What are Fine Art (Giclee) Prints?

Historically, the term Fine Art was used to describe artworks created for aesthetics, beauty or meaning, as opposed to the decorative arts which could be considered more commonplace and with a more practical purpose. Fine art implies a level of skill and craftsmanship or refined taste which sets it apart from ‘popular’ art. But that’s not to say that popular art can’t also be fine :).

In today’s context, a Fine Art Print is typically:

Archival, printed on quality media such as cotton with pigment inks.
Individually crafted and prepared, as opposed to mass produced.
Highly colour accurate and precise, requiring specific printers, inks, setup and experience.

What is a Giclee Print?

Giclee printing is simply another term for fine art printing. In French, giclee means ‘to spray’ – which aligns well with today’s inkjet printing technology. The term giclee came from a printing process developed in the late 1980’s & early 90’s.

How long do Fine Art prints last?

If stored in dark, archival safe conditions, fine art prints can last over 200 years before any noticeable fading occurs. If properly framed and displayed, without exposure to excessive sunlight, they can last over a century before any noticeable change. The specific inks and media used will be a determining factor.

What finishes and surface textures are available?

Matte – which is either smooth or textured. The look commonly associated with fine art prints.
Semi-gloss – coated papers can have semi-gloss finish with a light organic texture.
Baryta – provides a very white surface available in gloss, satin or matte.

What are Fine Art Prints made of?

To keep it simple, they typically have a substrate like cotton, with a thin ink receptive coating on top.

Substrates:

Cotton – historically proven, capable of bright whites and deep blacks, acid free. Long & strong fibres.
Alpha Cellulose – purified wood pulp with lignin and acid removed.
Bamboo, Hemp & others which I have little personal experience with.

Coatings:

Microporous ceramic coating – a thin layer that controls the spread of ink, you don’t even see it.
Baryta papers use a very white and bright compound of Barium Sulfate.

What’s the difference between Fine Art Prints and ‘Regular Prints’?

Commercial outlets making ‘regular prints’, typically use processes and materials which are oriented towards speed, volume and affordability rather than quality, craftsmanship, texture, aesthetics, feel, emotion or longevity which I would associate with making fine art prints. The materials and processes can be quite different.

Let’s simplify: If I was to feed a satin or glossy resin coated (RC) paper through the same inkjet printer I use for fine art, I will not end up with a fine art print.

Resin coated papers are robust and cost effective, but their purpose is more consumable. They have a plastic-coated surface with tiny holes to receive the ink. A wood pulp substrate lies underneath, which isn’t lignin or acid free, so over time these prints will yellow. To counter the natural ‘yellowness’ of the wood pulp, they often contain artificial brightening agents called OBA’s. These make the paper appear brighter, whiter and cooler initially, but they fade over time.

Resin coated prints can still be more accurate and provide longer lasting results than many other print processes out there, particularly when good quality pigment inks and buffered papers are used. Resin coated prints certainly have their place and there’s no reason they can’t look stunning, but they don’t have the feel, longevity, brightness colour depth, or even the fine detail which can be achieved with fine art media.

Having said all that, I offer satin and glossy resin coated prints as a more cost effective alternative to my fine art prints and they look great!

Plenty of materials and processes are available, but only some of them would be considered ‘fine art’.