Giclee Printing: Step-by-Step How to Produce Giclee Prints, Step 1

• original art itself
• 4" x 5" transparency
• high-resolution digital file

(The original or the transparency are digitally photographed or scanned and converted to a digital file.)

This first step is one of the most important. The better the quality of this first generation image, the higher quality the giclee print.

When photographing the original it is particularly important that the image is evenly lit with no “hot spots” and that it is in sharp focus. To increase the color accuracy a color bar should be set next to the fine art original so that the contrast and color temperature can be judged in the transparency or digital image.

Determining the size the image is printed is another one of the first considerations as it may effect your scan settings. (Most prints are printed with a 300 dpi file. If you intend to enlarge something to 200% for example you will need to scan it at a resolution of 600 dpi). Also it is necessary to decide on how much of a fine art paper border you want around the image, if any. Other considerations are: Print media (fine art paper or inkjet canvas) and edition size of the fine art giclees. 

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