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The Process of Reproduction - Part 1
by Robbie Goldstein
First of a Series (not your normal "birds 'n' bees" story. . .)
The piece is finished, looks gorgeous and you know it will sell. Now, thoughts of producing hand signed prints from this masterpiece have brought about a number of daydreams and mental wool-gathering sessions. Prints can be very lucrative and the market has been exceptionally active. People are buying prints--even off the web--and your car payment is due. And after all, what other medium allows you to sell copies of your piece while still allowing you to keep your cherished original, which then further accrues in value?
With all the technological advancements in printing and reproduction, it has never been easier to create high-quality reproductions of your original art at an affordable price. A startling array of advances has even led to photocopiers that provide amazing results. But with all these new choices and technology, come new questions: What defines a fine art print as opposed to a good reproduction? What are acceptable methods, which ones are more suitable than others, which ones are best left for posters and mass reproduction runs? There was once a time when the etching press was the latest in high tech. Things have changed a bit since then.
In this little series, we're going to address these questions and provide information that will help in making wiser desicions for producing and marketing your work. Hopefully, this information will save you from costly mistakes (and some embarrassment) and provide some understanding of the fundamentals of printing and production.
Quality, Durability, Integrity
When considering print making methods, the keywords to keep in mind are: Quality, Durablitity and Integrity. The piece should be indistinguishable from the original, the inks must be long lasting and stable, not subject to short term fading; the paper must be finer quality, acid balanced, archival and not subject to discoloration or disintegration. In essence, the piece must last and stand up to time, air and ultraviolet light. That's a pretty tall order considering our own bodies can only do it for so long and a plastic surgeon only guarantees about 5 years on his work.
With time, all inks fade and paper will eventually disintegrate, even with the more traditional methods. An original watercolor fades in about 30 years. It is just the nature of things. But as an artist, you want your work to hold up as long as possible, so there are some methods, materials and products to avoid and some to seriously consider. This is where developing a good relationship with an experienced fine quality printer and pre-press/production house is essential.
Color Laser vs. Ink Jet vs. Giclee
Not too long ago, a question was posted on the AOL Artists & Galleries message boards regarding getting prints made inexpensively. The artist went to a quick-copy printing facility who recommended making her edition with a color laser copier. This is definitely a "Printmaking Don't". Laser color copiers and laser printers are not going to give you the quality or stability required for fine art reproductions. The technology behind them is simply not up to fine art standards. While the quality of reproduction can often be surprisingly crisp, you are dealing with inks that are not made to be color reliable, or stable for the long term, and they do not truly penetrate the paper. These inks are generally a powdered medium that adheres to the paper's surface with static electricity and heat. In time, the ink will discolor and fleck off, particularly with a textured paper stock. Apparently, the quick printer did not know much about fine art editions. This is why you want to find an experienced, quality house and make a few good buddies there.
Another recent development is the arrival of affordable, high resolution ink jet printers for the consumer and business market. Their ability to produce color and crisp resolution is astounding--especially the Epsons. While these actually are Giclee printers, as they do squirt the ink onto paper, they are not they same quality as the professional/commercial Giclee printers and the inks currently being used are waterbased and prone to fading. Ultraviolet sprays will prolong the color, but there is really no telling how long they will last, compared to the 35-100 year lifespan provided by the professional units with their color fast inks and industrial UV coatings.
Where these "Baby Giclees" come in handy is when you want to produce fine quality, full color promotion pieces. You can produce some really spectacular hand outs, cards, posters and other promotional materials on these machines at a fraction of the cost of full color printing from a printer. The quality is far superior than that of color copiers or laser printers and many models can print on a variety of paper stock. Best of all, you can print any quantity you need. It's a matter of simply scanning the work into your computer, designing the promo in a program like Adobe Illustrator or Freehand and printing it out.
At what price such glory?
The expense of producing prints can be a killer. Unfortunately, there is no truly inexpensive way to produce a fine quality edition. It means the difference between what is credible and acceptable as an actual print, or simply a reproduction of the work. Reproductions are not worth much, they are essentially posters. Unless you have an agent who will take your posters big-time, mass market, hand-signed limited editions are where you can make good money. You are better off trying to get some financing to get started and do it right.
Two of the most accepted and dependable methods today are fine quality Offset Lithography and Giclee printing. You will find both types in museums and collections worldwide.
Offset Lithography is the offspring of the lithographic stone and offers considerable advantages and vast image quality improvements. The principal is simple: water and grease repel each other. A metal printing plate is attached to a cylinder which rolls into contact with dampening rollers. These rollers wet the plate in non-printing areas so they will repell ink, and then it rolls into contact with inking rollers. The inked image is transfered onto a rubber blanket on a blanket cylinder. The paper is printed as it passes between this blanket and impression cylinders that apply pressure. The end result is one impression of an image with each revolution of the cylinders. There are a few variations on the theme, such as Sheet-fed Offset, Sheet-fed Gravure, Letterset Press, and then the massive, high speed Web Offset presses that print your morning paper.
