Art Advice - Print Process Guide for Limited and Open Edition Prints

Print Process Guide

Giclées

Giclée Fine Art Prints (pronounced “gee-clay”) are extremely high quality, archival grade, digital prints that use a ultra fine inkjet printing process to produce images of intense colour and vibrancy. Giclée printing is widely regarded as one of the very best photographic and fine art printing methods currently available and has become extremely popular with artists and photographers displaying their images in art galleries, museums and exhibitions. Although originally devised in America, the word “Giclée” comes from the French verb “to spray” and refers to the ink being sprayed onto the paper or canvas.

Lithographs

Lithography is a method for printing using a stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface.  In the lithographic process, ink is applied to a grease-treated image on the flat printing surface; nonimage (blank) areas, which hold moisture, repel the lithographic ink. This inked surface is then printed—either directly on paper, by means of a special press or onto a rubber cylinder.

Silkscreens

This method is a modern development of stencil printing. Paint is brushed through a number of fine silk screens, held taut in a wooden frame, onto the paper. One screen is used for each shade. The screen traditionally used comprises a fine weave silk, or similar, pulled over and secured to the frame. The silk is then masked excepting those areas where the paint is required to pass through. As each individual colour and shade requires a separate screen the whole process is lengthy and requires considerable skill. Slowly then, screen by screen, with precise alignment the final image is worked towards. The artist is involved during the creation of each edition, approving various stages and often making changes and additions, adding to the originality of the final item.