The Hermit Press  

Q: What is digital printmaking?
A: Digital printmaking utilizes computers to precisely control specialized digital printers. Most fine art printmakers use ink jet printers that apply ink to a variety of media, primarily high-quality watercolour papers and canvas. The digital printmaking process is capable of producing exceptional results for both original printmakers and for the reproduction of original works of art; because of its extended colour gamut and continuous tone characteristics, digital printmaking is considered a superior technology for printing all forms of art including photography.

Q: What is giclée?
A: Giclée -French for "that which is sprayed," is the term commonly used for the world's most advanced digital fine art printmaking processes. Giclée prints can be original art works generated with a computer, multiple originals based on art work (created with or without a computer) made with the giclée process in mind, or high quality reproductions of original art work.

Prints can be made on most absorbent media, from glossy photo papers to canvas to smooth or textured fine art (watercolour) papers. Our giclées are printed at 720x720 dpi (dots per inch) visual resolution with no "digital signature," a level of clarity such that even artists can have a hard time telling the original from the copy.

The Epson printers use seven highly stable colour pigments, compared to four colour dyes used by the Iris giclée printer, offering permanence characteristics of 100+ years (depending upon the paper/canvas used) and an extended tonal range. Using roll stock, the Epson printers can produce prints up to 44" in width and virtually unlimited length.

Q: What type of inks do you use?
A: In recent years, significant advances in giclée ink technology has resulted in prints with broader, more saturated colour ranges, as well as dramatic improvements in colour permanence. At The Hermit Press, we realize that the best results for your work can only happen using the best combination of ink and paper, which is why we make it a point to offer the most recent advancements in digital printing technology.

Ultrachrome inks use seven highly stable colour pigments - the traditional CMYK, plus a light magenta, light cyan and a light black. They achieve substantially better highlight detail over the traditional four ink systems, and offer archival longevity, which can exceed 100 years.

Q: How does a giclée print differ from an Iris print?
A: Giclée prints are sometimes referred to as Iris prints, but the piggy-backing of terms can be confusing -and misleading. Iris prints usually refer to an earlier process developed for posters and proofs. Giclées represent the evolution of the process used for making Iris prints to the level of fine art, with a more refined system for fine-tuning colours and inks that, on average, resist fading 10 times longer than those used in Iris prints. A good analogy: giclée is to Iris prints what serigraphs are to screen prints.

Q: How does the giclée process at The Hermit Press work?
A: Once you have determined the paper, size and quantity that best suit your artistic and sales goals, the printmaking process can begin.

Giclée printing on the Epson printers begins by loading a roll of paper or canvas on the machine. After careful preparation, the digital 'master' file is processed by specialist software to maximise visual information. A computer controls the printers seven colour heads each spraying a pigmented ink. The heads traverse back and forth across the width of the paper as it slowly moves through the printer.

Q: What are the advantages of giclée?
A: Giclee printing has many advantages over other printmaking methods by streamlining the production process, reducing up-front costs, and virtually eliminating the need for storage.

• The artist need only work with The Hermit Press to approve the first giclee print. Once approved, we will archive the digital master file (unless instructed otherwise), then print and deliver each order, allowing the artist to do what they do best - produce more art.
• Since each piece is individually printed and delivered by The Hermit Press, the artist is not obligated to complete a full edition and may span an edition over many orders.
• Customers can order prints as needed without the large up-front costs and storage problems associated with offset lithography.
• Artists can test-market a new idea without investing time and money on an image that may not sell in large quantities.
• Giclee printing affords artists more control of their careers by giving them the ability to start self-publishing fine art reproductions in modest quantities.
• Artists can build inventory slowly over time in response to the market.

All Hermit Press prints are produced on archival quality, natural, papers and canvas, much like an original painting. This gives each piece a similar look and feel to an original work of art. Since the quality is superior to all other printmaking methods you can command a higher per unit selling price for the prints. The surfaces we use are acid free. All of these surfaces are treated for use with the inkjet process and produce brilliant, velvety colour. Life-span estimates of wide-gamut pigment ink Giclees by third-party testing indicate over 100 years, for certain surfaces, with no noticeable fade. We do recommend that customers treat their Giclee prints the same as they would an original piece of art. If the print has not been coated, it must be protected from moisture by glass. And you should never expose any type of artwork to prolonged sunlight or other harsh conditions.

Q: What is the history of giclée?
A: The Giclée process was born in the early 1990's as British rock musician and keen photographer, Graham Nash & and his associate Mac Holbert uncovered a new capability of the Iris inkjet printer called the 3047. These early machines had been developed for digital graphic proofing but it had not occurred to the manufacturer that its equipment would be adopted by artists as a digital method of fine art printing. In 1991, thanks to Graham Nash's vision, the world's first digital fine art atelier opened it's doors. Since this early beginning, the equipment, media, inks and craftsmanship have advanced immeasurably.

