What is Giclée Printing?

Giclée printing is an upgrade of the traditional inkjet printing technologies that we all know and use with traditional printers at home or at the office. Giclée’s upgrade comes in the form of its specific intent for wall art print. While our traditional inkjet printers use CMYK 4 colors technology, the Giclée printers use 12 individual colors, and therefore allows for a much greater gamut and smoother color transitions.

This is why Giclée is used primarily for wall art, where the requirements are the following: color quality, resolution, printed material and longevity.
To meet the high standard in wall art printing, this use of the 12 individual colors technology and its resulting gamut and transitions shines the best and give wall art the illustrious aspect it has. Giclée printing can easily give a result that looks a million dollars but costs just a fraction. The color impression and richness meet museum quality results.
Resolution is measured in the number of details captured inside one square inch and the unit used is dpi, dots per inch. While photos and scans are usually in the range of 600dpi, the traditional printers can be anything from 100dpi to 300dpi. Giclée printers start at 300dpi. Current technologies make full use the 300dpi and the finer sprays to print the highest market available details for budget prices.

The printed material is referred to as the substrate. Giclée printing is able to print on different substrates, namely fine art papers, canvas and vinyl. Fine art paper in itself is available with a wide range of properties and therefore corresponding price range: from the most common 175gsm papers to EMA heavyweight 240gsm with postcard thickness feel. Canvases are made of poly-cotton blend which allows for bending without creating creases or dents. Vinyl is referred to as wall clings and can be self-adhering to internal walls. While the Giclée printing technology remains the same, it is the substrate that determine the price of the wall art.
Longevity when it comes to Giclée prints is generally not a concern. Giclée printing is categorized as archival ink technology, which means that it will never yellow or deteriorate when displayed in normal interior environment. The color will retain their original brightness and brilliance through the whole lifetime of the print.

If you are thinking wall art prints, think no further than Giclée!