What is Giclée ?

The French word Giclée ( Giclee ) has recently been widely accepted as a term to refer to high quality fine-art prints made by certain type of printers in a certain process and on certain type of media. Take either one of these components away and it will no longer be a true Giclée.

Printer · Although printers used to produce Giclée are based on Inkjet technology, not every Inkjet printer can produce Giclée. The Giclee printer is set apart by the precission it lays ink on the media, the accuracy and range of colors it is capable or producing, and the type of inks it uses. All these factors greatly affect color production, image accuracy, and longevity of the print.

Media · The quality of paper or canvas is an important component of a true Giclee. It has to be acid-free with a right PH balance, buffered, and coated such that it can react best with the ink.

Process · Least but not last is the process of capturing and transfering the image digitally to the printer while ensuring the color consistency and accuracy. This is when color calibration as well as printer and media profiling become another set of essential ingredients for producing a Giclee.

The fine-art editions Old Town Photo produce are guaranteed to have all these essential ingredients in place, and derived from the finest manufacturers.