What is a Giclée print?

The word Giclée ("g-clay"), is derived from the French verb gicler meaning "to squirt or spray", Giclée, is used to describe a fine art digital printing process combining pigment based inks with high quality archival quality paper to achieve Giclée prints of superior archival quality, light fastness and stability. Our Giclée prints are created using an Epson 9880 with Epson Ultrachrome K3 inks, which with the 8 channel print head is capable of producing an extremely wide tonal range and colour gamut.

The Giclée printing process involves squirting or spraying microscopic dots of pigment-based ink onto high quality art paper or canvas. The image is colour corrected to attain the closest possible match to the original work if required. The digital information is fine tuned to the type of paper or surface on which the image is to be printed, further ensuring fidelity to the original.

Giclées prints are printed on a variety of substrates or mediums, the most common being cotton rag, canvas or Baryta paper. At Metroprint we only use genuine artist papers. Cotton rag or ‘watercolour’ Giclée paper has been popular for many years of Giclée printing. These fibrous papers transform a photograph into a painterly, soft image that adds a classy, decorative feel making it perfect for everything from portfolios to art prints for exhibitions. Baryta paper, also described as ‘fibre based’, has been popular as a traditional paper for black and white printing for many decades. For ore information about Baryta, see What is Baryta Paper.

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