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Printing Artists . . .
Printing
For Artists |
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Giclée
Printing - A Concise, Simple Summary |
Giclée
Printing - A Long, Detailed Explanation |
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| Giclée is a technologically
intricate four-color composite printing process. It combines the very
best attributes of state-of-the-art printing machinery, paper stock,
computer interpretation, and human interactive skill. The end result:
On-demand, affordable, museum-quality archival reproductions of fine art
originals. An authentic giclée print is customarily accompanied by a
certificate showing the image, number of prints in the edition, and the
giclée printing artist's attestation. |
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Visible vs Printable Spectrum - An Age-Old Problem |
A typical giclée setup involves a
printer, a number of computers, a rasterized image processor, and various
fine art paper stocks. Completely outfitting a giclée studio will run
into the $60-100,000 range |
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| By and large, fine art
reproduction by giclée in the hands of a skilled giclée printing
artist is the most accurate method available today. There are
exceptions. Certain colors, hues, and intensities may not be perfectly
reproduced using the giclée process. Metallic paints, which are
formulated with actual particles of metal, provide an easy-to-understand
example. Giclée does not use metallic inks nor metal particles. Hence,
the accurate reproduction of metallic paint is not possible. Similarly,
certain colors in selected areas of the visible spectrum are not 100%
compatible with either giclée or any other commonly used lithography
process. Although extremely close color fidelity is possible, absolute
accuracy cannot always be attained. |
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This section uses many technical terms. You may want
to refer to our Glossary.
Clicking on Glossary will
open a New Window. Just close the new window to come back here. |
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Giclée printing is a four-plus step
process: |
| Step 1
- Create the Digital Image File
Step
2 - Manipulate the Digital File *
Step 3
- Rasterize & Print a Giclée Proof *
Step
4 - Print & Q/C the Final Giclée
* Steps 2 and 3 are usually repeated more than once
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| Step 1
- Create the Digital Image File |
While you can utilize your
slides, transparencies, or digital files and an accompanying photograph,
it is preferable for the giclée printing artist to begin with your
original art. Alternatively, you can use the services of a professional
large-format photographer. In any case, your original art has to be transformed
into a Digital Image File, the basic driving mechanism of a giclée
printer. This can be done by photographing the art and scanning the
resulting transparency. If smaller than 12"x17" and flat, the
original itself can be scanned.
It is during this first step, creation of the basic Digital Image File,
that the most crucial errors are usually made. No matter how talented
the giclée printing artist, if poor quality is supplied as Digital
Image File input, poor quality will result in the final giclée. The
preferred method of creating the digital image file is to photograph the
original art with a special digital camera. Although we won't delve into
the intricate details here, suffice it to say that a top quality digital
file for, say, a painting of 30" x 40" is roughly 250
megabytes in size. Those at all familar with computers will easily
realize that this is one monster-sized file!
This kind of quality is not going to result from your average $99 Sony
Digicam, nor even an expensive 35mm Nikon AE. Special digitally equipped
photographic equipment - or professional traditional large-format
photography - is the rule at this stage. |
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| Step
2 - Manipulate the Digital File * |
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If the original input of the Digital Image File were
always accurate, there would be no need for giclée artist printers.
You'd be making giclées at home and not be reading this. The original
Digital Image File is merely the closest approximation possible of your
original art created by a series of electroptical devices (camera lens,
digital array, scanner, etc.). It is in this part of the process that
the talented giclée artist makes or breaks the final print series. This
is the most time consuming & costly step in the process. The better
the original input (Step 1 above), the less time and expense necessary
for file manipulation and correction.
The Command Workstation (upper
right) is used
to drive the Rasterized Image Processor at
upper left and control the printer at lower left.
Shown at lower right is an Editing Workstation
used by the Giclée printing artist for manipulating
the image prior to rasterization. >>>>> |
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Photoshop is the basic palette and canvas of the
giclée printing artist. Using it, he can control the aspects of hue,
saturation, color, contrast,and brightness for each of the 6,000,000
dots which make up this digital image file.
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Imagine
a cubist painting. Say, for example, that an average 8" by 10"
cubist painting contains 5,000 small 'cubes' - or dots. This is a simple
approximation of the task of manipulating a Digital Image File. However,
there is such a monumental metamorphosis of magnitude as to boggle the
mind. The same size 8" x 10" Digital Image File contains an
absolute minimum of 57,600 microscopic dots and could contain up to
6,000,000+!
By zooming in, one can begin to see the
individual pixels (dots).
Each dot has the characteristics of color, hue, saturation,
contrast, and brightness. Five characteristics multiplied by 50,000 dots
and you begin to realize the huge scope of the giclée artist's work . .
. and why we call it an Art unto itself. The proper manipulation of each
of these 250,000+ individual issues which together make up your Digital
Image File conclusively determines the quality and accuracy of your
final edition. Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder . . . but
accuracy and fidelity are in the eye of the giclée printing artist. |
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But it is only under extreme magnification
that the detail of the required
manipulation becomes evident!
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| Step 3
- Rasterize & Print a Giclée Proof * |
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| The Digital Image File 'speaks
the language' of the computer monitor. Computer monitors speak fluent
RGB. Giclée printing machines do not speak, understand, read, or write
RGB. Their language is CMYK. When you have two entities speaking two
different languages and neither is capable of understanding the other,
what you need is a translator. In computer graphics, the term for this
translation is rasterization. Here again you need the talents of an
experienced giclée artist . . . for as you know, every language has
various dialects which can completely alter the meaning of even the same
word. It is the giclée artist's job here to tell the Rasterized Image
Processor which dialects are being used on both sides . . . and to
monitor every translation to ensure the correct rules are followed.
Proper rasterization (known as RIPing) can require a great deal of
computer time, even when performed on a highly specialized, dedicated
rasterization server. More time, in fact, than the actual printing of
the giclée. Therefore, most printers charge for this when time becomes
excessive. |
The printing of the proof
itself is then done a on a cut of the intended final paper. This first
proof print is sent to you for comments and correction instructions.
These should include things like: "I want my reds redder."
"The yellows seem a bit dark." "The greens are fine but
the blue shades don't pop off the paper enough."
You then return the proof with your comments. The process goes back
to Step 2 and the necessary adjustments are made to your Digital Image
File. It is then re-rasterized and another proof print made.
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In closeup, one can discern the various
components.
At left, the RIP station, a dedicated server which has
no function but ongoing, high speed rasterization.
Shown on the monitor is the Command Workstation
software used to control RIPing
and the giclée printer itself.
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| This proof is sent to you and
the correction process continues. Up to three proofs and the color
corrections are usually included in the basic price. After that, further
color manipulation and rasterization are customarily charged to you on an
hourly basis. |
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| Step
4 - Print & Q/C the Final Giclée |
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| Printing is the least
time-consuming part of the process as you learned in the preceeding steps.
This is why additional prints after the first are less expensive. You'll
select your preferred substrate - Arches W/C, Somerset, Rives BFK, and
Canvas are the most popular - and order as many of the final giclées as
you have decided for your Edition. We prefer Rives BFK or Canvas for
quality reproduction.
Your giclée printing artist should tell you that quality control
follows next. You want to know that his or her specially formulated
giclée printing inks offer the widest gamut available and
state-of-the-art U-V resistance.
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| The (pigmented) inks should
replicate even the finest of nuance and the smallest of detail with a 200
year lightfastness guarantee under museum archival conditions. Each print should be inspected by hand and compared with the final
approved proof for accuracy, color density and gamut. Each print should
then be signed off by your giclée printing artist on the print's
Certificate of Authenticity. |
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