A giclée (pronounced ‘zhee-clay’) is a high-quality fine-art print produced using an advanced inkjet process. The term, from the French gicler meaning ‘to spray’, describes how pigment-based inks are sprayed with great precision onto archival paper or canvas. Giclée printing is the standard method for producing high-resolution, colour-accurate, long-lasting reproductions and original digital artworks.
Because the process captures fine detail and a wide colour range with excellent longevity, giclée has become widely accepted by galleries, artists and collectors.
A giclée begins with a high-resolution digital file — either a scan of an original artwork or a digitally created image. This file is printed on a specialised large-format inkjet printer using archival, pigment-based inks rather than ordinary dye inks.
The inks are sprayed onto high-quality, acid-free paper or primed canvas in microscopic droplets, building up an image of great detail and tonal subtlety. When properly produced and displayed, a giclée can resist fading for many decades, often well over a century.
Giclée offers exceptional colour accuracy, fine detail and a broad tonal range, faithfully capturing the character of an original painting or digital work. The use of pigment inks and archival materials gives it a longevity far beyond that of standard commercial printing.
It is important to understand what a giclée is and is not. A giclée is a high-quality print, usually a reproduction of an original or an original digital artwork, not a hand-pulled print like an etching or screenprint. Reputable galleries describe giclées clearly and honestly, and original-artwork giclées are signed and editioned by the artist.
Giclée prints offer an accessible way to own a faithful, archival-quality version of an artist’s work. Look for signed, limited-edition giclées on archival materials, with clear documentation of the edition size.
At Byard Art, where giclée prints are offered, they are clearly identified as such, signed and numbered by the artist, and produced to archival standards.
