How do giclée prints differ from lithographs?
Offset lithographs are created by taking a continuous tone image and processing it through a screen. The result is an image created with a series of dots, each one proportional in size to the density of the original at the location of that dot. The human eye is consequently “tricked” into seeing something that approximates a continuous tone image. Most printed material such as newspapers and magazines are printed with this process. Giclée prints have many advantages over the offset lithograph. The color available for giclée processing is limited only by the color gamut of the inks themselves. Therefore, literally millions of colors are available and the limitation imposed by the screening process does not exist. The giclée process uses such small dots and so many of them that they are not discernible to the eye. A giclée print is essentially a continuous tone print showing every color and tonal nuance.
