Traditional limited edition reproductions in the past have been printed by lithography, which is basically standard offset printing like that which is used for advertisements and brochures. Some people have used, and continue to use photographic process to reproduce their artwork. Today, giclee printing is the most popular type of art reproduction.

 

That depends on how you look at it. Lithographs offer the lowest cost per print, but there is a high setup cost which makes it necessary to print a minimum of 500-1000 copies of each piece in order to defray these costs. This large out-of-pocket investment makes lithography a big risk for anyone who isn't sure they will sell 500-1000 copies of their art, which is why many newcomers or those without a big budget were unable to offer reproductions before giclee printing became available. Photo prints can be fairly inexpensive and done in small quantities, but see "Which option is best" for their limitations.

Giclee printing has lower setup costs than lithography and since you can print any quantity on demand, there is no need to pay for more prints at one time than you need. The cost per print is higher, but the initial out-of-pocket costs will be lower since you don't have to pay for and store a large number of prints. And, since quality giclee prints can be sold for a higher price than lithographs, you will make a greater profit per print as well. So, if you have a buyer for 1000 prints of your work, who is not concerned about longevity or the best print quality, lithography would be a good choice. But, for everyone else, giclee is the most cost effective, as well as the highest quality option.

 

Giclee is a term that was invented to describe the process of high quality inkjet printing for art reproduction purposes, without using the term inkjet, since it makes people think of their desktop printers at home and, in theory, giclee printing should be much more. It is pronounced zshee-clay.

 

Quality is our main focus and as such, it's an area of particular sensitivity to us. We see quality as composed of three elements; the quality of the digital image, the quality of the color, and the quality of the printing. If any of these suffers, so does the end product. Some of these items are somewhat subjective, and some are subtle, but all are important to us, and we feel should be important to our clients.

Image Quality. The original should be properly captured and this includes the photography of the original as well as the scanning and retouching. The image should not have too much contrast, be out of focus at the edges, or have shadows that are too dark or highlights that are blown out. It should show the brush stroke detail in an oil or acrylic painting, or the paper texture in a watercolor, without glare or reflection off the highlights and without excessive shadows. There should also be no flaws such as scratches, dirt or other marks visible in the print.

Color Quality. The color should be accurate compared to the original. Subtle colors and transitions should be preserved. It's surprisingly common to see reproductions where the color has been adjusted by someone without the expertise to do a quality job. To correct for a poor transparency or scan, they have oversaturated the color making the print garish and losing the subtlety of the original. Sometimes only global color corrections have been made which correctly adjusts some colors by sacrificing others, or losing the highlights to salvage the shadows. We have worked professionally making color corrections for printing for over 15 years and we know how to spot a botched job, and they are everywhere.

Print Quality. The ultimate goal is to make a print where there is no sign of the technology used to create it. A lower quality device will allow the printing dots to be visible to the naked eye, sometimes without even looking that closely. Usually this will be most noticeable in the highlight areas, or in the darker colors of the print, referred to as the 3/4 tones. Lower resolution printers will also not be able to accurately recreate the fine details from the original, even if they are present in the scan. Some printers use inks that do not provide a sufficient color gamut, so that even if everything else were of a high quality, the final print would suffer from poor color. Physical defects such as narrow lines in the print, called banding, that are a result of improperly maintained or calibrated equipment should not be noticeable. Also, even a high quality printer can be run at a faster, lower quality setting. This can have a negative impact on the final print that is difficult for the average person to spot, but we know what this degradation looks like and it is also surprisingly common.

It is difficult for some artists who are not familiar with these technologies to spot some of these telltale signs of poor quality. However, most artists should be able to spot image quality problems like those described above. These problems can be avoided and the artist should not accept them. Color quality is an area that every artist should be able to judge better than anyone else. There is no excuse for the bad quality reproductions that are so common. In our opinion, if an artist ever gets to the point where the color isn't acceptable and the printer isn't able to fix it to be accurate, they should pull the job and go somewhere else. Our advice on color quality is this, if it looks just like your original, then it's good. Certainly there is some compromise involved in the reproduction process, but we think many printers are using this as an excuse and too many artists are accepting it. Print quality is tough for some to discern and an argument can be made that if the artist doesn't see a problem with the print quality, then perhaps it's not a problem. We ourselves offer two different print qualities, our highest quality prints and line of canvas that is of a slightly lower quality but less expensive. But, we point out the difference so our customers can make the best choice for their situation. We don't try to pass off lesser quality prints as being the finest available.

The bottom line is that we believe every client deserves the best quality possible, even if they aren't trained to recognize it, and we feel we deliver this better than any other company. Our combination of experience, know how, state of the art equipment and the fact that we actually care how each print turns out, is what gives us our edge. The artist is paying for the best quality we can provide, we take great pride in this, and even if the artist doesn't appreciate it, their buyers might.

