Definitions
- Fine Art/Specialty Material
- Fine Art/Specialty Materials include fine art papers, fine art photo papers, canvas and other cloth, vinyl, and several others.
Fine art photo papers tend to be heavier weight than regular photo paper, and a wider range of finishes and surfaces is available.
Fine art papers are also generally heavier weight than regular photo paper, and are available in a vast range of surfaces and finishes; for art reproduction and other similar purposes, there are printer-compatible versions of some standard fine art materials (e.g., Rives BFK).
There are many kinds of printer-compatible canvas available in glossy, satin, and matt finishes, and prints on canvas can be stretched and handled just like any other canvas.
If you’re interested in other specialty media, please contact me.
- Giclée
- "Giclée" is a term that was invented in 1991 to describe prints from high-quality inkjet printers that had just become available. It is essentially a marketing term: would you pay more for an inkjet print or a "giclée" print?
It is defined on Wikipedia as follows:
The word "giclée" was created by Jack Duganne ... He wanted a name for the new type of prints they were producing ...He was specifically looking for a word that would not have the negative connotations of "ink-jet" or "computer generated". To make the word descriptive of ink-jet technologies he based it on the French language word "le gicleur" meaning "nozzle", or more specifically "gicler" meaning "tosquirt, spurt, or spray".
Up to that point, inkjet printers were not very good, so he was strongly motivated not to use the term "inkjet."
- Image Capture
- Giclee printing must be done from a digital image file such as are produced by a digital camera. If a digital image file is not available, one can be captured using one of several means, typically either scanning or photography.
- Image Dimensions
- The image dimensions describe the area occupied by the rendering of the image on a sheet of paper. They are generally smaller than the paper dimensions.
Print charges are calculated based on paper dimensions, not image dimensions, so an 8x10 print on 11x14 paper will be charged as an 11x14.
- Image Processing
- Modification or editing, including color correction, contrast or brightness adjustment, perspective correction, etc.
- Paper Dimensions
- The paper dimensions describe the area of the paper (or other material) on which an image is printed. They are generally larger than the image dimensions.
Print charges are calculated based on paper dimensions, not image dimensions, so any print on 11x14 material will be charged as an 11x14, regardless of the image dimensions.
- Photography
- Capture of an image using a digital camera.
- Print-ready
- An image is print-ready if it does not require any modification or editing, including color correction, contrast or brightness adjustment, perspective correction, spot removal, etc.
- Proof
- A test print, done so that a client can evaluate the quality that can be obtained from a particular image. A proof can be full-size, reduced, or a section of full-size.
- Proof - full-size
- A full-size proof doesn’t differ from any other full-size print, and is the best way of evaluating the quality of an image, but is the most expensive alternative.
- Proof - reduced
- A reduced proof is a print of an image at a smaller size than the intended final size. Since it requires less paper, it costs less; and for multiple images, several can be printed at reduced size on one sheet of paper.
The disadvantage is that the process of reduction loses some detail and may affect color slightly, so it is not as accurate a preview as a full-size proof.
- Proof - section of full-size
- This is a compromise between a full-size proof and a reduced proof. A section of the image is printed at full size on a smaller piece of paper, so color and sharpness are identical to a full-size print.
As long as the section of the image that is chosen is representative of the whole image, this is an excellent way to save money and get the best possible preview of how your print will look at full size.
- Protective Coating
- A transparent coating is often applied to canvas, and less commonly to fine art papers, to protect them from physical damage, fading due to exposure to atmospheric chemicals or light, water, and other damage. Generally, if a print is going to be displayed behind glass, coating is superfluous.
All of the materials and ink I use are already highly resistant to fading and other image degradation. In particular, the inks my printer uses have been tested by Wilhelm Imaging Research, the leading independent authority on print permanence and determined to have lifetimes in excess of 200 years under virtually all conditions.
- Regular Photo Paper
- This kind of paper is equivalent to the paper you’re accustomed to when film is processed and printed by photofinishers. It is typically available in glossy, satin or semi-gloss, and matt surfaces. The image quality for most purposes is quite good, but for exhibition-quality prints, and special applications like art reproduction, there is a wide range of premium materials available in both photographic and fine art surfaces and finishes.
- Scanning
- Capture of an image using an image scanner.