Giclée (pronounced "zhee-clay") is the fine-art print standard artists and galleries use to reproduce paintings, photographs, illustrations and digital art with exceptional accuracy. Archival pigment inks are sprayed as microscopic droplets onto fine art paper, capturing smooth tonal gradients and fine detail that ordinary printing can't hold — and holding their colour far longer. Choose from a range of papers to suit the look you're after. A real person checks your file before it's printed, and every order helps restore forests through our Print A Tree project.
Key details
Process
Fine-art inkjet — microscopic ink droplets placed with high precision for smooth gradients and razor-sharp detail
Archival inks
Pigment-based inks chosen for colour accuracy and resistance to fading — built to last, not to yellow
Papers
Seven fine art papers — Ilford, Canson Baryta, Epson, and four Hahnemühle stocks — from smooth to textured, matte to pearl
Colour accuracy
Faithful reproduction of subtle tones and colour transitions — the fidelity fine art demands
Checked by a human
A print expert reviews your file before production — if the resolution or colour won't do it justice, we tell you
Best for
Artists selling prints, photographers, limited editions, gallery reproductions and premium wall art
Choosing your paper
The paper is half the artwork in a giclée print — surface texture and white tone change how your image reads, so it's worth choosing deliberately. Here's the range, from smooth photographic finishes to heavily textured fine art stocks.
Hahnemühle Photo Rag — the fine art benchmark. A smooth, 100% cotton matte paper with a subtle surface and warm depth, favoured for painting and illustration reproduction.Hahnemühle German Etching — a heavyweight, richly textured cotton paper. The most tactile of the range, giving reproductions a genuine traditional-printmaking feel.Hahnemühle Bamboo — a warm-toned natural fibre paper made from bamboo, with a fine texture and an earthy character that suits organic and photographic work.Hahnemühle Pearl — a smooth pearlescent finish with a soft sheen, bringing extra depth and vibrancy to colour-rich images and photography.Canson Baryta — a classic baryta paper that mimics the look of a traditional darkroom print, with deep blacks and a subtle gloss. A photographer's favourite.Epson Semi Gloss — a versatile semi-gloss photo paper with a traditional photo-lab look, balancing sharp detail and colour punch without a full high-gloss reflection.Ilford Cotton Textured — a textured 100% cotton fine art paper with a matte surface, giving prints a soft, painterly quality with excellent tonal range.
Not sure which suits your piece? Tell us what you're reproducing — a watercolour, a photograph, a bold digital illustration — and we'll recommend the paper that shows it at its best. We can also print small paper samples of your image before a full run.
Every order plants trees
Prints made to last generations, not months — and through our Print A Tree project with Ecologi, every Printlogik order funds verified reforestation. Free, automatic, every time. See the forest grow →
Artwork made easy
Every order includes a free file check by a real person — you don't need to ask. On fine art work this matters: we'll tell you honestly if a file won't do the artwork justice before you commit.
Giclée rewards a high-quality file — supply the highest resolution you have (300dpi at final print size is the benchmark for true giclée), in a colour space suited to reproduction, so the fine detail and smooth gradients the process is capable of actually come through. Scanned paintings and high-resolution photographs of artwork both work well when captured properly. If you're reproducing an original and unsure whether your scan or photo is good enough, send it over — we'd far rather flag it before printing than have you disappointed by a fine art print made from a soft file.
Frequently asked questions
What is a giclée print? ›
A giclée is a high-quality fine art reproduction made on a specialist inkjet printer using archival pigment inks and fine art paper. The name comes from the French for "spray", describing how the ink is applied. It's the standard galleries and artists use because it reproduces artwork with far greater fidelity and longevity than ordinary prints.
How is giclée different from a photo print? ›
A photographic (C-type) print is developed on light-sensitive photo paper and is superb for photographs. A giclée is inkjet-based on fine art paper with pigment inks, built for reproducing artwork — paintings, illustrations and limited editions — where paper texture, archival life and colour fidelity matter most. For photography choose C-type; for fine art reproduction choose giclée.
What resolution does my file need? ›
300dpi at your final print size is the benchmark for a true giclée — enough detail for the process to render smooth tones and fine lines without softness. If your file is lower, we'll tell you what size it will print well at, rather than let it print soft.
Which paper should I choose? ›
We offer seven: Hahnemühle Photo Rag, German Etching, Bamboo and Pearl, Canson Baryta, Epson Semi Gloss and Ilford Cotton Textured — spanning smooth matte cotton, heavy texture, warm natural fibre, pearlescent sheen and classic baryta. Each suits different work; see the paper guide above, or tell us your piece and we'll recommend.
Are giclée prints good for selling my art? ›
Yes — giclée is the production standard for artists selling reproductions and limited editions, because the archival quality lets you offer collectors a print that holds its colour and detail for the long term. It's how artists reach buyers who can't purchase an original.
Can you print on canvas too? ›
For a stretched, ready-to-hang canvas, see our Custom Canvas Prints. Giclée on fine art paper suits framed prints and portfolios where paper texture and archival life are the priority. Tell us how you want the finished piece presented and we'll point you to the right option.