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The digital-imaging experts at Fine Art Impressions can make custom black-and-white prints that emulate what you achieved in the darkroom.
Every week artists, publishers, and gallery owners from all over the world ship valuable originals to Fine Art Impressions in Davidson, NC (near Charlotte). That’s because the company’s founder Gary Kerr can replicate art so accurately that very few people can tell that the giclée isn’t the original. His proficiency in producing museum-quality giclées is helping enable more people to experience the joy of owning collectible fine art without the financial commitment or in-depth knowledge required to be a collector.
Fine Art Impressions has done work for the Louvre in Paris, and often makes prints for artists who sell their originals for $50,000 and more. The most expensive original they have reproduced to date was valued at $800,000.
Kerr has used Photoshop since 1989 and worked as a digital prepress/publishing technology consultant in the ‘90s. He started Fine Art Impressions in 1999 after a landscape photographer asked him to make prints for an upcoming exhibition. While Fine Art Impressions has become internationally recognized for producing museum-quality giclées, they also make exhibition prints for many photographers.
Uncompromising Craftsmanship: Many people who come to Fine Art Impressions have tried having their art printed elsewhere, but haven’t been happy with the results. Sometimes, artists try photographing their own work then presume that anyone with a wide-format pigment-ink printer can print the file. Similarly, some printing businesses don’t understand that there’s more to the process than simply owning a pro-model camera and a wide-format inkjet printer.
In fact, Kerr believes that the type of printer used is the least important of the six most important elements in making museum-quality reproductions, particularly prints that replicate oil paintings. The most important phase of the process is digitizing of the original art. So, Kerr would rank the six key elements of fine-art reproduction in this order of importance:
Lens choice; Camera choice; Lighting set-up and asymmetric lighting techniques; Color management skill, including the ability to create high-quality CMYK profiles; The right print media; A pigment-ink pro-model inkjet printer.
In an article published in Art World News magazine, Kerr wrote that “The accuracy of the process to digitize your art will determine 90% of the quality achieved in the final print.” In general, he doesn’t think enough attention is paid to pixel quality: “I don’t think our language has sufficient nomenclature to even discuss the nuances of pixel quality differences between a $500 camera and a $20,000 camera.”
Fine Art Impressions uses a large-format digital capture process with Better Light’s 108-megapixel 4 x 5 digital camera back mated to a Sinar 4 x 5 studio view camera. The studio uses HID (High-Intensity Discharge) lighting specifically designed not to subject the artwork to undue heat or UV rays. The studio is also equipped with an 11,000-ppi Heidelberg Tango Drum Scanner.
Media Selection: Fine Art Impressions currently offers 14 different art and photo papers and 7 canvases, including LexJet’s Sunset Select Gloss and Matte Canvases. By stocking materials with different degrees of toothiness or smoothness, different white points, and different basis weights, Fine Art Impressions is well prepared to match the print media to the substrate the artist chose for the original. When Fine Art Impressions prints work for photographers, they recommend media options that closely match the style and art of the imagery.
“We use a proprietary process to grade, test and verify that each new media we offer meets our printmaking standards,” says Kerr. “We are always trying to load more ink and achieve high-quality media profiles.”
For captures, Fine Art Impressions uses a high-resolution Better Light camera back with a 4 x 5 studio view camera. The studio is also equipped with an 11,000-ppi Heidelberg Tango Drum Scanner.
Printing the Production Files: Before the files are printed, artists are encouraged to view and approve a proof in the presence of the original art. Unlike some printmaking studios that insist on keeping the production files in-house to ensure that the artist will return for future prints, Gary Kerr hands over every capture to his clients. “It’s a risk, but we hope they will see the value in having us continue to handle their printing for them. We never hold them hostage.”
The files are output on one of three printers, depending on the nature of the job: a 44-in.Canon imagePROGRAF IPF 8000, a 44-in. Epson Stylus Pro 9880, or a 60-in. Canon iPF9000.
Coating: To ensure that every canvas print remains properly protected from abrasion, moisture, and UV light, Fine Art Impressions uses an HPLV spray system to efficiently apply an even coating with an undetectable finish. Last year, Kerr switched from solvent-based coatings to water-based products, and currently uses LexJet Sunset Satin Coating.
Selling: While Kerr prices his work competitively, he isn’t afraid to invest the extra time required to make museum-quality reproductions—particularly for artists who have already established a track record of selling their originals.“If a client isn’t proud of the prints we deliver, they won’t sell them,” says Kerr. “So we are very committed to client satisfaction.”
So even though it may take some extra effort to thoroughly test new products, Fine Art Impressions invests the time in order to make the best possible prints for their customers
You can read more about Fine Art Impressions in a post on Studio LexJet entitled: Ten Warning Signs of an Inferior Giclée.
High-quality giclées show subtle color values and image details that make them virtually indistinguishable from the originals. Image © Bruce Turner