Giclee: Allpconline Company Blog
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Giclee: The Price of Quality
I have already written a few posts regarding the wide variety of printing substrates available for giclee printing. Canvas rolls can be purchased for $80 from China or for over $250 from Germany or the US. So, why do we only use European and US made materials? The reason is simple: quality and consistency. Our customers demand the best and when faced with the higher costs of purchasing true giclee prints or some low quality cheap inkjet canvas or papers, they choose quality over price. Artists are very proud of their work and reputation and for them to sell a giclee that will fall apart in a matter of months is not an option. They want to be able to sell prints with consistent color and archival properties.
You would think that in this economy everyone is trying to go cheap and save a buck in any way they can but in reality this is not happening; the proof is that many low cost, high volume outfits have gone out of business and we are instead booked solid for weeks.
Enough said!
You would think that in this economy everyone is trying to go cheap and save a buck in any way they can but in reality this is not happening; the proof is that many low cost, high volume outfits have gone out of business and we are instead booked solid for weeks.
Enough said!
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Giclee Printing Companies
We are receiving a high number of calls from new customers who have found out their giclee printers have gone out of business. In this economy it is not surprising; we are actually experiencing a very high work load and had to stop accepting new customers until September 15th. Even then, the wait period is 2 weeks. Bear with us as we are working as hard as possible to satisfy orders.
What we find interesting is that many of the companies (we cannot name names) that have closed doors were lower priced than us. We have never tried to compete with low end no name products such as chinese made canvas and papers. Our standards are high and we only use european and american substrates; we use K3 Epson pigmented inks and not cheap bulk reservoirs. Even in this economy people are looking for quality products even if they cost a little more. After all, would you rather buy a $45 cheap giclee or a $55 giclee made with archival made materials? Will your "made with chinese materials" $45 giclee be worth the $10 savings if it yellows and cracks in a year or two? See what we use: our giclee prints are well described and you know what you are paying for.
What we find interesting is that many of the companies (we cannot name names) that have closed doors were lower priced than us. We have never tried to compete with low end no name products such as chinese made canvas and papers. Our standards are high and we only use european and american substrates; we use K3 Epson pigmented inks and not cheap bulk reservoirs. Even in this economy people are looking for quality products even if they cost a little more. After all, would you rather buy a $45 cheap giclee or a $55 giclee made with archival made materials? Will your "made with chinese materials" $45 giclee be worth the $10 savings if it yellows and cracks in a year or two? See what we use: our giclee prints are well described and you know what you are paying for.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Giclee on Arches and Rives Paper
We are proud to announce the addition of two papers from the prestigious Arches and Rives line. We now carry Arches Aquarelle, a textured watercolor pure cotton paper for giclee. It is a mould made paper with great detal rendition and heavy weight. We also carry BFK Rives, a mould paper smooth in texture, white base without the use of optical brighteners. This paper is also pure cotton (all our papers are), and acid free. Canson, the French manufacturer, has created papers for giclee printing with the same lineage of the non coated stock that have been used for over 400 years by artists all over th world.
We make giclee prints with the highest quality materials available. The addition of Arche and Rives complements the line of other substrates for Hahnemuhle and Epson.
We make giclee prints with the highest quality materials available. The addition of Arche and Rives complements the line of other substrates for Hahnemuhle and Epson.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Uploading images for giclee
About half of the files we receive for giclee are not fit to print. Here are a few reasons:
-Wrong format (We only accept Scitex, Tiff, PSD and Jpeg)
-Resolution is too low. We need at least 150 PPI for canvas giclee and 200 for paper. Any lower resolution may be printable but results will vary. The formula on resolution is 150 or 200 PPI at the size you need printed. Do not assume (like some other print shops tell you) that a low resolution image can be blown up by their "special" software and look good. There is no special software and they have are the same we have. It is possible to interpolate images up to a certain extent but we need to see the files and assess feasibilty.
-Highlights and shadow clipping or low contrast. Please check levels in Photoshop to make sure you have a good histogram. If unsure, e-mail us aor call us.
- Wrong proportions: if you upload a 16X20 and want a 30X40 the proportions are not the same. This is a very common problem we see.
Please read throughout the site for many hints and instruction regarding soft proofing and preparing files for giclee printing.
-Wrong format (We only accept Scitex, Tiff, PSD and Jpeg)
-Resolution is too low. We need at least 150 PPI for canvas giclee and 200 for paper. Any lower resolution may be printable but results will vary. The formula on resolution is 150 or 200 PPI at the size you need printed. Do not assume (like some other print shops tell you) that a low resolution image can be blown up by their "special" software and look good. There is no special software and they have are the same we have. It is possible to interpolate images up to a certain extent but we need to see the files and assess feasibilty.
-Highlights and shadow clipping or low contrast. Please check levels in Photoshop to make sure you have a good histogram. If unsure, e-mail us aor call us.
- Wrong proportions: if you upload a 16X20 and want a 30X40 the proportions are not the same. This is a very common problem we see.
