Wide Format Imaging

Art and technology are two fields which have become increasingly intertwined. Technological developments have led to increased opportunities for artists to create and reproduce unique and beautiful pieces.

A prime example of a company that merges art and technology is Roswell, GA-based Gallery Street. With more than a decade in the digital imaging industry, Gallery Street combines color matching expertise with the new archival qualities of printing to produce their very own amazingly accurate Masterpiece Giclée prints. A relatively new method of printing, giclées are quickly gaining in popularity over traditional methods of printing such as lithographs or serigraphs. Unlike many other screen printing technologies, where artists must commit to printing a large number of the same image all at once, giclée printing allows artists to reproduce their art as needed to meet specific demands.

In order to make giclées, Gallery Street's staff begins by capturing an original piece of art with its 4x5 scanback system or is supplied with an image in a standard file format such as TIFF, JPEG, BMP, or GIF. They then print directly to the canvas with Epson, Roland, and Canon printers using aqueous pigment inks. Most print systems use four basic colors—cyan, magenta, yellow, and black or CMYK, but Gallery Street printers feature all of those colors plus others such as light magenta, light cyan, light black, light light black, orange, and green. With all of these colors in the mix, they are capable of printing reproductions that represent the original painting or photo with the utmost accuracy. The prints can be as large as 60 inches wide by virtually any length and can last up to 120 years when displayed indoors.

With more than fourteen years of experience in the printing industry, Marc Leftoff, the founder and president of Gallery Street, recognizes the essential role of media in making giclée prints which meet and exceed client expectations. Gallery Street prints hundreds of giclée prints each month on InteliCoat Technologies' Magiclée Torino 21 M, a premium heavyweight cotton/polyester blend canvas with a matte finish designed for long-term, fade resistant fine art or photo reproductions when imaged with pigment inks. Featuring a coating which delivers superior color gamut and resolution, Leftoff selected Torino 21 M because it provides superior texture, along with a great reputation and high print quality. It also pairs well with their choice of varnish used to complete the process.

"The media we use is essential because our artists are looking for a texture that most closely matches that of their original painting," said Leftoff. "We only use high quality canvases, and pride ourselves on the great color accuracy that we are able to consistently provide."