5 Steps to Creating Beautiful Giclee Prints

Tips for Creating Beautiful Fine Art Prints

What is a Giclee Print?

• Giclee is the industry term for fine art printing using inkjet technology

• With giclee, the control of the printing process is put directly into the artist’s hands

• It’s the best way to accurately reproduce art one image at a time, on a wide variety of substrates, at a very low cost

http://www.americanframe.com/giclee-printing.aspx

One of our Epson giclee printers at work – a reproduction of an original watercolor on Hahnemuele Photo Rag paper

5 Steps to Preparing Your File For Printing • Calibrate your monitor

• Use all your colors

• Select your paper

• Preview your image with a ‘soft proof’

• Level and tone your image

www.americanframe.com/art-printing.aspx

Calibration

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Monitors need to be calibrated to industry standards to make sure that the image as you see it on your monitor

will match what the printer can print

Calibrate Your Monitor

• If your monitor is set too bright, then your prints may print too dark

• Calibration is the process used to align what is displayed on the computer monitor with what can be printed on paper

• Maps the white point, gamma, & brightness of the monitor to industry standards

www.americanframe.com/monitor-calibration-review.aspx

Our recommendation:x-Rite ColorMunki Display

www.americanframe.com/monitor-calibration-review.aspx

Use All the Colors Your Camera Can Capture

• We utilize all the color in your image when printing by converting directly to the color space of the printer/paper combination that you select

• Make sure your camera is set to RGB vs sRGB

Notice the difference in the color spaces. AdobeRGB 1998 can capture a much wider range of colors than sRGB.

the authenticity and accuracy

lovethe right paper, canvas and expertise to faithfully reproduce your original

Select the Right Paper for Your Image

• Papers vary in how they absorb ink and reflect light

• They also have different color properties

• So, selecting the “right” paper is a matter of personal preference and is dictated by price, quality and aesthetics

www.americanframe.com/images/PDFs/printing.pdf

Coated papers have a larger colorspace than matte papers and canvas

Sometimes the paper is capable of producing color beyond the color space

Think About Color, Texture, Feel

• Glossy and luster papers have a resin coating that makes images pop

• Fine art papers lend themselves to a soft, painterly feel

• Canvas is nice for reproducing muted images

• To offer a completely modern look to your prints, we now offer printing on Plexiglas® and Aluminum!

www.americanframe.com/PrintingOnPlexiglasAndAluminum.aspx

Preview Your Image with a ‘Soft Proof’

• When printing, the colors in your image are mapped to the colors of the printer/paper combination that you choose

• A soft proof is achieved by temporarily restricting the colors of your monitor to the smaller range of color that your printer/profile can produce with a defined rendering intent

original screen image

soft proof enabled

www.americanframe.com/soft-proofing.aspx

http://staging.americanframe.com/americanframe/printing-profile.aspx

Preview Your Image with a ‘Paper Proof’

• If soft-proofing is not an option, you can order an exact color proof on the paper you choose at americanframe.com

Receive an 8” x 10” full image color sample on the specific

paper of your choice

http://www.americanframe.com/FAQprinting.aspx (See Question 9)

After ‘Soft Proofing,’ make sure the image uses all the tones and make your final edits

If your print is to have a full range of values from pure black to pure white, then your image must

use the full range of tones in PhotoShop

print. frame. ship.

Files up to 50MB

accepted

Love the simplicity • And now, you are ready to print!

Simply upload your file and our easy to use web site will walk you through the steps

• Questions? Contact our printing department:  printdept@americanframe.com or (800) 537-0944 M-F  8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. EST

www.americanframe.com/AmericanFrame/Printing.aspx

framing design, materials & assembly

get right to the heart of it all

http://www.americanframe.com/DIYFramingFundamentalsBook.aspx