GICLEE PRINTS - The process
This process results in excellent color matching using light fast inks. The colors will remain true for anywhere from 50-100 years, indoors in indirect sunlight. It uses a water-based ink, and it is strongly recommended that your prints are framed under glass for protection.
In Giclée printing, no screen or other mechanical devices are used and therefore there is no visible dot screen pattern, and the image has all the tonalities and hues of the original painting. And because they can be printed on canvas, watercolor paper, or a smooth paper they have the look and feel of an original. They are more expensive to produce, but the quality is superb.
ARCHIVAL QUALITY
Giclée (pronounced Jee,clay) is a French term meaning to spray or squirt, which is how an inkjet printer prints. However, it is not the same as standard desktop inkjet printing onto plain paper and bears no resemblance to color photocopying. Specialized digital printers produce Giclée prints of the utmost caliber that are now appearing in the finest galleries and museums because they are archival.