What is Fine Art Giclée Printing, and What Is Its History?

por juanlamata | viernes, 24th julio, 2020 | Artículos, Blog

What is Fine Art Giclée Printing, and What Is Its History?

Images of Henry by Wilhelm fromWilhelm Imaging Research, Inc. Courtesy of Nash Editions for Color3arte

What is Fine Art Giclée printing?

The world of fine art printing has undergone a dramatic transformation since 1991, when the term “Giclée” first appeared to describe what is also known as fine art prints.It is a truly innovative concept in which technology, human talent, and top-quality resources come together in perfect harmony to produce works of art.

Giclée, a French term

Giclée, a French term pronounced “yiclé,” is an image printing technique whose name derives from the verb “gicler,” meaning “to spray.” It involves spraying pigment in the form of microscopic droplets onto the canvas or paper in a continuousstream , much like a high-pressure spray nozzle.

Unlike most continuous-ink printers, which release controlled amounts of ink only when necessary,in the Giclée printing process,ink is applied to the substrate with millimeter precision and under high pressure,thanks to a vibration system using piezoelectric glass components. In this process,the ink droplets are given a specific electrical charge so thatthose that are not neededare electrostatically deflected into a waste collection system that does not interfere with the printing process.

This system, which—like all technology—requires a level of precision that seems almost miraculous, produces prints of a sharpness that would be unimaginable under any other working method. That is why it is so highly valued as a printing method. Thanks to the use of special inks and papersspecific to this technique, fine art prints are guaranteed to last almost forever.

The Wonders of Giclée

One of the wonders of giclée printing is its ability to capture the precise details of forms. Even if other methods were used for this purpose, without fine art printing techniques, certain edges, textures, and patterns that define the image would not be reproduced on paper with such precision, andthe continuous tone—especially in grays or blended shades—would not be as accurate.

Furthermore, “fine art” is a term directly associated with papers of the highest quality. It is not just an empty label; the paper used in fine art printing must meet very specific quality criteria. We’re talking about papers whose composition differs significantly from standard photo paper; they’re made of natural fibers, mostly cotton or alpha-cellulose, haven’t been artificially bleached with chlorine,have a neutral pH, and undergo a special treatment that ensures the print’s longevity.

What is Fine Art Giclée Printing, and What Is Its History?

Un pionero en el uso de impresoras de inyección de tinta en color de alta resolución en el campo de las bellas artes es Nash Editions. Ubicado cerca de Los Ángeles en Manattan Beach, California, Nash Editions fue fundada por el británico Graham Nash del legendario grupo de rock de los años 60 Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Nash, un gran fotógrafo y coleccionista, se sintió atraído por el proceso de inyección de tinta como un medio para imprimir fotografías que había escaneado y trabajado con el software Adobe Photoshop en su computadora Apple Macintosh. Aquí se muestran los miembros del personal de Nash Editions (de izquierda a derecha) Jack Duganne, R. Mac Holbert y Graham Nash. Esta fotografía y las fotografías de la página siguiente fueron tomadas por el autor durante una visita a Nash Editions en febrero de 1992, poco más de seis meses después de su apertura comercial. <www.nasheditions.com>

History of Giclée Printing

Jack Duganne, an expert in the field of printing and head of the Fine Arts department at Nash Editors, coined the term “Giclée” to describe this unique method of printing images. IIn 1991, he realized there was a need to clearly distinguish between the types of printing produced by the famous Iris printers, which had already coined the term “Iris Proof” for a type of high-quality printing—which was actually considered a proof—before the job was ordered in large quantities.

Giclée

This well-known printing method had the drawback of appearing too industrial, not quite in keeping with the spirit of the craft—if you will, artisanal—yetof the high qualitydemanded by the artists,photographers , and graphic designers of the time.

To achieve this distinction and meet the technical demands of the market, Duganne drew on the verb “glycer” to find a word that would set his work apartfrom industrial block printing. This was due, above all, to a technological innovation that originated in Stoneham, Massachusetts, the headquarters of Iris Graphics.

Jack Duganne and Holbert are working on an image in Photoshop on an Apple Macintosh computer with New York City fashion photographer George Holz (center).

The first location of Nash Editions, which was originally housed in this picturesque building, not far from Los Angeles International Airport.

Images of Henry by Wilhelm fromWilhelm Imaging Research, Inc. Courtesy of Nash Editions for Color3arte

What is Fine Art Giclée printing? And what is its history?

