The Art of the Giclee

Art to Murals creates “Art” that is larger than life.

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Better Images….Better Quality…True Reproductions

There is no single best method for lighting and photographing art. Much depends on the art itself. For example, brushstroke “highlights” can become unwanted “noise” in a file that is to be reproduced. The ambient light flair that emanates from a painting as it hangs in a museum is something your brain tunes out – but a camera sees. What happens between capture and reproduction is part science, part understanding of the process. In short, there is an “art” to reproducing art. Especially large works of art and/or large format reproductions.

• 30 years of experience in fine art reproduction
• 14 years of experience reproducing fine art using state-of-the-art Better Light® camera systems for direct digital captures
• Carefully calibrated wide-format Epson and Iris printers
• Printing on the highest quality canvas and fine art media available
• Reproducing fine art for over 250 artists nationwide

Art to Murals available NOW

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If you have an immediate project, we can begin the process now, just call
316.269.3600 and we can discuss the details with Gene or Deb of Drager Design Studio.

We are located in the same building as Rock Island Studio, and they have produced Gallery Giclees since 1994 for artists nationwide and continue to offer these materials. We are teaming up to offer a catalog of collectible art, as well as custom, limited editions. And we welcome artists that want to participate in our debut offerings.

what is a giclee?

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The Giclée (zhee-CLAY)
is an individually produced, high-resolution, high-fidelity reproduction of an original piece of artwork. It is printed on a special large format inkjet printer from a digital capture, eliminating the detail-robbing generations of negatives and printing plates used in traditional printing. Giclées can be printed on a variety of media, from canvas to watercolor paper to transparent acetates. In addition, since many artists now produce only digital art, (which means there is no “original piece” that can be hung on a wall), giclées become a vibrant new medium for Artists.

The GicléeAadvantage
When it comes to the reproduction of color, the range of color for giclées is far beyond that of lithography: Lithography uses tiny dots of four colors (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) to fool the eye into seeing various hues and shades. The colors on a litho are “created” by printing different sized dots of these four colors. Giclées use inkjet technology, but at a far more sophisticated level than that of ordinary desktop printers. The process employs seven colors (light cyan, cyan, light magenta, magenta, yellow black and light black) of lightfast, pigmented inks and more numerous and finer printheads. Colors on a giclée are actually “mixed” as they are sprayed onto the medium, resulting in true shades and hues.

When compared to traditional printing
giclée colors are brighter, the details are crisper, the prints last longer, and the resolution is much greater, because they are virtually continuous tone rather than tiny dots.

The price of giclées falls midway between that of original art and regular limited edition lithographs. Limited edition litho prints are usually produced in editions of 500-1000 or more, all at one time; giclée prints rarely exceed 50-100, and are produced one at a time.

Giclées were originally developed as a proofing system for lithograph printing presses, but when it was apparent that the presses could not deliver the quality and color of the giclée proofs, they soon evolved into the new darlings of the art world. Giclées are coveted by collectors for their fidelity and quality, and desired by galleries because they don’t have to be produced in huge quantities like lithos, reducing storage requirements and capital outlay.