What is a Giclée?

A Giclée is a recognized and collectible category of fine art.  "Giclée" (zhee-clay) is a French term roughly meaning "spray of in", which describes the digital printing process.  No fine art printmaking method has ever caused so much excitement as the Giclée.

Digital Process

The cornerstone of the Giclée is a specialized high resolution ink jet printer capable of producing virtual continuous tone prints unsurpassed by other reproduction methods.  Apparent resolution surpasses traditional lithographs and the color ranged exceeds serigraphy.  Colors have deep saturation with painterly tints and blends.

A Giclée printer is a drum-based device in which the canvas or fine art paper is taped onto the drum by the Printmaker.  While the drum rotates, individual microscopic droplets of ink are applied at the rate of 4-5 million per second.  One Giclée can take as long as 50 minutes to print.

Giclée printmaking has opened up a whole new market in one-of-a-kind and limited-edition artwork.  Prints may be hand embellished by the artits so each one is unique.

Are the Prints Archival?

Yes, recent developments in ink and media are producing prints that will last for decades.  Special Giclée inks and media have been engineered to provide archival museum-quality artwork.  Accelerated aging tests simulating indoor display conditions indicate longevity (before noiceable fading can be seen) in the range of 20-100 years.  However, actual longevity ultimately depends on the display environment.

MarcyArt.com offers Giclée prints for sale here.