 

When we first started reproducing artwork, we already had a $60,000 prepress scanner and over 10 years of experience in scanning and color correcting images for print. Because we bought the first printers made that were good enough to do this work, we were about a year or two ahead of anyone else in learning the ins and outs of this new breed of equipment. We invested heavily in color management software and hardware because we already understood how it worked and realized it would be necessary to produce accurate and repeatable color. We have the aforementioned prepress scanner that few businesses would be willing to purchase, even if they had the expertise to run it. There are a few high end systems designed to capture artwork without much skill in scanning or any skill in photography, and if properly run, they can match our quality, but they can't beat it, so we know that no one could have better quality in scanning. Since we don't have the expertise in photography to live up to our standards, we found someone who does and use his services when photography of originals is required. Again, we are confident that no one can do a better job of photography. We have a state-of-the-art color management system and carefully custom create our own ICC profiles for every ink and media combination on every printer. None of our competitors can top that. And, we have the latest and very best printers, and we keep them updated as new technologies come on the market so that we always have the latest and greatest. Certainly, anyone can purchase the same printers, and that is what leads others to claim that they have the same quality. Most of these companies have a total investment in equipment of under $10,000. Our color management system alone costs more than this. While someone could certainly go out and purchase everything we have, they still wouldn't have our expertise in using it to reproduce fine art. The reproduction of art is an art unto itself, so those who approach the printing of art like any other printing are never going to do a very good job. There is no step in the entire process of reproducing an original that isn't being performed by someone who is the best at that particular step. And perhaps the most important reason is that at Power Graphics, your job is always printed by a professional who actually knows what they are doing and cares how your print turns out.

As far as why you should believe all this, you don't have to. We've always had the policy that if we couldn't manage to produce a proof that was acceptable to the artist, we wouldn't charge them for our work. So, there is no risk in trying us to find out for yourself what we are talking about.

 

We actually hear both of these questions and the answer to both is the same. Our goal is provide the highest quality fine art reproductions available anywhere, and we charge the lowest price we can within the parameters of that goal, which ultimately equals the best value for the money. Based on our research, we believe our prices are very competitive, which is important to us because we want as many artists as possible to be able to use our services. Also, by offering the best price we can while still making a profit ourselves, we allow the artist to make a profit on the sale of their prints, which creates a winning situation for everyone. It would certainly be possible for someone to undercut our prices, it seems there is always someone willing to do this, but you'd have to decide if it was worth sacrificing the quality of your reproductions to save a few dollars.

 

We use several ink sets with different longevity ratings, but basically all our different inks are rated at over 100 years. These numbers are all based on accelerated light fastness testing conducted by independent testing facilities. They assume that if a print is exposed to a certain amount of light each day while on display, and they expose a test print to 100 times more light, that this would be the equivalent of 100 days on display. Since this technology hasn't been around for more than 4 or 5 years, obviously no one knows for sure if these numbers are correct, but they are the only method we have for evaluating the longevity of inks and since all these test are done the same, the results are at least a good measure of the relative longevity of different inks and processes. For example, if our inks are rated at 100 years and an Iris print or photo print is rated at 15 years, and the process has overstated the longevity by half, our prints will last for 50 years and the other will only last for 7 or 8. In any case, we believe that this testing is accurate enough for us to be comfortable in quoting their longevity numbers.

 

We don't think so. We've heard this argument, mostly from Iris printers who are stuck with their expensive, outdated, and discontinued equipment. The argument goes something like, it's a digital print, if it fades, we can just print another one. Or, what do you care if a print fades after 15 years? Who's going to complain after that much time has passed?

We think that fine art reproductions should last as long as possible, and certainly through a few generations. Otherwise, they're just posters or some other form of temporary decoration, not true limited edition fine art reproductions. Even if you're not concerned about longevity, your customers probably are, or would be if they new there was a difference.

 

No. The term giclee has become so overused as to be meaningless. Everyone with an inkjet printer is claiming to provide giclee prints so it's very important to ask questions and find out exactly what you're getting. There is a wide range of quality, longevity, and of course pricing, so be very careful when choosing a giclee printmaker.

 

The original giclee printers were from Iris. They offered good image quality, but poor resolution and longevity. There are models of printers from companies such as Epson, Roland, Canon, Hewlett Packard, Encad, Mimaki, Mutoh, Colorspan and Kodak that can be used for giclee printing, but many of these models were not designed for this type of printing, although virtually every manufacturer has some models that could be used. The printmaker's expertise with a particular device can make a huge difference so even some models that would normally be used for giclee printing might be acceptable, or normally accepted models might be inadequate in the hands of an amateur. Many businesses and individuals are also using consumer desktop printers and calling them giclee prints.

 

This is a matter of opinion and of course printer manufacturers are constantaly updating their equipment so the best printer on the market doesn't usually stay that way for very long. We began using Roland printers when they were the best, and switched to Epson printers when they surpassed Roland in print quality. We currently have the 12 color printers from Canon, and the Epson 11880 as our primary giclee printers, although we also have printers from HP, and Mimaki that are used for certain medias.

