Giclée prints, explained.
Giclée means pigment ink sprayed onto archival paper from a high-resolution file. A poster is dye ink on coated stock. Everything else follows from that.
| Giclée print | Poster | |
|---|---|---|
| Ink | Pigment | Dye |
| Paper | Archival, acid-free, named by maker and weight | Coated poster stock, usually unnamed |
| Lifespan | Decades | Years |
| Surface | Matte or textured, no glare | Gloss or satin |
| Price | From $49 here | A few dollars |
The paper name
A named paper tells you weight, fibre and surface. Ours is Hahnemühle German Etching, 310 gsm, 100% alpha-cellulose, acid- and lignin-free, velvet matte with a fine felt texture. It is not cotton; guides that say so are wrong. Hahnemühle’s cotton paper is Photo Rag. If a shop cannot name its paper, you are buying a poster. German Etching or Photo Rag.
Editions
An original exists once. A limited edition is a print with a number on it; the number restricts supply, not quality. An open edition is the same print without the scarcity. We sell open editions and say so. Pay for scarcity only if scarcity is what you want.
Sizes and the crop
Standard print sizes rarely match a painting’s proportions, so full-bleed printing trims the image. Here each painting is offered only in sizes that fit it, and never above 100 pixels per inch from the master file, so a panorama stays a panorama and nothing prints soft. Which size for the wall.
Inches or centimetres
Prints are made to order at fine-art labs in the US, UK, EU and Australia and cut to the lab’s local standard: 18 by 24 inches from the US lab, 45 by 60 cm from Europe. The two run a few millimetres apart. Framed prints are built at the metric size, with the frame around it.
Framing
Solid wood in oak, black, white or gold, acrylic glazing, no mount, ready to hang. A few sizes are print-only; each painting’s page shows what exists for it. Framed or unframed.
Care
Out of direct sun, behind glazing, dusted with a dry cloth. That is all a print on this paper needs.
Questions
Is a giclée print worth it over a poster?
If the print stays on the wall for years, yes. Pigment ink on acid-free paper is the museum standard; poster stock and dye ink fade and yellow. For a wall you redecorate every season, a poster is the cheaper answer.
How long does a giclée print last?
Decades in normal room light, behind glazing and out of direct sun. Ink and paper makers rate pigment-on-archival-paper in the range of a human lifetime; the paper is acid- and lignin-free so it does not yellow on its own.
What paper are your prints on?
Hahnemühle German Etching: 310 gsm, 100% alpha-cellulose, acid- and lignin-free, mould-made, velvet matte with a fine felt texture. One paper for the whole collection.
Are your prints limited editions?
No. Open editions, priced from $49. A number on a print restricts supply, not quality.
Will the print match the painting's colours?
Closely. Matte paper softens the deepest darks a little; everything else holds. Each file is prepared for this paper.
German Etching or Photo RagFramed or unframedWhat size printAll guides