What is a Giclee Reproduction?

A Giclee (zhee-CLAY), is an individually produced, high-resolution, high-fidelity, high tech reproduction done on a special large format printer. Giclees are produced from digital scans of existing artwork. The term is derived from the French language.

Giclees can be printed on any number of media, from canvas to watercolor paper to vinyl, to transparent acetates. Canvas Giclees are the most common and in many cases are hard to discern between the original painting and the reproduction. Giclees are superior to traditional lithography in nearly every way. The colors are brighter, last longer, and are so high-resolution that they are virtually 'continuous tone', rather than tiny dots. The range, or "gamut" of color for Giclees is far beyond that of lithography, and details are crisper.

Giclees use inkjet technology, but far more sophisticated than your desktop printer. The process employs six colors--light cyan, cyan, light magenta, magenta, yellow and black of lightfast (fade resistant,) pigmented inks and finer, more numerous, replaceable print-heads resulting in a wider color gamut. The ink is sprayed onto the page, actually mixing the color on the page to create truer shades and hues.

Giclees were originally developed as a proofing system for traditional lithographic printing presses, but it soon became apparent that the presses were having a hard time delivering the quality and brilliant color of the Giclee proofs. Giclees evolved into the new darlings of the art world. They are coveted by collectors for their fidelity and quality, and desired by galleries and artists alike because they don't have to be produced in large quantities. Museums throughout the world now readily display Giclee prints.