made canvas and papers. Our standards are high and we only use european and american substrates; we use K3 Epson pigmented inks and not cheap bulk reservoirs. Even in this economy people are looking for quality products even if they cost a little more. After all, would you rather buy a $45 cheap giclee or a $55 giclee made with archival made materials? Will your "made with chinese materials" $45 giclee be worth the $10 savings if it yellows and cracks in a year or two? See what we use: our giclee prints are well described and you know what you are paying for.
