Saturday, August 23, 2008

FAQ: What is a limited-edition giclée print?



My Web site houses an online gallery of paintings that I offer as limited-edition giclée prints. The limited-edition part doesn’t stump people much – it simply means I only offer a limited number of the actual prints. Of the paintings featured on my Web site, almost all of them are available in editions of 150. There are only a few exceptions: the Santa series and the new Home Waters are available in editions of 100 prints, and Betsy’s Santa is part of a 200 print series.



I sign and number each of the prints, furthering to the “limited edition” idea.

Giclée (pronounced “zhee-clay,” although, personally, I’ll accept “gick-lee” and “gee-schlay,” but never “jicklee”) is a French word which roughly means “little drops.” Producing a giclée print involves a very detailed digital scan of the original work, which is then translated to a printer that reproduces the artwork using tiny sprays of paint, resulting in an extremely-high-quality print. When placed on quality paper, like my prints are, the reproductions are almost identical to the original painting.

The process in creating these giclées allows me to better manage my inventory – or more correctly, the storage space needed to manage my inventory – as I can order small (even as small as one print) numbers of reproductions. Instead of trying to house 1,000 or more of each print – as the standard four-color offset lithography process often requires – I can maintain a small number of prints ready for sale.

Yes, the process is more expensive, which results in a higher price for a giclée as opposed to the offset prints. But, I think the giclée prints are far better quality than any of the rival versions, and personally, I think that a collector is much more pleased with having No. 149 of 150 as opposed to No. 2 of 1,000.

So, please let me know if you’d like a jicklee for your collection today!

1 comment:

TNangler said...

I have several of these gicles prints -they're beautiful.