It has been more than 13 years since we came into contact with Giclee. Whether it is a desktop or large-sized giclée output machine, we are familiar with it. We have also printed on high-quality photo paper materials of different brands and textures.

I hope this "Comprehensive Analysis of Giclee" can help you obtain relevant information, answer your doubts, evaluate whether Giclee is suitable for the presentation of your works, and thus become a prelude to your journey of discovery of Giclee.

What is giclee?

Giclée printing is a digital printing technology innovatively developed in the 1990s. Mainly because the traditional printing technology at that time could no longer meet the high-quality demand for artwork reproduction, and a new type of printing technology was developed. The name giclee was first coined by the French-American painter Jack Duganne, who used the French word "Giclée" (meaning "jet") to describe this emerging printing technology.

Giclee printing uses an inkjet output machine (inkjet printer) to print the digital image files of paintings and photography directly onto photo paper, canvas, and other special materials through a digital printing machine using inkjet technology. on the surface of the material. The characteristic of giclee is that it can reproduce the details and color levels of the original work without distortion, so it is favored by photography enthusiasts, art creators, and collectors of graphic works.

Application of Giclee Art

Whether it is black and white or color photography, the most popular output method at present is giclee. When outputting, photographers and creative artists can use different photography themes, such as image photography, portrait photography, life photography, street photography, landscape photography, as well as still life, abstract, surreal and other artistic photography, as well as the creator's own Finally, express your media preferences and choose photo paper materials with different expression styles.

Paper materials will be introduced in later chapters.

Whether it is an original painting or an electro-painted work, as long as the image and text painting are converted into digital image files through high-resolution scanning or copying technology, the painting can be copied into a digital print through giclee printing. It is very suitable for the printing and output of prints, illustrations, watercolors, oil paintings, Chinese paintings, sketches, various calligraphy, manuscripts and other works, and copy paintings.

Benefits of Giclee Spraying

1. It is a collection-level medium recognized by the museum.

The technology of giclée printing has been very mature up to now, and has also been recognized by national collection institutions such as art galleries and museums. The most direct evidence is that among the photographic works collected by Taiwan's "Art Bank", most of the output media are labeled "photography digital output, photo paper."

When we see such a sign, the output medium of the work is giclee print.

2. It is a high-resolution and high-quality media

In addition to giclée printing technology, which is a high-quality printing technology, a professional giclée output center will also maintain the stability of the output color through regular color management. Therefore, the printed art works will have fine details and consistent colors. Distortion, the picture quality is also very high.

It is worth noting that if the resolution of the original digital file is not high enough, it will affect the image quality and resolution of the final giclee work produced.

In other words, the resolution of the giclee work will depend on the resolution of the digital image file:

• The resolution of the original file is high, and the image quality presented in the final work will be clear and the details will be high.
• If the resolution of the original file is not high enough, the image quality and details of the giclee work will be faithfully presented based on the image quality of the original file (that is, the output results will be affected proportionally)

3. Can be customized in small quantities and has high flexibility

• The advantage of digital printing is that it can be produced in a single frame, with the flexibility of a small amount of customization, and there is no pressure on a minimum print quantity.
• Even for the same digital image file, the creator can choose and decide the final output paper material based on different points in time, different moods, and different interpretation methods.

At the beginning of the article, we mentioned the output method of giclee:

"Giclee printing uses an inkjet output machine (inkjet printer) to print the digital image files of paintings and photography directly onto photographic paper, canvas, and other materials using inkjet technology through a digital printing machine. On the surface of special materials.

Because giclée uses a direct output method, the ink stays on the surface of the paper when the finished work is printed. Therefore, the shortcomings of this type of digital output stem from:

1. The ink is in direct contact with the air and is not protected

According to the NEDCC research report, the most suitable environment for preserving giclee works is:

• In an environment with a relative humidity below 50%, the optimal storage humidity environment is 30-40% RH.
• In an environment below 21°C, the optimal storage temperature environment is 18-21°C

If the display and storage environment is not controlled with temperature and humidity, the giclee works will be prone to mold and fading .

2. Using paper as the base material, the paper is inevitably fragile.

When giclée prints are framed in the most rigorous manner and mounted on high-quality acrylic transparent plates, the risk of direct exposure of the paper to the environment is reduced.

However, the recently popular giclee "frameless paintings" do not install transparent acrylic panels, and the concept of "naked mounting" of the work, regardless of the mounting details, is ultimately intended to allow the viewer to appreciate it directly without any barriers. Effect. At this time, the giclée works are not waterproof , not moisture-proof , easy to scratch , and cannot be cleaned and maintained , which will become the shortcomings of the giclée works.

New Proposal: ChromaLuxe Metal Photo

If you are also troubled by the shortcomings of the above giclee works, you may be interested in exploring how a new type of photo medium: "metal photos" can solve your troubles!

Here we have briefly listed the "characteristics" comparison table of the two printing media of "giclée" and "metal photo". You are welcome to get to know ChromaLuxe metal printing together.

