Marketing your work...

Prior to Giclée, the only other option artists had beyond selling their originals was to adjust the creative process itself to match the demands of printing techniques like etching or lithography. Printing by press also posed other limitations such as high up front investment to produce the entire run, limited color quality and choice of materials.

Giglée solves these problems with easy, high resolution digital capture, on demand printing and high color fidelity on a wide choice of media. You can control the market for your work with artist proofs and limited editions with greater cost-efficiency. Open editions are another choice for work with extremely heavy demand.

But is it art? Consider the following when marketing your Giclée prints: Many great artists have suffered from the “is it art” question – even about their originals. And prospect buyers always need to be informed even about the most traditional kinds of fine art printing and variables needed to ascertain, authenticate and protect value.

Bottom line: as an artist, you are the only one to say whether a Giclée print is an original work of art, and artist proof, part of a limited edition set, or simply an open edition reproduction. While it’s true that with press printmaking, buyers of limited editions are generally protected because the plates are destroyed after the project's done, ultimately it’s about the artist’s integrity. Artists producing Giclée limited editions should work with their master printer to secure storage of any digital files and to provide certification for printed works. See marketing/certification.

Pricing
As with originals, pricing of Giclée prints will depend entirely on the demand for your work. While general guidelines range from 1/3 to 1/5 the price your currently receive for an original, you should also carefully consider the going rate for Giclées by other artists in your marketplace, the number in the edition and the number of prints you have already sold in that edition.

Certification

For information about limited editions and Certificate of Authenticity provided by ArtSource see Services/Marketing.