The Portland Metro Photographic News

Without a doubt one of the most misused terms in professional photographic processing is Giclée.  Without a doubt!

The term Giclée was coined by the highly-respected photographer and printing perfectionist, Jack Duganne, in 1991 as a designation for a specific ink jet process used to reproduce fine art.  The printers being used for this process were manufactured by Iris Graphics (now owned by HP).  The majority of the prints being produced were saleable/collectable high quality reproductions from high-resolution digital scans of fine art work.  The technology was ink jet and the inks were dye-based.  But the control of the process was meticulous -- making the resulting prints highly accurate and valuable to fine art collectors.

Today, Giclée is very much a marketing tool.  The intended use of the term Giclée has long since been perverted.  In today's marketing world Giclée, without further explanation, is nearly a meaningless term -- like the generic use of the word "Kleenex".  But one that is being exploited by some professional printmakers.

So, now it's up to the photographer to sift through the hype and determine just how his/her prints are being made. The questions a photographer seeking a fine art photography printer should be asking today are:

• What printer(s) are you using?  Each generation of printers makes a significant leap in quality.
  
• What inks are you using?  The performance results of printers and archival nature of their ink sets can be easily researched from the tests and results published on the Henry Wilhelm's Imaging Research site.
  
• What paper choices do you offer?  The choice of printing papers for fine art printmaking has exploded over the past few years.  Ask to see paper samples and the resulting prints.  You may already have a favorite fine art paper.  Ask if this paper can be accommodated by the printer's equipment.
  
• What are your routine color management and calibration procedures?  A good lab will have specific daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly quality control and calibration procedures.  Heck, ask to see their quality control records if you really want to understand their processes.
• Do you provide proof prints?  Proofs are your only way of judging the print before the final print is made.
  
• Who are your fine art photography customers?  Give these references a call, and get their opinions.  This time is well spent.
• What are your prices?  Cheap seldom equates with good.  You want good professional value at a reasonable price.

The photographer's goal should be to find a fastidious and respected professional fine art printer using the most modern printers, inks, papers and processes.  After all, your reputation is defined not only by your vision but also by the quality of the prints you sell.

Don't be fooled by the Giclée marketing myth. Do your homework and understand exactly what you are getting for your money.

Better yet, why not go directly to the horse's mouth?  Jack Duganne Giclée services are alive and well.  Jack remains dedicated to the creation and development of the fine art digital image though the application of the most current digital printing technologies.