Giclée Fine Art Printing

Both ‘pigment print’ and ‘Giclée print’ terms denote a print made from a digital file directly to paper using an inkjet printer as an output device. Whilst the term is broad, it has come to be associated with prints produced to fine art papers. Read more about Giclée & Pigment prints.

Both Lambda and Giclée prints are brilliant photographic prints and both are produced by the digital process. Lambda c-type prints have the tactile look and feel of a traditional photograph while our Giclée prints can be produced on a diverse range of tactile coated or uncoated papers. Our Durst Lambda printer uses lasers (RGB – Red, Green and Blue) to expose photographic material, whereas the Giclée process physically lays ink on paper or canvas. Both our Lambda and Giclée prints are produced on archival quality papers. The real differences boil down to individual preferences; it’s all about the “look and feel” of the final print and whether it conveys the image as you want it. Unfortunately, the real differences cannot be shown on a website, but our team are happy to explain the process in more detail and show you examples – please contact us to arrange your visit.

As with our all of our printing services, we aim to turn around print orders within 48 hours of your order being confirmed by a member of our Client Support Team. Turnaround times may be longer when a test print is required. Please speak to us to confirm turnaround times on large print orders or when working to tight deadlines.

As with our all of our printing services, we aim to turn around print orders within 48 hours of your order being confirmed by a member of our Client Support Team. Turnaround times may be longer when a test print is required. Please speak to us to confirm turnaround times on large print orders or when working to tight deadlines.

The critical difference between dye-based and pigment inks is how the colour is suspended within a liquid. The dye-based inks completely dissolve to form a solute (like salt does in water) to create the colour. With pigment inks, microscopic pigments are only suspended in the liquid and don’t fully dissolve (like very tiny grains of sand in water).

Pigment inks are professional artists’ and photographers’ preferred choice due primarily to their archival purposes. Pigmented inks are much more resistant to UV light, which is vital for the longevity of printed images. To give you a rough idea, you can expect dye-based inks to fade after about 50 years, whereas most pigment inks (if used on their intended paper and kept in a suitable archive condition) can boast to last 200+ years. Read our full article here.

Your files can be sent to us using our handy upload form, via email, or using services such as Dropbox or Wetransfer. Once you’ve sent your files to us we will contact you to confirm your order.

We certainly can! Please let us know at the time of ordering if your preference is for ‘white-label’ (fulfilment without any branding) and we will send orders without Genesis Imaging branding on the inside or outside of the packaging. We can also omit any invoices for gift orders.

Our preferred choice of colour profile for the best possible photographic printing with our very carefully controlled ICC workflow is Adobe RGB (1998), although we do accept files in other colour profiles- if in doubt, please do not hesitate to give us a call on 020 7384 6200.

File Formats As a general guide for colour prints on either our Giclée or Lambda printers, your images should be in RGB, any layers flattened and preferably saved as a Tiff file (.tif) with LZW compression. This will maximize the quality of your image and also keep the file size down. Other file formats are acceptable such as a layered tiff or photoshop document (.psd) but these will have an inherently larger file size. Jpegs (.jpg) are fine for smaller prints but because of their image lossy nature it is not recommended that you save any files in this format. Images shot as in-camera Jpegs are once again mostly suited to small to medium prints. Naturally we are also happy to accept RAW camera files. Once again, please do not hesitate to get in contact if you have any questions about file formats for photographic prints.

We check all files prior to printing and will call you should we notice any loss of quality at the print size you require.

As a rule of thumb – the larger the print size required, the larger the file size must be. There is however some leeway with the image resolution or dpi and how our Giclée or Lambda printers deal with this. For instance: if your image file is approximately 20MB at 400 dpi it will make an excellent print at A5 size. The same 20MB file will still make an excellent 10×8” print at 300 dpi, and a very good 16×12” print at 200 dpi. If you are in any doubt, go for a higher resolution for the print size required. Please contact us if you need any further assistance with file sizes for photographic prints.

Print size varies depending on the service used and the chosen paper type (some Giclée papers are simply not available in full width). As a guide;

Lambda C-type prints can be produced in sizes up to 48 inches in width and up to the length of an entire roll – which is a massive 1,968 inches.

Giclée prints are available in sizes up to 60 inches wide, and just about any length you desire.

Using Direct to Media printing, the largest single sheet size we can print is 2 x 3m, or just over 78 x 118 inches. We do have the capacity to print larger than this, roll to roll (so using banner material or other flexible materials).

The largest size we can produce ChromaLuxe fine art prints is 70” x 40”.

To order a test strip, please upload your image via our upload form and specify the size of your final print. This helps us to ensure that the image we take the test print from is at the correct size for the best representation of the final outcome. Test prints are produced as a full-size section of your image, not the whole thing – if you have a particular part of your image which you’d like to see on your test print, please let us know.

They can! We ship internationally, using a range of couriers, and can wrap and pack your test prints either rolled or flat depending on the size of your test and/or your preference. Once received, we can liaise with you over the phone for any amendments – to make sure your final print is exactly as you expect.

We believe the relationship between the artist and the team at the final stages of production is what makes outstanding images into memorable showpieces. For this reason, our premier printing services include one-to-one time with our expert printing team to view your files on colour-corrected monitors. Checks with our expert printing team include the following:

• Colour management
• Adding borders
• Cropping images
• Other minor edits

To ensure your work is exactly as you envision, we provide free test prints for our printing services. Please request these at your time of ordering. Turnaround times are subject to test approval.

A limited-edition print is a print which is only produced in a predefined amount. Many photographers and artists offer prints of their work on a limited basis as prints from finite editions retain exclusivity and tend to reach higher prices than open editions (prints with no limit to their production).

Yes! With clients around the world, we’ve shipped our clients work Internationally and can advise and quote on delivery options to suit your requirements. Our bespoke crating is ideal for large items and international delivery – ensuring your work is packaged to perfection and protected until it reaches its destination.

All prints should be stored away from direct sunlight and sources of heat or moisture to prevent irreversible degradation. We would always recommend protecting and preserving your work using our bespoke finishing services. Our Bespoke framing not only offers aesthetic benefits to the artwork but also helps protects artwork from environmental damage.

To preserve your work, we use anti-reflective Artglass as standard for our framing, which incorporates a 70% UV filter to protect your valuable artwork from fading, while also providing is the best option for reflective-free and neutral viewing.

See https://genesisimaging.co.uk/caring-for-finished-works/ for more information.

Framing or Face-mounting your work will offer the best protection for the surface of your photographs and artwork.

Our bespoke classic gallery photographic framing service produces frames exactly as you would see in many international galleries and major exhibitions worldwide. We stock a wide range of exhibition-quality mouldings in a broad range of colours and finishes and. Of course, framing isn’t all about aesthetics – our team are also highly skilled in producing bespoke gallery framing solutions to preserve and protect your photographs or artwork

Perspex Face Mounting offers a contemporary mounting solution and is a popular choice for those looking to present a finished piece without a frame. Because the print is sandwiched between the Perspex and the back using a permanently elastic 100% clear silicone glue, Perspex face mounting provides the additional benefit of no light reflections between the photographs and the glazing of an ordinary frame.

Our specialist staff are able to consult with you to find your perfect finishing solution.

Yes, this is something we can do. Depending on the size of your artwork, we offer flatbed scanning up to A3 in size, or image-capture on-site in exceptionally high resolution – which is perfect for larger works. Both options produce digital files which we can then print using our professional photographic printing services. Giclée Fine Art prints are a popular choice for artists looking to make prints of their work due to the textural feel of the papers.