Welcome to Archival Arts!
We have provided digital capture, art reproduction, and framing services for hundreds of artists in the Baltimore, Annapolis, and Washington, D.C., area. We are also your best resource for pre-press ready scans for publication, photo restoration, and specialty digital services.
Our turnaround time is three to five days for digitizing and printing. Framing turnaround is two weeks.
Informed Artists Sell More Art
We want your experience at Archival Arts to be friendly, professional, and informative. Informed artists sell more art. We are happy to take every new customer on a tour of our facility so you are fully aware of our process and options for creating prints that are ready for the international art market. It is very important that you understand how your prints are made. This will help your sales when you are assisting experienced art buyers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is giclee?
A: Giclee (pronounced jhee-clay) is a process, not a print. This process was developed to reproduce 2D art on fine art medias like watercolor paper and canvas. Visit our page on The Giclee Process for a full description of the process.
Q: How is a giclee reproduction made?
A: Original artwork is photographed under professional lighting with a super high resolution camera, usually 80 megapixels or more . The resulting files are stored on our offline server, then output to a high-resolution wide format inkjet printer.
Q: How does a giclee reproduction compare to a lithograph?
A: Using our museum quality digital copystand and Epson 8 and 9 color printers, Archival Arts’ prints show every subtlety and nuance of the original—our reproductions are often indistinguishable from the original work of art. Giclee prints have become accepted by the art community for their exceptional detail, archival qualities, and reasonable cost. Lithographs are printed with a visible dot pattern with inks that fade on paper that is usually not archival. There really is no comparison!
Q: What kind of paper and ink do you use?
A: Since the giclee process is still being perfected, Archival Arts continually researches new media and inks to provide our customers with the widest range of color and the highest quality prints possible. We currently offer 400gsm Qua Forte felt watercolor paper with a base cotton rag by Magnani mill in Italy. We also offer a poly cotton Exhibition matte canvas by Epson, and Lexjet premium archival matte paper. Epson archival pigment inks are used for all prints.
Q: How should I price my giclees?
A: There are many factors that determine what a giclee is worth, the main factors being how many full editions the artist has sold, how well known and respected the artist is in their field, the quality of the original and the print, whether the image is available as a limited or open edition, and also the size of the print. As a general rule, most of the clients of Archival Arts are selling their prints for at least double the cost of the print (not including the scan). Depending on the factors mentioned above, a giclee can sell for as much as $3000 or more, even if the cost to reproduce is only a fraction of that amount.