What is a Giclée print?

After the original artwork has been converted into a digital image file by scanning a transparency, a very large specialist inkjet printer sprays thousands of tiny droplets of ink onto paper. These are so small that they cannot be seen without magnification. This is a world away from the domestic inkjet printer. We pay a lot of attention to the proofing stage to ensure that the colour and detailing on the print is as indistinguishable from the original as possible. Skilled colour management is vital because computers see pigment differently from the human eye. Only once we are totally satisfied do we run off the edition. The inks are totally stable and both the ink and specialist smooth or textured paper are of archival quality. This method of printing is particularly suitable for watercolours, pen and wash, pen and ink, pastels, chalks, gouache and pencil. Acrylics and oils come out well visually but cannot, of course, have the texture of the original, although when printed onto canvas (rather than paper) and varnished, many art buyers find it perfectly acceptable. Each of our prints is checked by three people before it is signed and if any blemish is detected, it is destroyed, eg. A tiny droplet of ink is missing because a nozzle temporarily blocked. Done to such a high standard, it is surprisingly labour-intensive for a computer-based process but, at boteler contemporary arts, we are committed to you owning a work that is as faithful to the artists' vision as is possible. Our artists always express how impressed they are with the care and ability of our print maker and we certainly would never use anyone else. As we are aware that some of the giclée prints being sold in galleries are not of such a high quality, we are happy to send out sample strips from an actual print to help reassure you.