Giclee: Paper or Canvas?

We are frequently asked whether canvas or paper should be used to print customers' giclees; while this is a personal choice, a few guidelines can help narrow down choices; In general, if giclee prints are reproductions of paintings or drawings, stay with the closest printing substrate. Originals on canvas should be reproduced on canvas. The same concept applies to watercolor and drawings on smooth paper are best on non textured media.

We carry a range of canvas and papers that pretty much cover the whole gamut. We have two different types of canvas with excellent archival properties:

Fredrix 901WR: this is a matte canvas, water resistant and particularly well suited for art reproduction of original paintings. Soft colors and smooth transition render very well on Fredrix; although the canvas is matte, it an be finished with satin or semi gloss coating.

For customers who prefer a bolder look and a high resolution coating, Epson Premium Satin canvas offers the best choice. Very wide color gamut and a semi gloss coating make this canvas the ideal choice for giclee printing from photographs or digital art. Bright paintings also benefit from the color reproduction ability of Epson.

We carry two different types of matte watercolor papers; The Hahnemuhle Photo rag and William Turner. William Turner is a classic medium textured paper, heavy weight and with great black and color rendition. It is pure cotton mould made in Germany by on of the oldest paper companies i the world. The Photo rag is also a pure cotton paper but with a smooth surface ideal for photography and reproduction of pastels, graphite, pen drawings where the original medium is on smooth paper.

Finally we carry a semi gloss pure cotton paper, the Museo Silver rag, which is in our opinion the closest digital paper to a fiber based print. Very archival properties, very high Dmax make the Museo Silver rag and ideal choice for photography.

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