Giclee Printing - A True Fine Art Print Process?

Giclee printing - a true fine art print process?

The association of giclee printing with its conceptual cousin -
inkjet printing - has led some people to question the validity
of this printing medium as a true fine art system. To address
this, I think that it is first important to look at the history
of fine art printmaking and see if giclee printing fulfils the
parameters set out therein.

Fine art printmaking has traditionally been based on the concept
of creating a master plate - known as the matrix - from the
original and using this to reproduce a predetermined number of
'editions' of the original artwork. Historically, the matrix was
then destroyed by the artist, producing a set of truly limited
edition prints. The more traditional printing techniques such as
etching, lithography and linocut have evolved into art forms
themselves and traditionally required a huge degree of expertise
to reproduce the original to the artist's precise demands.

Nowadays, the production of a printing matrix is no longer
necessary as the high quality scanning techniques employed by
printing companies results in a perfect facsimile of the
original painting or photograph. Giclee printing offers
incredibly high degrees of fidelity and richness of colour when
compared to other 'traditional' printing methods and because no
screen or other mechanical device is used, there is no visible
dot pattern. The expertise that is employed involves the careful
control of the colour system through the use of colour profiling
techniques and the understanding of the colourspace that the
machine operates within (not disimilar to the skills that ink
technicians employ in the aforementioned print processes).
Prints can be made on an ever widening choice of output media
from artists' canvas and watercolour papers to cotton and
polyester fabrics.

The print-on-demand nature of the printing process enables
photographers and artists to maintain full control over the
artistic integrity of their work which, in conjunction with the
proven archival permanence of giclee prints (when coupled with
specifically designed output media and inks) ensures that the
artist's work will be enjoyed for decades. Naturally, the
understanding between the artist and their customers that the
edition is truly limited must be maintained. The matrix is no
longer destroyed, but the original scanned file must be deleted
or removed from circulation upon reaching the defined number of
released editions, but this has always been the case and the
advent of giclee printing has no impact on this mutual
understanding. 

Giclee printing is indeed a fine art printing technique and one
that is truly liberating for photographers and artists wishing
to share their work with the widest possible audience whilst
achieving a quality that was hitherto unobtainable without huge
expense.