Canon released the first 12 color printer using archival pigmented inks, and the 12 color capability should provide the best color gamut available. The trick with extended color printers is that to benefit from these extra ink colors, the media has to be able to handle all that extra ink, and many medias cannot. We standardized on the Canon line of printers due to their excellent print quality and color gamut, solid construction, as well as the fact that they have the best repeatability of any of these print engines. However, we also bought the new Epson 11880 because it should offer an even greater color gamut than the Canon line of printers when the RGB inks are not used, which is on most materials. Epson has finally built a printer with their top-of-the-line image quality in a durable, solidly built printer for professionals. Their previous products had either great image quality, or were well made, but not both, so we're happy to finally have Epson's print quality, their newly revised inks, and a well built printer capable of printing 64" wide all in one package. Time will tell if it lives up to its billing, but so far it looks very good.

HP also has some inexpensive printers using extended colors of inks that produce some very nice images. Something that most people don't realize about these printers is that each manufacturer tunes their printer to the various medias they offer. Some manufacturers allow access to control over the printer so you are not limited to the setting that are provided with the printer. Each manufacturer spends a great deal of time and effort to make sure their medias print well with their printer, but unless they allow that control, there is no way to get the best possible color gamut and print quality from the printer, especially on materials that the manufacturer doesn't sell. So, for a home user who purchases one of these printers and only prints on papers that are sold by that manufacturer, they could get very nice results. But, without access to complete control of the printer, they could never improve on what the manufacturer has done, or achieve full quality on third party materials. Currently, HP does not allow any access so it would not be a good choice in a professional environment in our opinion. Canon has allowed enough access that it's possible work around them and control the printer well enough to get great results on all medias, although they haven't made it easy. Epson has allowed access to both their internal routines that most home users or small businesses might use for printing on Epson medias, but also full access to the print engine as well so it should be the most versatile of all the devices in the hands or people who can take advantage of this capability, such as ourselves. With this access, we can create custom color profiles with full control over every aspect of the print quality and ink usage so we can maximize the color gamut and print quality on every media. That is ultimately what we want, because it's what gives our customers the finest prints available on any media, so in our opinion, this makes the new Epson 11880, the best giclee printer on the maket currently

Other manufacturers of printers used for giclee printing include Roland, Mimaki, Kodak and Colorspan. The Colorspan product is capable of 12 color output, but only with dye inks so the longevity is poor and they are famous for their misleading marking. They claimed their 300 dpi printers were 1200 dpi, and they claim that their 600 dpi printers are 1800 dpi. It's important to note that the quality that each printer can produce has more to do with how it's run, and not what the resolution or number of colors may indicate.

Once you reach a certain resolution, there is less difference in the quality that the printers are capable of producing. The Canons, HPs and Epsons that use lighter density black inks have an advantage over any printer that doesn't have this feature. If properly used, this enables the printer to produce neutral colors more accurately without sacrificing image quality. The Canon also has the additional colors of red, green, and blue, which are traditionally where the printable range of colors is somewhat lacking making it difficult to match originals in some of these colors. Other than that, the differences are not that extreme. In the upper echelon of printers, the skill of the operator will have much more to do with quality of the output than the printer being used.

 

No. This is a common misconception and some artists actually shop for a printmaker by the equipment they use. While the equipment is important, there are many other factors that go into a quality print, and we provide them all. That's why we feel we can get results from our economy line of prints that are as good or better than other companies highest quality prints, and that no one matches our quality on our premium line of prints. Even if two companies were printing using the same printer and the same file, the finished product can be drastically different. This is difficult for some people to accept, but factors such as color management, the use and accuracy of ICC color profiles, the willingness to sacrifice speed for quality, thorough knowledge of each particular printer and how to maximize quality for each one, and our ability to modify the print drivers to achieve results that are not possible "out of the box" all make our prints that much better. Most consumers and printmakers aren't aware that by default, most printers are designed to print in a mode that will help hide any flaws in the output. The method varies by manufacturer, but in general, the dot pattern used to print the image is designed to minimize the visibility of defects caused by faulty or misaligned printheads. However, the printers are capable of a much higher quality print, but this cannot be obtained by using the manufacturers print drivers. That's why we don't use theses drivers, but not many printmakers have the knowledge or ability to do this, and why our prints are of a superior quality.

