Your Digital Edge in the Art and Photography Markets

LexJet has been providing professional-grade wide-format inkjet-printing systems and state-of-the-art materials for art reproduction, photo printing, and commercial graphics since 1994. Our experienced, expert staff has helped thousands of artists, photographers, printmaking studios, photo labs, and publishing businesses learn how to use inkjet printers to their fullest potential.

Two of the most important lessons that we’ve learned over the years are that (1) the capabilities of inkjet printing continue to evolve and multiply; and (2) many myths and misconceptions continue to persist about all forms of inkjet printing. That’s why we want to summarize a few key points for anyone who is currently using inkjet printing for art reproduction or considering doing so in the near future.

Thanks to rapid advances in printers, inks, and materials, many of inkjet’s earlier issues with image permanence and print protection have been successfully resolved. Thousands of galleries and design centers now sell limited-edition giclée prints, and consumers can order giclée prints through many different online sites and through Pottery Barn and other home-furnishings catalogs.

According to digital art expert Harald Johnson in his book Mastering Digital Printing, “Digital prints (primarily inkjet) are now part of the permanent collections of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the Art Institute of Chicago.”

If you’re producing museum-quality prints for exhibitions and galleries, you’ll want to stick with one of the aqueous inkjet printers from Canon or Epson and inkjet art papers and canvases from well-established suppliers such as LexJet.

But if you produce higher volumes of décor prints for hotel chains, cruise lines, and other types of facilities, you may want to consider using a faster printer that can use less costly materials.

Epson’s new 64-in. Stylus Pro GS6000 printer uses eight colors of virtually odorless solvent inks to reproduce a wide range of colors at faster speeds on lower-cost, high-quality canvases such as LexJet’s Sunset Select Gloss Canvas SUV and Sunset Select Satin Canvas SUV. These two Sunset canvases can also be used with hybrid roll-to-roll/flatbed inkjet printers such as the Legend printers that use UV-curable inks.

LexJet carries a full line of HP, Canon, and Epson aqueous pigment-ink printers as well as the Epson GS6000 solvent printer and the Digital Equipment Company Legend line of UV-curable inkjet printers.A LexJet account specialist can give you all the details in terms of the benefits, limitations, and relative costs of using each type of inkjet printing technology. You can see each type of technology in use at our Technology Demonstration Center in Sarasota, Florida.

LexJet offers more than 15 types and brands of inkjet-printable canvases for art reproduction. The right canvas for you will depend on the type of art your reproduce, your aesthetic preferences, and your specific production requirements.

Many painters are attracted to heavier weight 100% cotton canvases, because of the way they feel and look. Cotton canvas tends to have the most natural texture, and “personality.”

The drawback to using a 100% cotton canvas for inkjet printing is that it can shrink when a protective post-print coating is applied. Or the canvas can expand after being stretched, causing the prints to sag. Rolls of cotton canvas sometimes contain black seeds which can cause defects in the inkjet print. And while the off-white color of 100% cotton canvas may look more traditional and “authentic,” it’s not ideal for detailed, predictable color reproduction.

Artwork originally created as paintings can be reproduced onto plain and textured wallcovering materials for murals, opaque and translucent fabrics for tapestries and wall hangings, and adhesive-backed materials that enable the art to be applied to almost any surface imaginable.

With a UV-curable inkjet printer, art can be reproduced directly onto a variety of rigid substrates, including display boards, plexiglas, ceiling tiles, acoustical panels, wood, and metals. Certain types of flatbed inkjet printers enable you to reproduce art onto pre-stretched canvas.

LexJet offers a wide selection of printing materials for aqueous, solvent, and UV-curable inkjet printers. If there is a certain type of material you’re considering using, send it to your LexJet account specialist and ask to have us print a sample. LexJet operates a technology demonstration center in which we operate the full range of inkjet technologies currently being used for art reproduction.

Our team of account specialists and technical-support experts has helped thousands of individual artists, photographers, printmaking studios, and publishing companies develop the right combination of printers, materials, color-management tools, and print-finishing supplies for their requirements. We can help, you too!

We can provide expert advice related to specific art-reproduction challenges, determine the best combination of printers and materials for your current requirements, and alert you to emerging opportunities for creativity and business growth in the ever-evolving art-reproduction and décor markets.

If we don’t have an answer you need immediately, a LexJet account specialist can quickly get it for you.

Over the years, we have developed strong relationships with all of the aqueous printer manufacturers and many of the world’s top experts in pigment ink, color management, image permanence and preservation, and paper and canvas manufacturing.

In addition to our genuinely helpful personalized phone support, LexJet sells a wide selection of printers, art papers, and canvases and has a nationwide network of distribution centers that can deliver the materials you need quickly and affordably.