Giclée (pronounced "zhee-clay") reproductions
were originally developed in 1989 as a plate-less
method of fine art printing.
Derived from the French term meaning "spray
of ink," is a revolutionary and new printing
process. The Giclée process creates the
finest digital prints that can be created off
an original. An original piece of artwork must
first be converted into digital format by, for
example, scanning. After attaching the blank paper
or canvas on to a drum, a digital ink jet printer
sprays a fine stream of ink – more than
four million droplets per second – onto
the paper, exactly duplicating the original image.
The artist completes the process by applying UV
light resistant coatings on top of the digital
reproduction.
The apparent resolution of the digital print is
1,800 dots per inch, which makes these prints
as fine in quality as their originals.
Since no screens are used in Giclee printing,
the prints have a higher resolution than lithographs
and a more dynamic color range.