 

Trust your eyes but use your head. First, no one offers higher resolutions than we do. Those who claim to are lying. Colorspan frequently claims that they offer 1800 dpi printing, which is still lower than our top resolution of 2400, but it's not true. They have three models currently on the market. Two are 600 dpi and the other is 600x1200 dpi. If you read the fine print they will use a term like “1800 dpi apparent resolution.” We bought one of these and it wasn't apparent to us so we sent it back. We recently had a discussion with a Lightjet owner who took exception to our claim of 4 to 25 time the resolution of his printer. He believed his printer was a 4000 dpi device, no doubt the claim of a salesman. In reality, the best he can do is 400 dpi. Some people make the mistake of assuming that a continuous tone device is a high resolution device, which is obviously not true. While you won't see printing dots on a photographic device, you will see blurry edges and loss of detail. Second, resolution shouldn't be the basis for choosing a company anyway. As we frequently state, even if we had lower resolution printers, we would get better results than the competition. Lastly, samples are nice because you can see the medias and the print quality, but they don't really tell you much about the companies ability to accurately reproduce your artwork since you probably don't know what the images on the samples were supposed to look like. In order to find this out you're going to have to give a company a chance to do your reproduction, and that's why we don't charge any money until the artist has accepted their proof. That way, you are free to try us without risk and see if what we are saying about our quality is really true.

 

We work with all artists and photographers on any size job. In fact, we do far more small jobs than large jobs because the nature of giclee printing means we do lots of small print runs as they are needed. We know artists and enjoy working with them. While many companies complain that artists are too picky, we've found that, in general, we're more particular than they are, which is why so many artists and photographers are thrilled with our work. Basically, the old advertising slogan of 'No job is too large or too small,' would apply to us.

 

No. Most people don't understand that the skills and equipment necessary to do quality reproductions are not the same as those in photography, photo developing, copying, etc. They think that if a photo lab processes their film accurately and gives them good photo prints, they must also do good scans or good giclee prints. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Some of the worst quality scans and prints we have ever seen have come from very good photo labs and photographers. Unfortunately for artists, the general perception in the digital printing industry is that art printing is nice sideline to increase your profits by printing on canvas. At a recent sign industry trade show there were seminars on how to improve your bottom line by producing fine art prints, as if sign shops were in any way qualified to reproduce artwork. We like to point out the unlike many other companies who offer art reproduction services, this is our main business, not a sideline. It's not a way for us to generate extra revenue, it's our livelihood. We don't sell ink or paper or photo processing, or film or printers or even artwork. We just do scanning and printing.

 

This is one of the most common questions we're asked. Basically, there is no way to be completely safe from this type of abuse and the best thing you can do is work with a reputable printer that you trust. We do several things to make it easier for our clients to feel comfortable in working with us. First, we have a reputation to protect. Unlike some companies who don't have much invested in their business, we have significant amounts of time and money invested in building our business, and nothing would jeopardize that faster than taking advantage of our clients. If that trust were ever violated, it would be very difficult to continue to do business. Second, we state our guarantee that the only prints we make of each piece is part of the limited edition on our certificates of authenticity. Having this statement in writing makes many artists feel more comfortable.

We do often place small thumbnail images of artwork on our website's gallery page to show off the work of our clients. We've gone to a great deal of effort to ensure that the larger versions of these images cannot be saved or printed to keep visitors to our website from illegally copying our clients work. We have also used portions of a select few images on our printed samples so that prospective clients can see a printed image on each media to better judge their qualities. Because the samples are small, about six inches square, and to protect the image from copying, we only use a section of each image and clearly give the artist credit so that there is no question. Lastly, we don't sell artwork. There are many businesses that provide printmaking services as well as acting as galleries or agents to sell the work. We are receiving more and more requests from artists who would like us to offer prints for sale, and it does seem like a natural extension of our business, but we feel this situation might make some artists uncomfortable, as there is no way to verify that all the prints being made and sold are properly accounted for. This is why we have not offered any prints for sale. Until we can devise a system that will not create an atmosphere of distrust that we see with other printers who sell reproductions, we will continue to refrain from selling prints.

Ultimately, anyone who has access to your images and wishes to cheat you could find some way to do it. In our case, we never have nor ever would sell a clients reproductions without their knowledge. We would have far more to lose in doing this than we could ever gain.

 

A Certificate of Authenticity is a document provided with each limited edition print that certifies that print is authentic and provides details such as the specifics of the original and the number of the print in the edition that the certificate is for. Not every artist provides certificates with their prints. Open editions or any series of prints that aren't numbered and signed by the artist wouldn't qualify for one, but they are common and make a nice selling point. Galleries in particular seem to like them. We provide certificates on request and charge a nominal $1 each to cover our costs in producing them. Our certificates, like all our work, are of a very high quality, and they are well worth the price for those who would like them. You can see the general appearance of the certificate in the sample below. There is pre-printed text at the bottom that describes the giclee printing process, the longevity of the inks, and certifies that we will only print the stated number of prints for each edition. The top portion contains a thumbnail version of the print along with the details about the original and the size of the edition. The number of the print can also be printed here, but it is usually left open for the artist to write the individual number in. That way they can accommodate a collector who wants a particular number. This top information can be customized within the parameters of the space available if necessary.

