| Questions and Answers about Giclée Fine Art Prints |
| Questions | |
| Acidity of paper | All our paper is acid free. We have a fully archival 100% cotton paper as well as very good quality wood pulp based papers |
| Colour | Colours are matched very closely but some are more difficult than others. |
| Copyright | We do not reproduce limited edition prints or signed original works without authorisation from the artist. If you have purchased an artwork this does not give you the right to copy it unless it is a commissioned work or you have the permission of the artist. |
| Digital files | You can supply your own files for printing but we prefer to have the original image for colour matching. Resolution should be at least 150dpi at the finished size. |
| Fading | The ink used is pigment based which is far more resistant to fading than dye based inks. Preliminary research from Wilhelm Imaging Research, Inc. indicates that the inks that we use are rated up to 100 years under glass. |
| Print size | Maximum print size is 1118mm wide by several metres long depending also on the size of the media we have in stock. Watercolour paper is 914 wide, Kodak Rapid Dry is 1070 mm, Lustre, Glossy and canvasses come in 1118mm rolls. |
| Print to edge | We can print to the edge of media but an allowance for borders, especially on canvasses, means that in practice images are seldom printed to the edge full roll width. |
| Printing Method | The printing method used is a very fine variable droplet inkjet. The smallest single droplet that the printer can apply to the paper is 4 picoliter which is about one quarter of the width of a human hair. |
| Print Sealing | Watercolour and photographic papers are recommended to be framed behind glass. Watercolour papers are not recommended to be laminated.
Kodak Rapid Dry and lustre are able to be laminated by Kodak
We recommend that Canvas prints be sealed, either by our framer as part of his stretching service or sprayed with a ‘Print Guard’ type product. This is not done by us at Microfilm as we don't have a fume ventilation facility and is therefore the responsibility of the customer.
Watercolour papers can also be sprayed with ‘Print Guard’ if desired, to reduce the danger of scratching if it is not to be framed straight away. |
| Scanning size | Maximum scanning sizes are 914mm wide, 16mm thick and several metres long on our moving throughput scanner. On our flatbed the largest single scan is 457mm x 610mm. Larger objects can be digitally joined or photographed with a studio quality camera. |
| Time | The standard time for work brought to our counter is 24 hours but if proofing is required the process can take longer. Some more complicated tasks also take longer. Emergency jobs may be done within the same day depending on workload. |
| Water resistance. | The water resistance of the ink depends on the media that it is printed on. The printing is water resistant rather than water proof. It should be treated with care like any artwork. |
