Giclee Art Reproduction Image Preparation Tips

Series Summary

Collecting fine art has historically been a hobby for the upper class. However, giclee art reproduction printing has made fine art more accessible to a broader audience. The term was coined by printmaker Jack Duganne to label any inkjet-based digital print used as fine art. The word “giclee” is derived from a French term meaning “to squirt, spurt, or spray,” as in spraying ink through a printer nozzle. This process has made it possible to create nearly identical art reproductions on less expensive materials, allowing more people to purchase and collect artwork. Image preparation is a crucial step in creating quality giclee art reproductions. In this free instructional video series, find out everything you need to know to prepare your image for printing. Learn about choosing a photographer, creating digital files, manipulating your image, and maintaining your image after printing. With a little planning and preparation, giclee art reproduction can be well in reach.

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm JK Dooley and I'm a professional artist and we're going to talk a little bit now about the process of going from the original piece of artwork to a Giclee reproduction. And the very first thing you have to do is have your original piece of artwork photographed and or at least reproduced. You can either have it photographed or you can have it scanned. So you need to look around for a company that will take this and scan it for you or you need to look for a photographer and one of the things that you really need to you would need to sit down with a photographer, you need to talk to them and ask them if they're familiar or good at photographing artwork because there really is a trick to it and you've spent all that time painting it and you're going to know if there is something wrong with it. So when a photographer shoots your work, he'll either shoot it digitally and in that case you'll get a disc or he'll shoot it with film and you'll be supplied with a transparency. And the easiest way to explain a transparency if you're not quite certain what it is, is its just like a slide except its a lot bigger. It can be a 4x5 or an 8x10. So first thing you want to do is find yourself a really good photographer."