Definition
Giclée (zhee-klay ) - The French word "giclée" is a feminine noun that means a spray or a spurt of liquid. The word may have been derived from the French verb "gicler" meaning "to squirt".

The Term
The term "giclée print" connotes an elevation in printmaking technology. Images are generated from high resolution digital scans and printed with archival quality inks onto various substrates including canvas, fine art and photo-base paper. The giclée printing process provides better color accuracy than other means of reproduction.

The Process
Giclée prints are created typically using professional 8-Color to 12-Color ink-jet printers. Among the manufacturers of these printers are vanguards such as Epson, McDermid Colorspan and Hewlett-Packard. These modern technology printers are capable of producing incredibly detailed prints for both the fine art and photographic markets. giclée prints are sometimes mistakenly referred to as Iris prints, which are a 4-Color ink-jet prints from a printer pioneered in the late 1970's by Iris Graphics.

The Advantages
Giclée prints are advantageous to artists who do not find it feasible to mass produce their work, but want to reproduce their art as needed or on-demand. Once an image is digitally archived, additional reproductions can be made with minimal effort and reasonable cost. The prohibitive up-front cost of mass production for an edition is eliminated. Archived files will not deteriorate in quality as negatives and film inherently do. Another tremendous advantage of giclée printing is that digital images can be reproduced ta almost any size and onto various media, giving the artist the ability to customize prints for a specific client.

The Quality
The quality of the giclée print rivals traditional silver-halide and gelatin printing processes and is commonly found in museums, art galleries and photographis galleries.

The Market
Numerous examples of giclée prints can be found in New York at the Metropolitan Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and the Chelsea Galleries. Recent auctions of giclée prints $10,000-$20,000.