Custom fine art giclees using the Epson 7980 Pro Printer
Giclée is a word coined in 1991 by Jack Duganne, a print maker working at Nash Editions, for fine art digital prints made on ink-jet printers. The name has come to mean any high quality ink-jet print and is often used by artist, galleries, and print shops to denote such prints. The word is based on the French language word "le gicleur" meaning "nozzle", or more specifically "gicler" meaning "to squirt, spurt, or spray".
The word “giclée,” as a fine art term, has come to be associated with prints using fade-resistant, archival inks (often pigment based), and archival substrates primarily produced on Epson printers. These printers use the CMYK color process but may have multiple cartridges for variations of each color (e.g. light magenta and light cyan inks in addition to regular magenta and cyan); this increases the apparent resolution and color gamut and allows smoother gradient transitions. A wide variety of print media are available including various textures and finishes such as matte photo paper, watercolor paper, cotton canvas, or artist textured vinyl.
At Goldeneye Gallery, we use the Epson 7980 printer, which is capable of printing up to 24" wide by any length. Eight inks are used at any one time, with three levels of black ink to improve the printer's gray balance and to eliminate color cast in neutrals and near neutrals. Maximum resolution is 2880 x 1440 dpi; ink drop size as small as 3.5 picoliters. Using the Epson K3 inkset combined with Epson's UltraSmooth Fine Art Paper (our standard paper at Goldeneye), Wilhelm Research estimates prints will last 108 years without noticeable fading or change in color balance when displayed under glass. Similar longevity is achieved on canvas (which is not normally glazed) through the use of a special UV protectant spray.
The word “giclée,” as a fine art term, has come to be associated with prints using fade-resistant, archival inks (often pigment based), and archival substrates primarily produced on Epson printers. These printers use the CMYK color process but may have multiple cartridges for variations of each color (e.g. light magenta and light cyan inks in addition to regular magenta and cyan); this increases the apparent resolution and color gamut and allows smoother gradient transitions. A wide variety of print media are available including various textures and finishes such as matte photo paper, watercolor paper, cotton canvas, or artist textured vinyl.
At Goldeneye Gallery, we use the Epson 7980 printer, which is capable of printing up to 24" wide by any length. Eight inks are used at any one time, with three levels of black ink to improve the printer's gray balance and to eliminate color cast in neutrals and near neutrals. Maximum resolution is 2880 x 1440 dpi; ink drop size as small as 3.5 picoliters. Using the Epson K3 inkset combined with Epson's UltraSmooth Fine Art Paper (our standard paper at Goldeneye), Wilhelm Research estimates prints will last 108 years without noticeable fading or change in color balance when displayed under glass. Similar longevity is achieved on canvas (which is not normally glazed) through the use of a special UV protectant spray.