In the mid-1980s

Two employees of Applicon, the leading company in the field, founded Iris Graphics, Inc., and developed its Iris printers, which quickly became the preferred method for reproducing graphic works on various media: paper, canvas, silk, linen, and certain textiles. It was very well received by printing specialists, photographers, artists, and even color engineers, as they were indeed dealing with a printer capable of producing high-quality images with exceptional color definition—so much so that it was selected by David Coons, the color engineer at the Walt Disney Company,to print the new 3D images from Disney Studios.

Fun Fact

It was Coons who wrote the printing manual for such major projects as Sally Larsen’s “Transformer” series, published in 1989, and for a 1990 exhibition by Graham Nash of the supergroup Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Nash is a photography collector and a published photographer who was so impressed with the quality of the reproductions of his works presented in the exhibition that he invested $126,000 in an Iris printer and founded Nash Editions, where Duganne coined the term “Giclée” for the work they were doing.

Iris inkjet printers apply the cyan, magenta, yellow, and black images in a single pass, with the printing material attached to a rapidly rotating drum. With the cover removed, the main band of the image printed by the cyan inkjet, which moves slowly across the image from left to right, is clearly visible. Photo 2: Bottlesof the water-based inks used in Iris inkjet printers. Initially designed for graphic arts proofing, standard Iris inks have very poor lightfastness. Inks made with dyes that have improved lightfastness for fine art and photography applications became available in 1994.

Most likely, without the initiative of those two Applicon employees, Graham Nash’s vision, and Jack Duganne’s expertise, the world of fine art printing would not be the same—and perhaps the possibility of producing images whose sharpness and color are exactly as the artist envisions them in his mind before daring to put them on paper would not exist.

Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) is a folk-rock supergroup consisting of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills, and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young joins them as the fourth member, the group is known as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Courtesy of Wikipedia

At COLOR3ARTE

Our commitment to honoring this creative process is closely linked to the deep respect we have for our clients—mostly graphic designers from diverse backgrounds, with varying styles and approaches—who want to see their work brought to life on paper exactly as they envisioned it when they first created it. Images are the narrative tool most likely to remain in human memory forever. That is why at COLOR3ARTE we are committed to preserving history, because we are aware that when there is nothing else to rely on to weather the times, there will be images that narrate the only thing that stirs human memory; that is why we do not compromise on the high quality of our work. Simply put, we prioritize it above all else.

What is Fine Art Giclée printing? And what is its history?

Fine Art Printing Giclée Fine Art Printing Service

Digital art printing on canvas using a large-format printer, highlighting the quality and detail of the process

giclée photo printing process at a professional studio, with a focus on preparation for photo exhibitions

Inside the Color3arte headquarters, showcasing the fine art giclée printing process.

giclée prints giclée multi-panel art pieces using pigment-based inks on 100% cotton canvas, produced by Color3arte.

A giclée print on fine art paper, faithfully reproducing a classic winter landscape painting, offered by Color3arte

The process of printing limited-edition art prints in a professional studio, highlighting the precision and quality of the prints.

A mosaic of high-quality photo slides on an illuminated panel, highlighting the variety and detail of each image.

A personalized approach is the most important factor when printing an artist's work

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The Importance of Choosing the Right Paper for Photo Printing

por juanlamata | viernes, 17th julio, 2020 | Artículos, Blog

The Importance of Choosing the Right Paper for Photo Printing

THE ROLE OF PAPER

After finishing college, Mateo went on the trip of a lifetime. He had become a nature photographer after a long journey that began when, at his First Communion, a friend of his parents gave him a simple camera with which he took endless photos of everything that caught his eye. Now, having finally earned his business degree, two well-deserved rewards awaited him: a magnificent Canon EOS 4000D, a gift from his parents, and a few days in Sri Lanka—his dream.

He had spent the past year devoting himself with equal passion to preparing for the trip and completing his degree. He was driven by a single goal: to capture the best photographs of Sri Lanka’s stilt fishermen—those lanky men perched on rudimentary wooden stilts, 4 meters high, in the Indian Ocean, harpooning fish to earn their livelihood.

The trip—as fascinating as any visit to the island regions of Asia can be—brought him to the brink of believing that happiness was synonymous with each passing day, as he photographed everything that defined the region known as “the teardrop of India” until, upon arriving in Unawatuna, he felt his heart race at the thought of life’s great opportunities.

