Giclee is a French term which means "to spray". It was actually coined by a U.S. company to distinquish the printing process (using a highly refined inkjet printer that sprays micro-droplets) from that of a standard offset printing process.

What are the advantages of giclee prints?

• Superior color fidelity (over the offset process)
• Archival inks that won't fade for many years (60 years or greater in most instances)
• Finer resolution than ordinary ink jets
• Makes it possible to print directly onto canvas and fine art papers
• More cost effective than offset for short print runs
• Print-on-demand made possible

Giclee prints offer the ability to reproduce artwork on a variety of specially treated substrates including canvas, fine art papers and photo papers. They also make reproducing artwork more cost effective than offset printing -- especially when produced in limited runs.

This new ability to sell reproductions of original art and photographs on different substrates has made giclees a very popular means for artists to leverage the time it took to create their original work and to offer it for sale at a more reasonable cost than the original -- thus generating more revenue.

The term may sound foreign, but it is a pretty good deal all the way around!