ABOUT IRIS PRINTS
What is an Iris Print?
Iris? Giclée? Are they the same thing?
Iris
prints are also known as Giclée prints. In fact, Iris printing
is a specific form of Giclée printing. Giclée is a term to describe
fine art inkjet printing. So there are other types of Giclée
(fine art inkjet) prints out there made by other printers but
when you say Iris prints, it specifically means prints that
are made with an Iris printer. The Iris printer is considered
the highest quality printer for this form of fine art inkjet
printing. Giclée is a French term, loosely translated to "to
spray" which is an appropriate description of the Iris printing
method. The term "Giclée" was created to differentiate a commercial
standard from the work of a fine art print and we use "Iris
print" to differentiate other Giclée prints from prints specifically
made with an Iris printer. The fine art prints made on an Iris
printer are made with high quality inks printed on fine watercolor
papers or canvas.
How does Iris printer work?
The method for coaxing a fine art print from the Iris printer
is a delicate work far removed from the Iris's original purpose
of printing color proofs for offset lithographers. The Iris
is a large drum based inkjet printer made up of a complex array
of mechanics. The Iris squirts a million red blood cell sized
droplets of ink from each of its four nozzles (Cyan, Magenta,
Yellow and Black) every second at a speed of 85 miles per hour
towards a drum rotating at a speed of 150 inches per second.
These droplets are given an electric charge on their way to
the drum either positive or neutral, this allows the printer
to determine which should actually hit the drum and which should
be deflected away to the waste system. This process produces
a continuous tone image on the paper with an apparent resolution
of 1800 dots per inch.
How are Iris prints made?
The procedure to print fine art prints starts with the artist
selecting an image for the printer to produce. This image is
captured on film and sent to the printer for scanning or an
original is digitally captured. The scanned or digitally captured
image is brought into the computer for sizing, cropping and
color balancing. The most important step is then taken of converting
the image from the computers RGB color space to that of the
printers CMYK color space. A proof is made and sent back to
the artist for critique, and corrections are applied as needed
until the artist approves the proof image. It is this stage,
where the artist and printer collaborate to bring the print
to life, that differentiates a fine print from a commercial
one. At this point the image is then ready for its final printing.
The standard ink set that used in MAG's framed fine art prints is the Lyson Lysonic I (water based dye sets). We use Lyson watercolor paper to gain the maximum color gamut available from this ink. The best information available currently indicates that this combination should have a longevity of approximately 35+ years for color prints and 100+ years for Black and White prints before a 20% fade with 450 lux for 12 hours a day exposure.
