By the close of the 1980s, IRIS printers were installed all over the world and spinning off full-color proofs in commercial printing plants. These prints were used to check color before starting the main print run.

However, this wasn’t good enough for the new digital fine-art printmakers like Maryann Doe of Harvest Productions and Jack Duganne* of Duganne Ateliers, the first Gicleé printmakers. They wanted to draw a distinction between the beautiful prints they were laboring over and the quickie proofs the commercial printers were cranking out. The makers of digital art needed a word of their own.

Little Squirt

And, they got it. In 1991, Duganne had to come up with a print-medium description. Taking a cue from the French word for inkjet (jet d’encre), Duganne opened his pocket Larousse and searched for a word. He focused on the nozzle which sprays the ink on the surface. In French, that was le gicleur. So looking up French verbs for “to spray,” he found ”the feminine noun version of the verb is (la) giclée, (pronounced “zhee-clay”) or “that which is sprayed or squirted” and the term soon became a synonym for “an art print made on an IRIS inkjet printer.”

Passing into the Generic Landscape

For many, the term “giclée” has become part of the printmaking landscape and has evolved into a broader term that describes any high-quality, digitally produced, fine-art print or reproduction.

The GPA Prints Reproductions Only

A new group formed in 2001—the Giclée Printers Association (GPA)—came up with its own standards and its own term: “Tru Giclée.” The GPA is concerned with reproduction printing only, and its dozen or so printmaker members have approved a shopping list of printing equipment and materials to bear its logo.

giclée (zhee-clay) n. 1. a type of digital fine-art print. 2. Most often associated with reproductions; a giclee is a multipe print or exact copy of an original work of art that was created by conventional means (painting, drawing, etc.) and then reproduced digitally, typically via inkjet printing. First used in this context by Jack Duganne in 1991, Los Angeles, California.

The accuracy, clarity, sharpness and color vibrancy of reproductions produced by the Giclée process has astounded the art world. Fine art collectors around the globe have been quick to embrace today’s modern advances in technology and it is easy to see why. It is often very difficult to distinguish the original piece of art from a Giclée reproduction!

How the Process Works

The original artwork is scanned into a high-grade computer system using a high tech resolution digital camera. This equipment has only been available for a year or so. Rather than taking a single photograph of the original painting, the painting is scanned in tiny sections using a grid pattern, which captures minute detail. Size, color, and many other options are available to the computer technician to reproduce the most accurate reproduction possible. The image is then programmed into a sophisticated high tech specialty art ink-jet printer. The ink –jet reproduces the image by delivering a fine spray of ink, up to a million micro-droplets per second. Each droplet is only one quarter of the diameter of a human hair. The incredible process allows for the display of the complete color spectrum with maximum resolution of color and density. Collectors need to be aware that there are inexpensively produced works that are mistakenly called Giclées.

Each Giclée, depending upon size, requires up to several hours to reproduce. Giclées are printed on 100% high quality rag archival paper and museum quality canvas, using the finest grade fade-resistant inks. Each Giclée is individually sprayed with an additional coat of UV protected varnish.

* Duganne, Ateliers of Santa Monica, is one of the first fine printmakers to develop and utilize the Giclée process. Duganne is the exclusive printmaker of Lipman’s fine art prints.