Introduction to Fine Art Printing

It’s been over a year since my tease to do a series of tutorials on the Fine Art printing process. So without further ado, let’s dive in with a quick introduction to Fine Art Printing.

Fine Art print vs. common picture print

In 1985 Iris Graphics Inc. released their large format inject printer (the 2044 model). Despite its stiff price tag ($126k), it became widely popular among printmakers, artists and photographers to colour accurately reproduce art pieces in high resolution. In 1991, a printmaker named Jack Duganne, coined the expression “Giclée” to distinguish the Iris prints from those obtained with other Inkjet printers which output quality was not even close, at that time. Nowadays, the expressions Giclée, Fine Art Print, Archival Pigment Print refer to the same thing: A print which uses archival quality ink on an acid-free paper to ensure the art piece longevity. So to make it simple, the difference between a Fine Art print and common picture print is its printing process which produces a visually superior quality print with an archive life of over a 100 years in normal condition.

Inkjet Printers have evolved so much in the last couple of years that it is now possible and sometimes cost effective to Fine Art Print your own photography. The two market leaders are Epson and Canon.

Recipe to make great print

• A great photo: While this may sound obvious, the printing process does reveal (sometimes accentuate) any defect in a photo (lack of sharpness, chromatic aberration, blocked shadows & burned highlights…). Millions of amazing photographs are posted every day on social medias, but only a small percentage of them would actually look amazing once printed.
• An optimal colour management: The photographer’s printing ecosystem is made of multiple devices & medium: camera, display, development tools, printer, paper and ink. Each of those needs to communicate in symbiosis to produce constant accurate and predictable results. Shooting RAW and Colour calibrating your monitor are part of what colour management is, and it still highly relevant if you only do monochrome photography.
• The printer & its Ink: With the two manufacturers I mentioned above, this does reduce the scope of your research on finding the perfect printer for you. Each brand tends to differentiate itself on one specification and then offers about three models which produce different output sizes. The ink an inkjet printer uses can also be a decision factor.
• A great paper: Being the output medium, the paper plays a huge role in the printing process. Nowadays there is almost an infinite variety of paper from the most glossy to the finest matte finish. Choosing the right paper to convey the narrative of your photograph is tedious and maybe one of the most expensive task.