Giclée printing (pronounced Gi-clay) is produced using inkjet technology and pigment-based inks onto archival-quality paper to create high-quality, long life-time lasting fine art prints. The prints are perfect for photographers or artists who wish to display or sell their work as a one-off or limited edition run.
Giclée prints are produced at 1440 dpi, with 8 passes.
We use special sustainable archival quality paper with a variety of finishes and textures to choose from.
Our Giclée printers use pigment-based inks rather than dye-based inks. Pigment-based inks have a longer print lifespan and can last 65-85 years without any significant fading.
Using the latest professional kit from the use of the ‘artist's favourite printer' Epson for our giclee service. This provides us with a wide, maximum colour gamut, and allows us light-fastness while producing vivid colour reproductions with enviable saturation and depth. Our prints offer subtle shadow details, true blues and natural skin tones.
Our printer's 3-level black ink technology means we can produce better grey balance and mid-tones. Blacks are deep and rich thanks to high-density Photo and Matte Black inks. We can offer fantastic quality gradations with reduced graininess achieved thanks to K4 and Multi Size Droplet Technology (MSDT).
Giclée prints are dramatically higher quality and are noticeably different from any other type of standard printing. The print is considered to last and not devalue like a normal print onto regular good quality paper. Typically it is more costly to produce this type of archival quality that may last up to 200 years.
Hahnemühle Photo Rag ® is one of the world's most popular papers and a valued all-rounder for high-quality FineArt inkjet printing. This white cotton artist's paper, with its soft feel, boasts a lightly defined felt structure, lending each artwork an impressive pictorial depth. Combined with the matt premium inkjet coating, the paper produces outstanding prints that feature brilliant colours, deep blacks, striking contrasts and perfect reproduction of detail. The acid and lignin-free nature of the paper meets the most exacting requirements for age resistance and is specially designed for FineArt applications.
Material – 100% cotton
Paperweight – 308 gsm
Finish – Matt
Tone – Off white
Texture – Smooth
Hahnemühle Photo Rag ® Ultra Smooth is an especially smooth and silky soft paper for high-quality FineArt inkjet printing. The white cotton art paper has a discreet, very finely textured surface with a strikingly silky feel. The matt premium inkjet coating allows for impressive reproduction of colour, detail and very deep black. The acid and lignin-free all-rounder meets the most exacting requirements in terms of age resistance and is perfect for high-quality black and white FineArt prints, and perfect for both photography as well as art reproductions.
Material – 100% cotton
Paperweight – 305 gsm
Finish – Matt
Tone – Off white
Texture – Discreet, very finely textured surface with silky feel
Hahnemühle German Etching is a traditional mould-made copperplate printing paper. The white art paper made from 100% alpha-cellulose is characterised by its velvety tactile feel and a fine clearly defined felt structure. The unique surface texture adds a very special touch to images, showcasing them in all their depth and splendour. The premium matt inkjet coating guarantees outstanding print results with excellent reproduction of colour and detail, deep black and optimum contrasts. As with other Hahnemühle papers we use, German Etching is acid and lignin-free and meets the most exacting requirements in terms of age resistance.
Material – 100% α-cellulose
Paperweight – 310 gsm
Finish – Matt
Tone – Off white
Texture – velvety tactile feel with a fine, clearly defined felt structure
Hahnemühle FineArt Pearl is a cellulose-based FineArt inkjet paper with an inkjet coating specially tailored for FineArt use. The bright white paper has a delicately textured surface and a smooth, silky feel. In combination with the premium inkjet coating, it produces an elegant finish with a subtle, pearl-gloss effect. Once printed, the paper impresses with outstanding reproduction of colour and detail, deep blacks and striking contrasts. The acid- and lignin-free FineArt Pearl meets the most exacting requirements for age resistance and is ideal for printing high-quality black and white as well as colour photographs.
Material – 100% α-cellulose
Paperweight – 285 gsm
Finish – Pearl-gloss
Tone – Bright white
Texture – Delicately textured surface
A great all-round paper, chosen for its photographic aesthetics, vibrant colour reproduction, high contrast and robust feel. Its semi-gloss, flat surface lends the artwork a photographic feel, combined with the subtle painterly feel of a Giclée fine art print. Our most lightweight paper of all Giclées. The surface is resin coated making it our strongest paper.
Material – Resin coated paper
Paperweight – 260 gsm
Finish – Semi-gloss
Tone – Bright white
Texture – Smooth
This genuine 100% rag watercolour paper from Canson offers the unique structure, surface texture and warm white tone that artists expect from a traditional Fine Art paper. Mould made, the finest and oldest paper-making technic, Aquarelle Rag complies with the highest archival standards and is extremely age resistant.
Material – 100% cotton
Paperweight – 310 gsm
Finish – Matt
Tone – Warm white
Texture – High texture
If you have any questions or would like to place an order, you can email us or give us a call on 020 7580 4405.
To find out more, including Giclée pricing and how to order, take a look at our dedicated Giclée art prints. We have a choice of archival papers suitable for giclee and fine art printing. These include smooth, pearl, semi-gloss and textured.
You can either send us your files via email or if they are too large you can use our WeTransfer page instead.
Please include your name and contact details within the message section of the WeTransfer upload so we can marry the artwork with your order.
Any print being produced as a giclée must be a minimum of 300dpi (dots per inch) – this is the resolution of an image and the amount of detail captured in the image. Online imagery is 72dpi, which gives you an idea of the quality, being 3 times as many dots per inch for the printed image.
Next, is the paper used. To get the best results with giclée prints it's recommended to use either archival or a museum grade category paper. These materials would generally be matte, cotton-rag or canvas, and very often means acid-free / lignin-free, preserving the product for a long time. The term archival describes something that is resistant to deterioration and offers a long life span.
The ink used is also important, giclée printing requires the use of pigment-based inks. Pigment inks are composed of small coloured particles held suspended, rather than dye-based – a soluble colourant dissolved in a liquid (a bit like a cordial drink). Pigment-based inks have a superior colour tone, a longer lifespan which can last over 100 years and offer a reduced possibility of smearing or staining. Dye inks are found in most inkjet printers.
This leads us nicely on to the printers used for giclée printing. The Graphical Tree uses the Epson SureColor 20000 series, It uses a K4 ink set giving us a maximum colour gamut, allows us light-fastness while producing vivid colour reproductions, with considered saturation and depth. The Epson also offers subtle shadow details, true blues and natural skin tones, as well as four levels of black including high-density photo and matte black inks for deeper, richer blacks and better grey balance and mid-tones than conventional inkjet prints. Another feature is its gradations quality with reduced graininess achieved thanks to Multi Size Droplet Technology (MSDT) and bronzing reduction to achieve accurate colours and colour fading resistance.
