Planet Exposures’ Giclée Fine Art Photographic Prints

What is Giclée?

Giclée (pronounced zhee-clay) is a French term meaning "spray" which describes the digital printing process. The giclée printing process consists of spraying small dots of ink upon a surface. These dots are so small (1800 dpi) that they cannot be individually discerned by the naked eye. The giclée printing process uses state-of–the–art technology. The process begins with a high-resolution digital image, which is then printed with archival quality pure pigment inks onto acid-free photographic paper. These prints will retain a long image life of over seventy-five years without any noticeable fading. The quality of fine art giclée photographic prints rivals more traditional photographic processes. Giclée prints have become a standard for museums, galleries, and collectors of fine art photography.

Why Digital?

After twenty-five years of producing photographs from film and a traditional darkroom Steffen has switched to digital. At first he was intrigued by the digital process, as Steffen began working with a digital format he was impressed with the quality of the prints. He soon realized that one advantage of giclée printing is that large prints can be made without quality loss.  He also liked the idea of a “clean” technology. Our interests in nature and wildlife photography have made us avid environmentalist. The digital darkroom allows us to produce high quality photographic prints without the use of the many toxic chemicals involved in traditional film processing and printing.

Digital Darkroom

A superb giclée photographic print begins with state-of-the-art equipment. Steffen photographs only with professional cameras and lenses. Each image is digitally mastered by Steffen to reflect his artistic vision. He draws on his many years of traditional darkroom experience to make only the necessary enhancements needed to produce a high quality print. The images reflect the original digital capture, nothing is ever pasted into the image. Each image is printed by Steffen to his exact standard. The images offer superb resolution and clarity. The prints are stunning!

Caring for your Fine Art Giclée Print

To protect your investment, the following suggestions should be followed to increase the life of your photographic print.

• Never touch the print with bare hands. The acids from your fingerprints will over time deteriorate the print. Wear lint-free gloves when handling the print.

• Mat only on archival acid free mat board.

• As with all fine art photographs, the prints should be kept out of direct sunlight. Direct sunlight will damage photographs and cause the image to

              prematurely fade. 

• Have your print framed and displayed under glass. Never spray glass cleaner directly on any framed art. You could damage the mat or the print itself.

              Always spray cleaner on the cloth first.