Please read throughout the site for many hints and instruction regarding soft proofing and preparing files for giclee printing.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Giclee, T-Shirts, Pillows etc
We occasionally receive calls such as these: "Can you make giclee t-shirts?" or "Do you offer giclee printing on pillows?". Well, the answer is simple: No, we cannot! First, we do not have the capability to print on fabric. Second, there is not such thing as giclee printing on pillow or t-shirts fabrics. Giclee printing has certain requirements: one of them is the use of stable, archival substrates and aqueous based pigmented inks. Although decor giclee printing is now being done with solvent pigmented inks, the fact remains that the use of archival papers and canvas is an essential part of the process. Although there is no defined standard for giclee printing, we adhere to our own:
Aqueous pigmented inks
Giclee printers (Not signage printers incapable of high definition printing)
Archival papers and canvas
Skilled color management
Specialization: giclee printing is all we do - no brochure, pillow or t-shirt printing here! After all, would you trust anyone but a specialist when you are spending hundreds or thousands of dollars?
Aqueous pigmented inks
Giclee printers (Not signage printers incapable of high definition printing)
Archival papers and canvas
Skilled color management
Specialization: giclee printing is all we do - no brochure, pillow or t-shirt printing here! After all, would you trust anyone but a specialist when you are spending hundreds or thousands of dollars?
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Is it a Giclee?
As many already know, the term giclee has been used and abused; it started as a way of defining a high quality print on archival paper, made with archival pigment inks and by a skilled printmaker. Now I go to shows and "Mom and Pop" operations spit out prints with their Walmart bought $99 printers and call them "Giclee". Sometimes I want to ask: "Do you really understand what a giclee is? Do you realize you are deceiving customers and selling generic inkjet prints?". Then I stop and think: There is no known standard for giclee; after all there is no standard of definition of a sports car; no one can tell a car manufacturer they cannot define a car a sports car; if it has 4 wheels and looks sporty, it's a sports car. An informed buyer will know that a true sportscar such as a Carrera 911 is at a completely different level than a Hyundai Tiburon. The point I am trying to make is that any business can describe its products with fancy terms if there is no regulation on the use such terms. We adhere to strict standards we explain on the allpconline.com site. These standards are self imposed and derived by my experience as a printmaker in Los Angeles where it all started in the early 90s. Please read the info on our site and also the previous posts and archive on this blog; call other companies and ask questions regarding their giclee methodology. You will become more informed and possibly avoid costly mistakes.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Giclee on canvas vs paper
Although we carry a very wide gamut canvas (Epson Premium Satin), keep in mind that canvas giclee printing does not reproduce as wide of a color gamut as our art papers. This is due to the way canvas and paper are coated for pigment inkjet printing. Once the manufacturer starts with artist canvas, a few hurdles have to be overcome in order to make the canvas absorb the inks and create a binding layer with archival properties. The fabric is gessoed and then coated with a receptive layer. Manufacturers go through great length and research in order to widen the color gamut and create canvas that will produce a true giclee. The manufacturing process not only requires quite a bit of research and science. The top producers are all based in Europe, the US and Japan. Chinese canvas is much cheaper than the former but it shows in quality, consistency and archival properties. Many low price printers acquire Chinese canvas and sell prints as giclee work, which is, again, a questionable practice. Do not confuse Chinese made canvas with canvas made in China under the umbrella of big name manufacturers; After all Epson produces its ink cartridges in China but the quality is outstanding. How can you tell if a print job you order is made with a European or American canvas? Well, asking doesn't hurt, but keep in mind that in many instances you will not be able to tell right away. Chinese canvas may look OK at first and degrade in a matter of months; you may order a giclee today, then reorder another one of the same image in a month and get different color; inconsistency between batches is a telltale sign. Canvas rolls made in China cost 1/3 of premium canvas; you can see why it can be very attractive for a printer to go with it. Like all things in life, you get what you pay for. We insist on having the best printers, inks and papers available.
Giclee printing on paper renders wider gamuts but carries the same pitfalls regarding qulaity differences depending on whee it originates from; high end American and European papers are optical brightener free, which in simple terms means they are not bleached to make them whiter. You may ask why paper would be treated with OBAs. One reason is that people like bright papers. If top materials are used such as prim cotton pulp, it is not necessary to bleack. If subprime materials are used, bleaching is necessary, otherwise the paper base will be off white. Bleaching is not kind to papers; it will shift colors and make the papers yellow and brittle over time. In conclusion, if you are marketing giclee prints to a fine art buyer, do not settle for the lowest priced printing available as it eventually cause problems over time both in terms of archival properties as well as color consistency.
Giclee printing on paper renders wider gamuts but carries the same pitfalls regarding qulaity differences depending on whee it originates from; high end American and European papers are optical brightener free, which in simple terms means they are not bleached to make them whiter. You may ask why paper would be treated with OBAs. One reason is that people like bright papers. If top materials are used such as prim cotton pulp, it is not necessary to bleack. If subprime materials are used, bleaching is necessary, otherwise the paper base will be off white. Bleaching is not kind to papers; it will shift colors and make the papers yellow and brittle over time. In conclusion, if you are marketing giclee prints to a fine art buyer, do not settle for the lowest priced printing available as it eventually cause problems over time both in terms of archival properties as well as color consistency.
