How much does Giclée imagery cost? How long does it take?

Our fine art reproductions are very competitively priced. Typically, it costs about $400 and takes about three weeks to get an image started in Giclée. We offer specials throughout the year on prepress and printing packages. For a complete price list, samples and other important information, contact us for more details.

Should I invest in Giclée, go with lithographs, or stick with laser prints?

When weighing your options, consider this: The advantage to printing lithographs is that the entire edition is printed at once, so the cost per print is much lower than the Giclée. But that's also the disadvantage—since the entire edition is printed at once, you have storage and inventory concerns. What's more, if a lithograph ends up selling slower than you expected, it will take much longer to make back your investment and make a profit. You could take the same amount of money that you would spend on one average size lithograph and reproduce smaller quantities of five different images as Giclées, which you can then test-market and reorder on demand. Finally, although some artists sell "laser prints" (color copies) as reproductions, they are not an acceptable form of fine art printing and should not be sold as limited-edition prints.

How do I price my Giclées?

Pricing always depends on your standing in the art community. Many self-published artists sell their work at outdoor festivals, at small galleries, and frame shops. The rule of thumb is to charge 400 percent or more of your cost as the retail price. So if your cost to print is $100, you should sell for at least $400. Some artists get more, some less, and if a print is especially popular you will naturally raise the price. If you sell prints wholesale to a gallery, you should generally double the price you paid, and the retailer would then double your price again (a practice called "keystoning".) Thus, the retail price stays consistent. Remember, it's a bad idea to underprice your retailers! Why should a gallery carry your work if you're going to undersell them? The 200 percent/400 percent rule is fair to everyone.

Can I hand-embellish or texture my Giclées?

For Giclées on paper texturing is discouraged. Color-embellishment may be done with dry watercolor pencils, watercolor crayons, colored pencils, or soft pastels. For Giclées on canvas, if properly sealed with both UV and acrylic varnish, texturing and embellishing with acrylics should not pose a problem. Oil embellishment should not cause the inks to run if applied gently. In any case, when applying anything water-based to canvas Giclées, drying it quickly with a hair dryer immediately after application will give you the best chance of success. For pigmented-ink reproductions on canvas, you should have no problems with embellishing or texturing with water-based media. Unfortunately, Giclée printmakers cannot be held responsible for prints that are ruined from alteration by the artist after satisfactory delivery.

Why do you need the original art if I can supply a digital image?

Accuracy of reproduction depends on the size of the file, and a minimum sixty-megabyte file, is needed to print a Giclée. In any event, we need something to compare the proofs to, to see how close we are and how to correct the color. The best results will come from color correcting to the original, or professional photographs or printed lithographs you are happy with.

What about the proofs I didn't approve?

Any proofs you don't approve are yours to do with as you please. Most artists sell them as Artist's Proofs, because that's exactly what they are. We have found this a good way to recover our prepress costs, and then some!

What's the difference between printers?

There are many printers on the market now that produce reproductions that are called "giclées," but true Giclées are created on Iris printers. (The French word Giclée—pronounced zshe-GLAY—means to squirt, referring to the means by which the inks are delivered to the substrate.) On the Iris printer, the soy-based dyes are sprayed at about a million droplets per second, and each droplet is the size of a red blood cell. Other ink-jet -type printers produce at a lower resolution (typically 720-1400 dots per inch), but the Iris Giclée printer prints at an apparent resolution of about 1800 dpi. In addition, the Iris printer has a much greater color gamut, making it easier to precisely match mid-tones and subtle details.

What about fading and longevity?

Basically, the longevity of a Giclée depends on the type of ink used to the substrate it's printed on, plus the brand protective coating. There have been tremendous strides in the archival quality of inks in recent years. Blue Water uses inks specially made for Iris printers, on Somerset and Arches paper for a lab-tested longevity of about 30 years before any noticeable fading may occur. The Roland pigmented inks and substrates have a longevity & rating of about 150 years. Of course any print—or original—will fade if not properly, or if it's exposed to sun, humidity or smoke. Any Giclée or lithograph should be treated like a fine piece of art to preserve the integrity of the color.