On average it takes about two weeks to complete scanning, initial color correction and proof, and allow another few days if we are going to have transparencies shot of your original. This initial phase is the most time consuming since it involves the color correction process, but it is best not to rush this portion of the process since it could negatively affect all your subsequent prints. Once the proof is received by the artist, they can either approve it as is, approve it with changes, or request changes and a new proof. If a new proof is necessary, allow about 2-3 days to complete this new round of color correction and proofing. Once the proof is accepted, printing usually takes about 3-4 days, depending on the size of the order. So, about three to four weeks from start to finish is average, but if you have a particular deadline, we will juggle as best we can to accommodate you. If you have a major rush and we must bump other jobs to complete yours, a rush charge will be required.

 

Reprint orders are usually completed in 4-5 days and can be done faster if necessary. Since we keep the final, color corrected files on hand and ready to print, the reprinting process goes fairly quickly. This enables artists to accept orders for prints and fulfill them within a week, thus reducing the need to carry an inventory of prints on hand.

 

Yes, we go to great lengths to ensure this. The equipment we use is very color stable, as are the inks. Since the inks are produced to exacting industry standards, and we only use the manufacturers inks, there is no measurable color shift from one batch of ink to the next. To further ensure there is no problem, we regularly recalibrate to account for any variation in the ink, equipment, or environmental conditions that could affect the output. We also keep a small proof of each original on hand so that if there is any question about the accuracy of the color, we have something to refer to as a control. This is useful in the case of an equipment malfunction or other unusual occurrence. None of this is usually necessary, but it's important to have these controls in place just in case.

 

Once your images have been color corrected and the proof has been approved, we make backup copies of the files for safe keeping and a duplicate is kept offsite, so there are three copies of the file for safety. We can also make a reduced-size copy of your files on CD for you to keep as well. This is included in our prepress package or can be ordered separately. This has the added benefit of allowing you to use these color corrected files for other purposes such as promotional brochures or advertisements. In the unlikely event that something happened to every copy, the process could be done over, but this would a big inconvenience to everyone so we take these steps to ensure this doesn't become necessary. So far, we have never had a problem with a single primary copy of an artists file, so none of the backups have been necessary.

 

Our current policy on this is that we will provide the finished files at a smaller size. The smaller size is large enough to use for postcards, greeting cards, brochures, advertisements and websites. We will also provide the full size files for those who wish to pay our regular prepress rates for scans and color correction time. The reasoning behind this is that the smaller size files are large enough for anything but printing the full size reproductions, so unless an artist is planning to take our scans to another printer, they would have no need for them. If they do want to take our scans to another printer, then they need to pay our regular scanning and color correction rates, as the rates we charge artists are greatly discounted when we are also doing the printing. The only other reason for the artist to have copies of their files is for safe keeping should anything happen to our files. See "What do you do if something happens to my files?" for the explanation why the artist doesn't need to have a backup for that reason. We're sorry to have to implement this policy, but too many people were taking advantage of our scanning and color correction expertise without paying for it.

 

We do more work outside our home state of Utah than we do locally. We have large numbers of clients on both coasts and even do work for clients overseas in places like Monaco, Greece, New Zealand, the Caribbean and the French West Indies. In reality, we seldom get to meet the artists we work for in person, instead relying on phone calls and e-mails. This is even true for local artists who find it more convenient to work the same way. So, no, it's not a problem if you don't live near us and no we won't recommend anyone else because if you've read any of these other answers, you'll realize we don't think anyone else will do as good a job as we will.

 

While it's helpful to have the original for color matching purposes, it's often not possible or practical. In those cases we recommend sending us a quality 4x5 or larger transparency, or having a professional digital capture. The other formats will work too, but not as well. Slides are fine for small reproductions, but at sizes above 11x14, the film grain starts to affect the quality. Negatives can also be used but the color is frequently different than the prints that were made from them due to the fact that whoever developed the prints probably made adjustments that aren't reflected in the negatives. Negatives are also typically very grainy which is usually not desirable. We have tools to minimize or eliminate the grain, but there will be some loss of sharpness and/or detail, so a larger transparency is still preferable. Prints can also be used but the quality will not be as good as from a transparency so they are not the best choice. We will obviously need to rely on your feedback for color correction when we don't have the original, but this usually goes fairly smoothly. You do have to change your expectations for the first print, however. Since we only have the transparency for reference, and these are frequently not exactly right, there could be some fairly significant adjustments necessary after the first proof is reviewed. So, don't be shocked or disappointed if the first proof is off in these cases. If your transparency is very good, the first proof will sometimes be the only proof. We've been called geniuses by our clients on more than one occasion because their first proof was judged perfect, when in reality, the photographers who shot the transparencies deserved at least half the credit.