If you want to know, can you save photos of people who have had coffee spilled or ice cream spilled on them? Please refer to: "Giclee vs. Metal Photo: Measured Results of Cleaning and Durability"

Types and Selection of Giclee Paper Materials

The classification of giclée paper materials can be roughly divided into the following types according to different paper types:

• Photo Paper: Photo paper is smooth and has no texture.
• Art paper: Add watercolor painting, Chinese painting and other paintings to the output works to enhance the artistic sense.
• Canvas: Add a sense of oil painting to the finished output work

Based on our experience, different paper types are described as follows:

Giclee spray shops in Taipei, Taichung, and Tainan

According to our research in August 2024, the "prices" and "service methods" of different brands of photo paper can be found on the official websites of the following giclée output centers. The information is transparent and recommended to all friends.

The recommended list here is arranged in alphabetical order by "city" and "store name". We also list each output center and price comparison table of the same photo paper material, so that everyone can quickly understand the price range of different paper materials.

It is worth mentioning that there are still many professional giclée printing centers that we have not listed here, such as Jazz Image, Guangdianguangfang... etc. in Taipei, mainly because there is insufficient information on their photo paper product names and prices. To be clear, we cannot list them for your reference. We recommend that you take some time to research more before deciding to output, and make a decision only after you have obtained the most complete information.

Giclee Taipei store

Avocado

• Store features: Giclee output + operating art gallery
• Paper features: A total of 21 paper materials are available, including 11 Ilford paper materials
• Price range: $160-$380/per person
• More information: https://www.avofactory.com/fine-artprinting/pricing/

Lighto (light print sample)

• Store features: Giclee printing business of graphic arts and cultural creative selection company, official website information is detailed, aluminum frame mounting can be purchased online
• Paper features: A total of 11 paper materials are available
• Price range: $180-$360/per person
• More information: https://www.lightochan.com/printu

RGB Taipei

• Store Features: Specialized in giclee spray painting
• Paper features: A total of 21 paper materials are available, including 10 Canson paper materials
• Price range: $160-$360/per person
• More information: https://rgbtaipei.com/price

uPrint

• Store features: Giclee output + framing, the only store that can upload files online and print photos directly
• Paper features: A total of 28 types of paper materials are available, diversified brand choices
• Price range: $160-$380/per person
• More information: https://uprint.com.tw/giclee/

Giclee Taichung store

AIC

• Store Features: Specialized in giclee spray painting
• Paper features: A total of 11 paper materials are available
• Price range: $180-$380/per person
• More information: https://www.anchestudio.com/aicpaper

Giclee Tainan store

Convenient digital printing

• Store Features: Printing company’s giclee business
• Paper features: A total of 26 paper materials are available, including 10 EasiColor and 11 Ilford paper materials.
• Price range: $150-$450/per person
• More information: https://www.5214.tw/index.php/giclee-price

Giclee prices from different stores

We are curious, if the same kind of photo paper or canvas material is used, what is the price of each of the above six giclée output centers? Therefore, we have compiled a list of 11 popular paper materials and their prices. It is worth noting that each giclée output center has slightly different paper selection and paper feeding directions, so the paper materials listed here are the paper materials that most stores stock, not the paper materials we recommend!

How to choose a suitable giclée printing center

1. Compare prices

We believe that the price-related information we have compiled above will be of some help to you. To be honest, Taiwan's market is quite competitive. There is not much difference in the price of giclée output centers among different companies. I still want to remind everyone to compile their own market survey based on this information.

2. Choose paper materials carefully

There are really many giclee brands and papers. For example, uPrint has as many as 28 photo papers to choose from. The brands even cover famous European and Japanese brands such as Hahnemuhl, Canson, Epson, Ilford, etc., plus various giclee companies. The paper materials selected by printing centers vary. We recommend that if time permits, contact each output center to make an appointment to experience the material of photo paper, feel the weight and feel of the paper with your own hands, and find the giclee print that suits your work. photographic paper.

3. Packaging and Shipping Details

If the giclée printing center you want to cooperate with specializes in printing, the framing and mounting must be sent to another store. Whether you send it there yourself or the art center handles it for you, because there is extra transportation when the work is not completed. For this step, you may want to carefully inquire about the packaging methods and shipping details in advance, in order to reduce the chance of damage to the giclee works such as being folded or pressed during the production process.

4. Service quality

If the paper you choose can be cooperated with more than one company, and the prices of each company are within a reasonable and acceptable range, then congratulations, we encourage you to chat more with the store to understand their professionalism and production time. And after-sales service and other details. Doing a little more homework beforehand will help you more easily find stores with consistent frequencies to work with.

A new and trend-setting proposal: choose metal photo printing for your work

Your works are worth cherishing for a long time. In addition to giclee printing, we also encourage you to explore and research new photo printing media. Think more and compare more. I believe you will definitely find the output media and cooperative merchants that are suitable for your works!

References

Wikipedia - Giclée printing

Effects of Digital Printing Applications on Contemporary Art , Yeter Beris, 2018

Creating Long-Lasting Inkjet Prints , Monique Fischer