Pigment Prints

There are basically two types of inks used in inkjet printing:

Dye inks: Dye inks exhibit the widest possible color gamut. Because of the inherent composition of a dye, which is molecules dissolved in its vector (the liquid), dye made prints present the brightest colors. The downside is print permanence. The dye and the medium in which the dye is dissolved are one and the same. There is virtually no "protection" from environmental factors such as humidity, UV light ad pollution. The consequence is a fast fading print, even when coated. Coating can decrease aging from UV light but it will not slow down chemical and physical degradation due to other agents.

Pigment inks: Due to continuous advancements in chemical manipulation of inks, it is now possible to "encapsulate" pigments and create stable inks. Pigments designed for giclee printing are essentially microscopic "bits" floating in a liquid medium. Pigments tend to have a gamut a little narrower than dyes. Recent advancements in pigment ink technology are bridging the gamut gap. The obvious advantage of pigments is permanence as these molecules are much more stable.

We use K3 pigment inks from Epson to insure the best possible color and stability ratings. K3 inks represent the latest technology in wide gamut rendition as well as scuff resistance.

Digital pigment prints are the result of a combination of the highest quality pigments and paper or canvas. Continuous advancements in the chemistry of pigments for inkjet has come a long way from its origin, where pigmented inks were a hybrid form of dye/pigment and would only last up to 20 years in the best possible scenario.

Is it a giclee or a pigment print? Both terms are interchangeable: some artists (especially fine art photographers) do not want to associate the term giclee with their pigment print offers because giclee in the beginning was considered a high quality reproduction. Photographers feel that, just like a print from film, a digital print can be unique and one of a kind. We have many customers who only print one piece at a certain size and either destroy the file or never print at that size again.

Pigment print characteristics: In addition to the use of a pigment ink set, papers used in the process should be archival. Natural cotton or alpha cellulose acid free papers and canvas adhere to this definition. RC (resin coated inkjet papers) cannot be considered pigment print candidates because of the top synthetic receptor coating.

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