 

If your work is created digitally, then you obviously don't need any scanning or photography of your art. You can submit your file electronically via our File Transfer page, or you can send them on disk or CD. We always recommend a proof since many artists are working in RGB color mode on uncalibrated systems, which can lead to some significant variances between what the artists sees on their monitor or printer and the information that is actually in their file, which is what we will print. Even if this is not the case, a proof is always a good idea so that you can see exactly how your prints will look before ordering any quantity of them. If you find any corrections are necessary, you can either make them yourself, or have us do it. We prefer CMYK tiff files as they allow the artist to see their work in the color space it will print in, but RGB files are also fine, as are native Photoshop files. If you are uncertain about the quality of your CMYK conversion, then feel free to leave it for us since we have a great deal of experience in this area.

 

Yes you can, but that doesn't mean you should. If you honestly feel you can do as good a job as a professional, then there is no reason to have someone else do it. If, however, you don't have a large format camera, the proper lighting, and the skill to pull it off, spend the money and have it done right. If your transparencies are poor, the reproductions will suffer and it's not worth it to save a few dollars. If you're using a digital camera, you will have a loss of detail and sharpness and shouldn't expect the same quality you would get from film or a high res digital capture.

 

Again, yes you can but that doesn't mean you should. There are currently no digital cameras that will do a sufficient job of capturing an original for the purpose of reproduction larger than about 8x10 to 11x14. That doesn't mean we can't use a digital camera shot for larger prints, it just means that it won't be as good. Below is an example of a section of a file that was shot at professional photo lab in their digital studio, compared to our scan of the same image.

Not only are the color and detail poorly reproduced in the image on the left, but we had to scale our scan down in this example to match the size of the digital shot for easier comparison, since they weren't able to capture a large enough image. Once again we see that photo labs are not the best place to go to get your artwork photographed or scanned.

At some point there will be digital cameras that will be fine for this type of work, but even then, you need to read "Can I photograph my own artwork" because even though the camera will be capable, it doesn't mean you will be. A digital camera is still a camera and the right lenses and lighting are necessary to properly capture the original or the reproductions will suffer. There are digital camera backs that are capable of capturing large files suitable for reproduction. These are attached to the back of a traditional large format cameras. Unfortunately, most of these are being used by printers and they are not photographers either, which is another reason why their work isn't as good as ours. We use a digital back to capture art, but we have a professional photographer perform this step.

 

Yes, but make sure you know what you are getting. There are some fine prepress shops out their that produce very nice scans, but there are even more businesses who will claim to do good work but not be able to deliver. We get files from people all the time who do the scans themselves or have a friend with a "really good scanner" and the results are usually disappointing. Don't forget that if the scan is bad, the prints will be bad. Ultimately, the print is just an accurate representation of the scan, so there is no way a bad scan will produce a good print. We often do comparative scans for clients who don't believe that our scans are that much better than theirs. When we print their scan and our scan side by side, it usually convinces them and ends the discussion. Yes, our scans are that much better than even the latest and greatest $3,000 to $10,000 scanners on the market. The example below will help illustrate this. This example shows a scan that was done by a professional photo lab. They shoot the transparencies for one of our clients and offered to do his scanning as well. He assumed their scans would be good since they were professionals and their photo processing was of good quality. Below is a comparison of their scan with our uncorrected scan.

This first comparison shows the overall image so you can see the color difference. Since internet images are low resolution, it's difficult to tell the difference in detail from this example. You'll have to take our word for the fact that the color in ours is correct, but you can see that the shadow areas in our scan on the right still show detail while the other scan on the left does not.

In the next sample, we show a close up of some detail areas so you can better see the difference between these scans.

The scan on the top shows the shadows are so dark that you can no longer see the detail in these areas and the finer details like the brush strokes have been lost. There has also been some loss of color with the blues turning gray. Some of these things cannot be corrected for. While we could work on the scans from this photo lab and make them better, the artist would have to pay for this work and they would still not be as good as the raw scans that we did ourselves. Even these detail areas are reduced from the actual size of the scan, but you can see that a reproduction printed from our scan would be far superior to one printed from the other scan.

There are many fine scanning and prepress operations out there, but there are also many that are not, and since we greatly discount our scanning prices for our printing customers, there should be no cost savings by using a different service provider for this important step. If, however, you already have a high quality scan of your artwork, it would be foolish to pay to have it done again when we could easily use this existing file. So, keep costs in mind, but don't sacrifice the quality of your reproductions to save a few dollars on the setup costs.

 

Probably not. Most users don't have calibrated systems and color management software that drives their desktop printer. Without this, the results from a desktop printer will not be accurate, even if the prints come out as expected. This, in fact, is the biggest problem. An artist will adjust a file until it looks good on their screen or from their printer, and then send us the file, not realizing that the print they've made isn't really an accurate representation of what's in their file. When we make an accurate print, they are surprised and/or disappointed with the results. That's why we always recommend a proof so that the artist can see what the prints will look like coming off our system and they can then make adjustments, or have us make them, to compensate for the difference.

