How we make our prints. In case you don't know.

Most people call these prints Giclee Prints. A nasty little French slang term meaning loosely "to spray". We prefer Piezo print.

All of our Piezo prints are made with industrial inkjet printers using special archival inks. Not all ateliers use archival inks as they are expensive and some machines are not equipped to print these inks. The process is slow. It takes about 20 minutes for a 17 x 22 inch print to be made. This is because of the extreme detail these printers reproduce, 1440 - 2880 dots per inch. You can not see the dots even with a magnifying glass.

These are the longest lasting color prints available! Different ink and substrate combinations yield varying longevity statistics. But we can safely say that a archivally framed and UV sprayed print under standard household lighting will outlive you! We guarantee it!

When we receive your film we digitize it using a professional and very expensive film scanner. Your "file" made from the scan is then spotted, cleaned, sharpened at output size and verified to match (as close as humanly and technologically possible) your originally supplied film. Then a CD is burned archiving your "file" for future orders.

Some people skip the scanning step by having a digital file sent to us. This is fine as long as the person that prepares the file understands and adheres to the rules of calibration and color management. We then size this file to our specs, sharpen it at size and burn an archive CD.

After the file is again visually inspected on system we will create two proof prints. One is sent to you and one is kept at GalleryPrint for reference. After the proof is approved there is no need to re-proof for future print orders of that file as we will have a proof on hand to match.

When you approve the proof we print your order. Ultraviolet (UV) spray if you desire (recommended). If you would like the piece matted and framed or the canvas stretched and framed we do this at this time. We then ship to you or your customer. (Order Fulfillment)

Our systems are constantly calibrated and we develop our own icc (international color consortium) profiles for different printers and substrates assuring the best possible print.

Here is the work flow for creating a print of your artwork.

1. - Professionally photograph the artwork or ship your art to GalleryPrint for digitizing (skip step 2 below). We have shippers who specialize in this to help you. Please see the specification link below if you opt to send film or a file to us.

DOWNLOAD OF COPYWORK SPECIFICATIONS

2. - Ship the film to GalleryPrint for scanning or ship the digital file to GalleryPrint for sizing and sharpening.

3. - Discuss the printing substrate options with GalleryPrint. Different papers yield different results and our experience can help you in selecting the right paper for your art.

4. - GalleryPrint makes two 8.5 x 11 inch proof prints on the same substrate that the final art will be on and ships one proof to you for approval.

5. - Approve proof or make corrections. Second proof made if needed.

6. - GalleryPrint makes the final print and ships this print to you or your customer.

* - Optional steps include archival matting and framing as well as order fulfillment. We can print on demand, as your orders arrive, allowing you a very convenient way to fulfill orders and eliminate costly inventory. You simply order a print, specify the previously arranged mat and frame configuration and we pack and ship the piece to your client at a very reasonable cost.

Fulfillment options are quoted individually.

So much paper. How do I choose?

We love paper, the hand, the weight, color, mouldmade, hot press, cold press, vellum, rag, coated.....

Substrate choice for your artwork is critical. Do you want a warm paper, smooth, textured, canvas? We know paper. We know what works well in our process. GalleryPrint consults for the finest paper mills in the world helping to refine and develop the best digital artwork papers.

We can recommend some wonderful papers for your artwork. As a rule of thumb oil paintings usually work best on canvas like the Legion Prestige 100% cotton coated canvas. Watercolors usually look best on textured paper like Somerset Enhanced Textured. Photographs look great on Somerset Enhanced Velvet, Concord Rag, and Legion Photo Mat. Prints look great on Concord Rag, and Somerset Enhanced Textured or Velvet.

The choice of paper is very subjective, which is why we make a suggestion based upon the artwork then print the proof on that recommended substrate for you to see.

After we digitize your file we can send you paper samples to review if you are not sure which substrate to print on.