subject: The Criticality Quotient of Choosing The Right Giclee Services [print this page] The Criticality Quotient of Choosing The Right Giclee Services
The world of giclee services in ways so convoluted that choosing the right vendor of all giclee printers is a challenge in itself. There are so many nuances to the craft that it is highly unlikely for a layman to know all of them in the absence of in-depth research. So, many inadvertently end up spending more for lesser value.
Take scanning for example. As simple as it appears, obtaining digitalized information of an image may be carried out using many possible methods; wherein each method would produce varying quality in giclee prints. Broadly, it can be achieved by means of photography or using a scanner. Coming to photography, one may take the photograph using a regular consumer digital camera or large-format view camera. Latter may involve scanning a photograph/ negative/ slide/ transparency or an original painting.
Most digital cameras meant for home-use are ill-equipped for providing you with high-end giclee prints. They generally use one processing chip for separating RGB (Red, Green and Blue) colors. On the other hand, professional level digital cameras are specialized to deliver digital files good enough for printing on large format printers. Such cameras use three separate computer chips (one per color), hence manifolds enhancing both the accuracy of image information and cost of the camera. In other words, it is a brilliant but expensive option.
Even a single scratch, emulsion, poor color balance or exposure and use of poor equipment/ lens quality can turn the job of giclee printers overtly complicated and lengthier. It is because, on such occasions, professional giclee services implement specialized logics/ techniques and strategies to rectify such error stricken slides/ transparencies/ photographs while scanning. However, it increases the effective costs of the final prints.
Accordingly, both artists and companies are suggested to always submit more than one photograph/ slide/ transparency of the image to be printed, for better choice making and avert avoidable expenditure. Another extremely important point is- never submit a slide that has been used on a projector. A slide/ transparency once run on a projector tends to curl up along the ends and results in loss in focus for the scanner.
To conclude, quality is any day a critical factor when outsourcing giclee services. So, it is important that you go through the services of few top giclee printers and pick the one who can guarantee you outstanding quality for the most competitive price.
