What is a giclée print?
Best Framing prints giclées in Costa Mesa, Orange County, on a 64-inch giclée printer in the same building as its framing. Here is what the word means, how a giclée is made, and how to judge one, from the people who print them.
What does giclée mean?
A giclée is a fine-art print made on a high-resolution inkjet printer, usually with pigment inks, on archival paper or canvas. The word comes from the French gicler, to spray or squirt, a nod to the inkjet nozzle, and printmakers adopted it around 1991 to set fine-art inkjet prints apart from ordinary ones. At Best Framing in Costa Mesa ours are printed on a 64-inch giclée printer, with archival pigment inks on carefully selected papers and canvas.
- Say it
- Zhee-CLAY.
- The word
- From the French gicler, to spray or squirt, after the inkjet nozzle.
- The process
- Inkjet, from a high-resolution digital file, usually with pigment inks.
- The surface
- Archival fine-art paper or canvas.
- Ours
- Printed on our 64-inch giclée printer, on canvas, cold-press watercolor paper, or matte or luster acid-free cotton papers, all archival, with pigment inks.
How is a giclée made?
From a high-resolution file. The original is scanned or photographed, the file is color-matched and proofed, and the printer lays fine droplets of ink onto archival paper or canvas. Whether you bring an original or a print-ready file, our team prepares and color-manages it here, so the file, the color and the print are decided by the same people.
Captured
The original is scanned on our large-format flatbed at up to 600 dpi, and our digital artists check the file against it.
Color-matched
The file is prepared, proofed and color-matched at our RIP station, and proof prints are weighted flat in the shop before the edition is printed.
Printed and finished
Printed on the giclée printer, then stretched in house if it is canvas, or framed a few steps away.
How is a giclée different from a lithograph, a serigraph or a poster?
By how it is made. A giclée is printed by inkjet from a digital file; a lithograph is printed from stone or plates; a serigraph is pushed through screens one color at a time; and most posters are printed in large runs on standard paper. A canvas print is a giclée when it is a fine-art inkjet print on archival canvas.
- Giclée
- Printed by inkjet from a digital file, in fine droplets of many ink colors, on archival paper or canvas. No plate and no screen.
- Lithograph
- A fine-art lithograph is drawn on stone or a plate and printed one color at a time. An offset lithograph, the kind most posters are, is printed on a press from plates, the image built from a pattern of tiny dots.
- Serigraph
- A screen print. Each color is pushed through its own stencil screen, one layer at a time.
- Poster
- Usually printed in large runs, on standard paper with standard inks.
- Canvas print
- Any print on canvas. It is a giclée when it is a fine-art inkjet print on archival canvas, as ours are.
How long does a giclée print last?
Our giclées use archival pigment inks on carefully selected papers and canvas. How a print actually ages also depends on the light it gets and what it is framed with.
Daylight fades pigment, not quickly and not evenly, which is why it is easy to miss until you take a piece down. Acid in a mat or a backing board can burn a brown line into the edge of a print over a few years, and that is not reversible.
- Paper giclées
- Usually framed behind glazing. We offer museum-quality and UV-protective glazing, chosen with you for the piece.
- Canvas giclées
- Stretched in house, and hung as they are or in a float frame.
- The mat and backing
- Acid-free. Our store is completely acid-free, mats included.
What is the difference between an open and a limited edition?
An open edition is printed for as long as there are buyers; a limited edition is capped at a stated number, and each print is usually signed and numbered. The print itself can be the same giclée either way.
An open edition
Printed for as long as there are buyers, with no fixed number. Because a giclée is printed from a file, it can be printed as orders come in, which is what print-on-demand means.
A limited edition
Capped at a stated number, and each print usually signed and numbered by the artist in the margin, like 12 of 50. Once the number is reached, the edition is closed.
We print archival fine-art editions, limited editions included, and stretch or frame them in house. Print-on-demand is not new here: the shop opened a print-on-demand gallery with local artists in 2020.
Is a giclée worth it?
As a buyer, a giclée is a reproduction, not the original, so its value is the image and the edition. What you can check is the material: archival paper or canvas, an edition number, and the artist’s signature.
As an artist, a giclée lets you sell an image without selling the original, at sizes the original was never made at. If you are just starting to reproduce your artwork and are looking for some guidance, we are happy to meet with you to provide some options and recommendations.
The questions people ask at the counter, answered.
From what can be framed and choosing the right glass to mounting jerseys, printing artwork and protecting the pieces that matter, we answer the questions our customers ask us every day.
Canvas, printed and stretched in the same buildingHow a canvas print is made and framed in one building: archival giclée, stretched in house, then hung as it is or set in a float frame. From Costa Mesa.Read Article
Scanning an original you would rather not put in the mailLarge-format scanning up to 600 dpi, checked by our digital artists: a one-of-a-kind original reproduced in Costa Mesa without leaving the building.Read Article
Museum glass vs regular glass, and what the glass over your art is doingMuseum-quality and UV-protective glazing vs regular glass: what each does for your art, plus acid-free mats and conservation framing. From Costa Mesa.Read Article
Print On DemandIn 2020 Best Framing opened its Print on Demand gallery in Costa Mesa: curated work by local artists, printed at just the right size for your wall.Read Article
Giclée prints, asked at the counter.
What is a giclée print?
A fine-art print made on a high-resolution inkjet printer, usually with pigment inks, on archival paper or canvas. Ours are printed on a 64-inch giclée printer in Costa Mesa, and all of our giclées use archival pigment inks on carefully selected papers and canvas.
How do you pronounce giclée?
Zhee-CLAY. The word comes from the French gicler, to spray or squirt, a nod to the inkjet nozzle.
Is a giclée the same as a canvas print?
Not always. A canvas print is any print on canvas. It is a giclée when it is a fine-art inkjet print on archival canvas, as ours are, stretched in house in Costa Mesa.
How long do giclée prints last?
Print longevity depends on the ink and media combination, display conditions and care. Ours use archival pigment inks on carefully selected papers and canvas, and daylight still fades pigment, so a giclée on paper is best framed with UV-protective or museum-quality glazing and acid-free mats. We can help choose materials and framing suited to your piece.
How can you tell if a painting is a giclée?
Look closely. A giclée has a flat surface with no raised brushstrokes, unless it was embellished by hand, and under a magnifier its color is made of fine, scattered droplets rather than the regular dot pattern of an offset print. Check the margin for an edition number and a signature too.
How much does a giclée print cost?
We quote giclées in person and per piece, because the size, the paper or canvas, and how the print is finished set the price. Bring the original or the file to the counter in Costa Mesa and we will quote it there.
Still wondering? Come in and ask. No appointment required.
Print and frame what you love. Visit the showroom.
No appointment required.
- Call
- (949) 791-8780
- Hours
- Mon-Fri 10am-5pm
Sat 9am-1pm
Bring us the thing you love.
Walk in with it and talk it through with a designer. No appointment required, though you are welcome to book one.
1671 Placentia AvenueCosta Mesa, CA 92627
- Call(949) 791-8780
- HoursMon-Fri 10am-5pm · Sat 9am-1pm · Sun closed
- Talk to a designer nowStart a Video CallSomeone is on the floor Mon-Fri 10am-5pm and Sat 9am-1pm, Costa Mesa time
- Book an appointmentPick a time with a designerAppointments are optional. Walk-ins are welcome.