 

Actually, we probably can exactly match your original, but it can be very expensive to do, so most artists settle for a very close match. This is really up to the individual and we enjoy trying to make a reproduction that is indistinguishable from the original. We once did a reproduction of a delicate pastel that was so exact, when we were through, the artist came to take the original for safe keeping and took the reproduction by mistake. However, it can take many rounds of color correction and proofing to make an exact match, and since the people who purchase the reproductions will never have the original for comparison, you have to decide how important such a precise reproduction really is. We think it's very important for the prints to be a very close match and accurately represent the "feel" of the original, although some artists are relatively unconcerned about the accuracy and just want the prints to look "good," and we can do that too.

 

Yes. There are many ways to view transparencies and only one way will give you an accurate representation, and that's to view the transparency on a color corrected light table. Since most people don't own one of these, they hold the transparency up to the light and judge the color not realizing that the color will look very different depending on the type, color temperature and intensity of the light source. We frequently get transparencies that the artist feels is very accurate and then is surprised when they receive the first proof, thinking that the proof is off when in reality it's a fair representation of the transparency they thought was accurate. Certain films create excessive contrast and cause some colors to shift, and the scanner has more trouble accurately capturing some colors, so with all these variables, a proof really is necessary so both of us can see where the color is and decide if adjustments are necessary. You certainly don't want to find out the color is off when you receive your first prints. Of course, if you send the original or an accurate color representation, we can make any necessary color adjustments before you ever see the proof.

 

This is covered to some extent in some of the other questions, but there are several degrees of accuracy possible with each reproduction and you have to decide how close you want the prints to be compared to the original. In order to get an exact or very close match, it is often necessary to make subtle color corrections to different areas of the painting. For instance, if the entire transparency has picked up a blue cast, it's very easy to remove this, but in most cases one area of the scan will have too much blue, but removing blue (cyan) from the entire image will throw off other colors that don't have too much blue. The trick is to selectively correct only the areas that need it and to adjust any area that is off so that the entire image matches the original. We have developed a proprietary technique that makes the scan an almost exact match to the original painting, but it requires we have the original, which isn't always possible. If your transparencies are off, this can involve so much work that it's almost as if we are repainting the original. Once the image is close, it can take several proofs to check the progress of these corrections and make the subtle adjustments that ultimately separate a quality reproduction from a poor one. Neutral colors are particularly difficult because even a small adjustment can have dramatic impact. Most artists have experienced this and understand how tough this can be. Since we charge for each proof, which includes the color correction time, we don't like to make a large number of proofs without showing the artist first. That way they can make the decision as to whether or not the image needs further correction. Often, artists will accept color variances that we would have fixed had it been left to us, and in some cases, the artist will see some differences that they actually prefer to the original. So while we are extremely good at making these adjustments, and we try to adjust the image to be perfectly accurate with each round of corrections, it takes as many as are necessary until the artist is satisfied. We have no interest in prolonging this process because while we are paid for each proof, the money we charge isn't even close to compensating us for the time we often spend performing the corrections. We see ourselves as the artist's partner in the reproduction process and we want the reproductions we ultimately produce from this work to be as good as possible. We realize that if we charged our full rate for this work, many artists would either accept a less accurate reproduction, or not be able to afford to make a quality prints. So, we charge enough to cover our expenses, but it's in the best interest of all parties to complete the proofing in as few steps as possible and get on with the printing.

 

The Gloss and Satin Stretch Canvas is printed at 720 dpi on a medium textured, white canvas with 6 color solvent based inks. Since solvent inks are not affected by water, these canvases do not require any coating to protect them from moisture and normal handling. Our Artist Canvas is printed at 2400 dpi on a medium textured canvas using 8 color water based inks, and then coated with a solvent based acrylic coating that is designed to protect the print and remain flexible. The Premium Canvas is printed at 2400 dpi in 12 colors using water based inks, and is finished with a solvent based acrylic coating for protection.

As we pointed out in the answer to another question, our goal is to offer the finest quality available, and then offer it for the best price we can. Since the Gloss and Satin Stretch Canvases don't require a coating, they are less expensive than the Artist Canvas. At 720 dpi, the printing dots can be distinguished when viewing the print from 6-12 inches away, and since it is very unusual for anyone to view a print that close, this canvas is a popular option because of its economical price and excellent color quality. The difference between 8 and 12 color printing is not dramatic, but a larger color gamut is possible with the 12 color printing of our Premium Canvas. For most images, the Artist Canvas has a color gamut that is more than adequate for an accurate reproduction, but in those special cases where the maximum color gamut is necessary, the Premium Canvas is the best choice.

Both the Artist and Premium canvases have a protective coating that is available in a Gloss, Satin, or Matte finish, white the Gloss Stretch canvas has no coating and is always glossy, and similarly the Satin Stretch Canvas always has satin finish.

