Technology

What does the word Giclée mean?

It is a French term and means to squirt. A Giclée Print is now associated with the highest quality inkjet printing technique.
True Giclée prints are produced with a very high resolution (1200dpi minimal to 2400 dpi) and are printed with precious archival inks on acid-free materials. The canvas and papers have been provided with a layer (coating), which ensures that the inks will not degrade.
Blending Art and Technology

Originals can be art generated on the computer, photographic art captured by digital cameras, any combination of such artistic data created in or out of the computer specifically for the process, or high quality digital reproductions (scans or photographs) of original artwork.

Giclée is the digital process of making art

Giclée - like all computerised processes - have three main parts: Input - Data management - Output.

Beyond the computer based art generation and digital photography the modern method of digitizing original pieces of art is the highest quality scanning. Pigmenta uses the latest scanning technologies by Cruse Digital Imaging Equipments.

In most cases the artist sits down with the printmaker at a high resolution monitor to crop, size, adjust softening, highlighting, colour, and/or to manipulate all or selective parts of their image. This is all done with sophisticated graphics software, where the possibilities for experimentation are virtually endless. A series of proofs help fine-tune the image in preparation for the final printing.

To create our fine art prints, we use the latest and highest quality printing system and selected materials.
The output is displayed on our Canon imagePROGRAF large format printers. The current leading Lucia 4 ink technology helps us to achieve brilliant colour space, superb colour accuracy, excellent colour graduation, longetivity and fade-resistance. The printers use twelve colours with a droplet size of 4 picoliters (1 picoliter = 1 trillionth of a litre). The printheads contain 2560 nozzles for each colours providing as high resolution as 2400 dots per inch. Our printers can handle cut sheets in A4, A3, A3+ sizes or 24" (61 cm), 36" (91 cm), 44" (111 cm) and 60" (152 cm) wide rolls.

Pigmenta provides a valuable line of printing media from Hahnemühle, Canson Infinity, St.Cuthbert's Mill and Fotospeed:

•     traditional fine art papers, watercolour, smooth or textured acid-free rag papers in various weights
•     photographic papers including traditional Baryta, RC papers with matte, luster and glossy finishes
•     canvases with different kind of basis e.g. - natural 100% cotton or high white poly-cotton for photos