A little history on Fine Art Reproduction

       Prior to modern day Giclee, Lithography was initially created in the late 1700’s using plates. However the high cost of producing custom plates and its limiting use of only 4 inks: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black, made if highly inefficient. And impossible impossible to reproduce bright colors found in original works of art.  

Example 1: Lithography process 

     In the late 1900’s Iris printing system was introduced to proof commercial pre-press before being produced on a plate—allowing revolutionary proofing devices. As this method became recognized, big name companies such as HP and Epson accelerated research for improvements to the printing system, soon enough a new breed of printers emerged. These new machines surpassed the traditional IRIS printing system by allowing the use of up to 12 inks compared to the traditional 4 inks—resulting in stunning works of art.

                                    

Example 2: Giclee Print 

What does the future of fine Giclee hold? You can expect improvements in speed and color ranges, and present trends suggest prices of hardware and Giclee printers might decrease.