As for which is better, in many cases the less expensive Gloss Stretch Canvas is the best choice since it costs less and has good longevity and color quality. It would not be a good choice for someone who does not want a gloss finish, expects the print to be subjected to unusually rough handling, or doesn't want to be able to see any printing dots from 6 inches away.

The Artist Canvas is also an excellent choice because it has the very best image quality, and an outstanding color gamut, but it's still less expensive than the Premium Canvas.

 

Skipping the technical definition involving spectral power distribution, this is the phenomenon where two colors will appear to match under a particular light source, but not under a different one. This is common in art reproduction where the original and a reproduction are compared under certain lighting and seem to match, but when viewed in a different location, they no longer appear the same. The reason involves the original and print reflecting and absorbing light differently.

The reason you need to be aware of this is that there are some techniques to minimize the effect of metamerism, and you should choose a printer that understands the problem and has the ability to keep the issue to a minimum. Part of the reason metamerism can be so problematic with giclee prints is that depending the printer, inkset and processing method, neutral colors tend to be made up of a balance of the process colors; cyan, magenta, and yellow. When viewed under different lighting conditions, one or more of these colors can be washed out which can totally change the balance of color in the neutral colors. A common scenario would be that a print that was adjusted to match under incandescent lighting appears to loose magenta in daylight. This causes the neutral colors, and the as a result, the entire print to take on a greenish cast. Similarly, a print adjusted to match the original under neutral lighting would tend to look too red or warm under incandescent lighting.

So what can be done about this? A good idea is to evaluate the color match between the original and the print under the same type of lighting where you expect the print to be displayed. In most cases, prints are displayed indoors under incandescent lighting, so this would be a good choice. However, often it's not possible to know where a print will end up or what kind of lighting it will be viewed under. Another technique is adjust the color profile so that more black ink is used in the neutral areas so that the metamerism is reduced. Unless the printer has a color management system and the knowledge to modify color profiles in this manner, they would not be able to use this technique, and there are some drawbacks to image quality if this isn't properly done. If a printer is used with an inkset that utilizes one or more light density black or gray inks, they can be used in place of the balance of process colors without a risk of reduced image quality while minimizing metamerism, but again, a knowledge of creating and adjusting color profiles is necessary to take advantage of this.

In our case, we utilize all of the above techniques. We evaluate color under a neutral light source, we use printers with three levels of black ink and create our profiles to utilize a maximum amount of these inks in the neutral areas to minimize metamerism while maximizing image quality. Because we create custom color profiles for each media, and use full spectral data, we can actual adjust the color profile for any media for display in a wide variety of lighting environments, so if you have a special need, let us know and we can probably accommodate you.

 

We don't stretch canvas in-house, but instead use a local source for canvas stretching and mounting. We recommend against having your canvas stretched before shipment because it greatly increases the shipping cost and possibility for damage in transit. Instead, we prefer to ship canvas prints rolled and have our clients use framers in their area to do the stretching. If you want us to apply an impasto coating for surface brush stroke effect, then the canvas must be stretched.

 

Yes. The process is called impasto and is done almost exclusively on canvas prints. The most common method is to paint over the top of the entire print with a clear impasto coating. We do this with random brush strokes which give the illusion that the print is an original. It can also be done by the artist where the brush strokes of the coating match the underlying image. The process can be time consuming, but the results can be quite stunning and the resulting prints are worth much more once this is done, because the print has then become an original of sorts.

This work needs to be done on a stretched canvas, so in addition to the cost of applying the impasto coating, there will be a stretching charge, and additional shipping charges may apply. We can also sell the coating with instructions for applying it yourself.

Feel free to contact us if you have more questions about these techniques and we will be happy to assist you.

 

Yes. In the case of famous paintings, the process can be a bit involved and requires some effort on your part. The first, and sometimes most difficult step is to find out where the painting resides. It will usually be a museum, but may also be a private collector. The next step is to contact the museum or collector and purchase the use of a transparency of the painting. Transparencies of paintings that are in the public domain will generally cost less than more recent works that are still protected by copyrights. All museums will have these available as they make good money loaning them out for a fee. Once you get the transparency, send it to us and the rest of the process is the same as for any other artwork. If the transparency isn't available, or you don't want to go to the trouble, we can work from an existing print. The cost will be higher since we'll have to shoot a transparency first, and the quality won't be as good as from a transparency, but we've been able to get very good results from very good prints, so the quality of the print will be crucial. As far as making a reproduction from paintings not in the public domain, you will need to get the artist's permission before we can reproduce any of their work. The general rule of thumb is that the painting needs to be 100 years old, or the artist has to have been dead for 50 years before the work is in the public domain.

 

Yes. This is a fairly common practice. Smaller size prints cost more because they are more work for us with more trimming and more wasted media. By combining several prints onto a larger size page, you can get the lower cost per square foot of the larger print sizes. We don't trim the individual prints in this case, but it's probably worth the effort to trim them yourself for the money you will save.