He left that place—the world’s largest gathering of stilt fishermen—with more than 900 photographs of twilight scenes, wooden stilts, bare torsos lashed by the tide, feet cracked by salt, and fish—perhaps millions of them—harpooned from the impossible vantage points of those artisans whom he considered heroes.

Back home, the hard work of selecting and editing the hours he had spent on the Asian coast began. It was such a daunting task that he considered it impossible. The fact that he managed to do it had a lot to do with learning that a renowned publication dedicated to nature and travel was holding its annual photography contest—one of the most famous in the world.

He managed it without quite knowing how: ten images that captured, with crystal-clear clarity, a day in the life of one of these men weathered by the sea. They were perfect photographs. They were, as his mentor told him, “the kind of photographs that magazine editors go crazy for.”

Without further delay, Mateo reviewed the contest rules and prepared his entry. Unusually, the contest rules required a specific digital file and also stipulated that entrants “be prepared to submit, if requested, a set of hard copies of the works entered in the contest.” Mateo was so confident that his work would rank highly in the selection process that he decided to take the initiative and request that the series submitted digitally be printed.

He went to a fine art printing studio; there, they took his order and put him in touch with the printmaker, who wanted to speak with him. He thought something was wrong with the file and anxiously waited for the bad news.

"We really liked your work," the specialist told him
Thanks, I took them last summer in Sri Lanka –
This is one of the most interesting submissions we've received in the past two weeks.
Do you really think so?
Absolutely. Do you have any specific ideas, technical specifications, or anything in particular?
To be honest, I haven't really thought much beyond getting a Giclée print. I'd really appreciate some advice—I don't know much about it.

The printmaker then went on at length. Mateo, despite having spent years reading and studying the art of photography, admitted that he was unaware of fundamental aspects of a photographer’s work. He felt more like an amateur than ever.

"Choosing the right paper can really enhance a photograph"— that was the first thing he heard.
They are canvases, just like the one Velázquez would use if he wanted to repaint *Las Meninas*.

(Mateo felt overwhelmed when he realized they were comparing his photos to *Las Meninas*, so he listened closely.) The expert, accustomed to technical jargon, carefully explained to him that they were talking about a unique medium, made of natural cotton fibers, unbleached with chlorine, that lasts forever.

"We could say that the value of a good printed photograph lies in the paper used to make it, because fine art paper captures the nuances of tone and texture in a way that would never be possible with standard photo paper. It’s not for nothing that they call it museum-quality paper," the printer concluded.

They were discussing what is known as ink and pigment absorption: the surface layer of fine art paper is so flawless—thanks to its neutral pH—that the ink adheres completely, even enhancing the visual texture of the photograph. A print that lasts forever—as they say in the world of fine art printing, without any exaggeration.

As they talked, they weighed their options. Each sheet of paper was more delicate and finer than the last, making it almost impossible to choose just one. After much consideration, they settled on Hahnemühle Rag® Baryta 315 g/m² · 100% cotton · white · high gloss, and the printing process began.

Mateo decided to pick up the photos the following afternoon. When he saw them, he knew that something had changed in the way he appreciated photographic quality. Those printed photos were unrecognizably better than his own. Certainly, he thought, the paper he’d chosen had brought out the countless textures and delicate edges from the screen—the very details he’d taken such care to preserve when capturing the image. He was stunned.

The email asking him to send the printed photos as soon as possible, given his status as a semifinalist in the contest, arrived a few weeks later. Mateo read it several times, unable to take his eyes off the photos spread out in his room, protected as if they were gold bars. He felt his pulse quicken and remembered, with gratitude, the infinite kindness of that Sri Lankan fisherman who had allowed him to witness the intimate details of his trade. He set about carefully packing the shipment.

A few days later, an unknown voice called to inform him of the award decision: his photos had won a substantial prize, would be featured in an exhibition at a New York museum, and would be permanently displayed on the website of the prestigious publication.

He had become a renowned photographer.

"If the ones you sent on paper hadn't been printed on such high-quality paper, the result would have been different, " said the voice on the other end of the phone.
But the photos…
They are very good—excellent, in fact—but the paper chosen really brought them to life, and in this kind of competition, that’s just as important as the quality of the work.

So, Mateo’s gratitude will forever include the kind man who had convinced him that the medium on which a work of art is created is an important part of the work itself; after all, he was the one who first convinced him that he was capable of creating works of art; at that moment, he smiled at his sister’s camera.