Q: How does giclée work?
A: Giclée means the spurting of ink. Therefore, many think any ink jet printer qualifies as a Giclée fine art printer. Only printing machines that are professionally specified, use pigmented ink and can print on archival surfaces can claim this. Currently the best machine for producing prints with a combination of the widest colour gamut and longevity is the Epson Stylus 9600 printer. This is the machine used by Nash Editions, the atelier started by Graham Nash and Mac Holbert and this is the machine that the Hermit Press uses.

Many people also believe that all inkjet inks are archival inks. There's a big difference in longevity between "dye-based" and "pigment-based" inks. The problem with dye inks is that they don't last. Even special UV stable dye inks used for fine art fade as quickly as 13 years. There are newer dye-based inks on the market that may give longevity of up to 60 years, but there is significant loss of colour gamut and they only provide longevity on specific media.

Many printers are not even aware that their prints are temporary at best. Others choose to use inks that they know will not last in order to print brighter, more saturated colours. There are reputable companies offering art reproduction using inks that will fade in as little as a year. Unfortunately, many of these printers don't inform their customers of these limitations.

The bottom line is, as with any purchasing decision, the consumer needs to have all the information they can get. With this information, the artist can make an intelligent and informed decision, and can have confidence in selling their reproductions to their customers.

Q: How do giclée prints differ from lithographs and serigraphs?
A: Offset lithographs are created by taking a continuous tone image and processing it through a screen. The result is an image created with a series of dots, each one proportional in size to the density of the original at the location of that dot. The human eye is consequently "tricked" into seeing something that approximates a continuous tone image. Most printed material such as newspapers and magazines are printed with this process.

Serigraphs are really screen prints. These prints are made by creating a set of screens, each representing one colour. Ink is then squeegeed through the screen and onto the media. For fine art reproduction purposes, the number of screens required to approximate the tonal qualities of the original are typically from 20 to more than 100. The larger the number of screens, the closer a serigraph can appear to be continuous tone and the more expensive it is to produce.

Giclée prints have many advantages over both the offset lithograph and the serigraph. The colour available for giclée processing is limited only by the colour gamut of the inks themselves. Therefore, literally millions of colours are available and the limitation imposed by the screening process does not exist.

The giclée process uses such small dots and so many of them that they are not discernible to the eye. A giclée print is essentially a continuous tone print showing every colour and tonal nuance.

Giclées are printed on beautiful fine art papers, and the result is a print befitting the definition of fine art in every way. Giclée has the additional advantage of being reproducible, allowing you to "print on demand." This means that you only have to print what you need now and can reorder additional quantities as you need them.

Q: Can a print still be "real" if a computer is used to create it?
A: Giclée prints are not "computer-generated," in the common way we know that term. Instead, computers are used to control the complex and technologically advanced printers that create the reproductions, much as computers are used to create offset lithographs and, increasingly, serigraphs. The giclée process is simply a new and significant step forward in the creation of limited edition fine art prints.

Q: Why would I want to reproduce photographs using giclée?
A: Many photographers find the soft, painterly quality of giclée-reproduced photographs on fine papers to be very appealing. Also, photos reproduced in this manner do not have the reflectance of traditional photographic prints, a characteristic that allows you to capture more subtle colours and imagery without fear of losing them in the light-grabbing surface of glossy paper.

Q: Who's making, showing and buying giclée prints?
A: Prominent artists like Robert Rauschenberg, Jim Dine, David Hockney, Damien Hirst, Peter Blake etc. and many leading photographers, have discovered that giclées are excellent for creating original works, multiple originals or beautiful reproductions. Giclée prints in recent years have starred in shows all over the world.

But it isn't just high-profile artists and galleries who are making and showing giclées. Artists at all levels and in a wide variety of media are creating prints using giclée technology, and more are discovering digital printmaking every day. Buyers, attracted by the high quality and dynamic reproduction of giclées, have triggered a giclée explosion; while the fine art print market increases by about three percent annually, the giclée market is growing at more than 60 percent annually. In a $2.8 billion print market dominated by lithographs and serigraphs, giclées now total $160 million annually - and growing, mostly at the expense of much-more-costly serigraphs.

Q: How can I benefit from making giclée prints?
A: The giclée process is faster and more cost-effective than traditional printmaking techniques. Initial costs are affordable, and the fact that prints are stored electronically and can be produced in small quantities on demand means you can reorder whenever you need them and be assured of a consistent product.

Giclées have also opened up new opportunities in how the business of art is practiced. Giclées make it easy for artists and galleries to self-publish the work of an artist or group of artists, to test the market with the work of emerging artists, and for experimenting with smaller editions of works with a narrow market appeal.