What Is Giclée Printing? (And What It Isn't)
Giclée (zhee-KLAY) is not a paper and not a brand. It is a printing process: a high-resolution inkjet printer laying down many tiny droplets of ink, slowly, on art paper — the fine-art descendant of the office inkjet, built for tonal subtlety instead of speed. The word comes from the French gicler, to spray.
What it means on your wall
- Colour depth. Multiple ink channels reproduce gradients — skies, skin, water — without the banding of cheap poster printing.
- Matte finish. On matte paper there is no gloss glare, which is why giclée suits rooms with windows opposite the wall.
- Detail at size. The process holds fine line work at the largest sizes in this catalog (28×40in).
The exact spec here — and its limits
Every print in this catalog is a giclée on 200gsm matte paper — the merchant states that for all 2,482 designs, and adds "proudly printed in Phoenix, AZ" across most of the catalog. That is what the merchant states, and it is all we claim. We do not call these prints "archival" or "museum-grade": the merchant publishes no lightfastness rating, and we won't invent one. Treat them as quality decorative prints: keep them out of direct sun and damp, as you would any work on paper, and they will outlast the room's next three paint colours.
See giclée in context: the true cost of framing · printable vs physical · browse the prints.