Offset lithography has long been considered the standard for fine art editions, providing exceptional image quality, color fidelity and a degree of longetivity. The one draw back to this method is the expense. Full color print runs on quality paper can run from $ 3,500 into astronomical amounts. It depends on the pre-press set up costs, the size of the piece, the number of prints and the quality of the paper stock. If the pieces do not sell, you have a major loss sitting in your flat files.
Giclee Printing is a newer method, the child of high resolution, commercial ink jets and computers. The word Giclee is French and means ink squirted upon paper. The way it is done is rather simple. The artwork or transparency is scanned by a high resolution commercial drumscanner to make a digital image. The digital image is then color corrected and set up in a program such as Adobe Photoshop and then printed on the Giclee printer. The most popular printer of this type is the Iris 3047, but there are now a number of Giclee printers such as the Epson 9000 that produce prints of exquisite quality.
This method offers an advantage in that it can often exceed the quality of Offset Lithography, and because the artwork is stored on hard disk, the artist can print one piece at a time. No longer do you have to shell out several thousand dollars at once for a print run. You get prints made as needed- and you can take the additional money that you would have spent on the entire print run and apply it to producing additional works.
The advantage of this method is that the artist has several different pieces out there, which increases the chances of more sales. Your money is then working for you, rather than sitting in flat files. Also, because of their higher quality, they tend to command a better price for the artist. The typical retail selling price for a small Giclee print from a large run averages between $200-$300 for an unknown artist. David Hockney gets tens of thousands of dollars for his.
Typically, the cash outlay for set up costs and printing of a Giclee is between $250-$350 and for each on-demand print (depending on size) runs from $50-$100, compared to $3,500 and up for Offset Lithography or Serigraphs. With this per-print on demand technology, if the piece isn't selling, you can move on to marketing the next piece without taking a major loss.
Finding a Printer and Pre-Press House
Critical to the success of your prints are the people behind the scenes--the pre-press house and the printer. It is one thing to have state of the art presses and set-up machinery, and quite another when it comes to experience and expertise in using it. When shopping around, don't be afraid to ask questions and ask to see printed samples. It's your work and dainty purse involved. One thing you want to know is how much experience a printer has in printing quality, limited edition fine art prints. An experienced printer will know what kind of paper stock you will need and how his/her press works with it. Be wary when you hear, " Well... we have a nice bright 90 lb stock we can use."
You will want a fine quality, hand/mold made paper that is PH balanced, acid free and archival/museum quality. Unlike machine made papers with chemical brighteners and bleaches, these papers are extremely expensive. They also absorb ink like a sponge and are sensitive to moisture, so a printer must have experience in working with them. The press and ink must be adjusted to get the best result. Printers generally buy an amount of paper, generally 5-10% more, in overage to accomodate for "spoiliage". This is normal and is part of the neccessary process of ink and press adjustment. What you want to avoid paying for, is someone's lack of experience. Finding a good printer in your area can be as easy as asking other artists. Sometimes you will find them advertising in various art magazines and guild newsletters.
When you have found a printer you feel confident with, make an appointment to talk with them and go over the specs of your work. The printer will then tell you what he/she needs from you, such as the original or what size transparency, the number of pieces to be printed, the size, and color specs. At that point, you will be shown a selection of paper stock and told about the pre-press services you will need, such as imposition, press proofs, scanning and color adjustments, screens, plates, and the costs involved. Generally, within a day or two, you will recieve a quote with a finalized price. Then it is up to you.
In comparing prices between printers, the cheapest may not always be the best route to take and if you find a dramatic difference, then something is wrong. Either there is a misunderstanding over the specs, or you may be paying for too much press. That is to say, that your job will be run on a press used for much larger sized pieces and higher runs and you are being billed for that press time. If you find that the prices come close to each other, within a 10% range, then it is a matter of who's quality and experience you like. Once you find a good printer, stay with them. The relationship you build will be greatly appreciated and in my own experience, they will really work with you.
Printers generally have pre-press facilities on site, however, there are places that specialize in nothing but pre-press work and are contracted by artists, ad agency and design studios, as well as printers. Because they are so specialized, they tend to keep up with the latest technology and hire only highly experienced production people.
Pre- press is an art unto itself and the technicians involved are highly skilled individuals. They can make or break your print run. It is essential to have some knowledge of this area to understand the process and costs involved in production. In our next article, we will discuss pre-press and production, the equipment used and how it is used in producing your artwork.
Continued in the Nov. 2000 issue of ARTVoices, Part 2
Robbie Goldstein is a Senior Art Director and a practising artist for over 25 years. Her work involves both commercial and fine art. Her commercial work brought her widespread recognition (including 5 national awards) and pushed her into fine arts. This background is why she's so familiar with pre-press and production. Robbie says this subject is "confusing and intimidating to many and it really does not have to be that way." This series of articles is her way of de-mystifying the process for the rest of us. Thanks, Robbie!