Behind the print — the eight-color giclée process

The word giclée is French for "spurt" — a reference to inkjet printing. But calling a real fine-art giclée a "fancy inkjet" is like calling a 1960s Stratocaster a "wood plank with strings". Technically true; missing the point.

What you're actually paying for

A high-end print run uses an eight- or twelve-color archival pigment printer. That means more inks than the usual CMYK — extra blacks, a chroma green, a photo cyan. The result has a tonal range no four-color press can reach.

Beyond the printer:

• Paper. Cotton rag, often German or Italian, 300+ gsm.
• Inks. Pigment-based, not dye. Rated 200+ years for lightfast.
• Edition. A real limited edition means the printer's plates are wiped or destroyed when the run is done. No reprints, ever.

Why a poster is cheaper

Posters are offset-printed on cheap paper in enormous runs. The unit cost collapses, but so does the quality. A poster's life expectancy in direct light is maybe five years before the magenta gives out and the sky turns green.