What is a Giclée Canvas Print?

Thanks so much for all the sweet words about the spring trip from yesterday.

Did you miss it?

you You can see it here.

One of the questions I get asked often is where I found the artwork on the fireplace. It’s kind of a complicated answer, and I think sometimes people get frustrated when I try to explain it. It is the most beautiful piece of artwork by the amazing artist Yangyang Pan. I bought it years ago, and I still love it as much as I did when I bought it.

Here is a close-up of the art, and you can see many different patterns, shapes and textures in the art.

Because it’s such a large piece of artwork, I couldn’t afford to buy the original, so I bought the next best thing.

It is called a Giclée canvas print.

And it’s the gold standard if you’re printing on canvas.

So I thought today I would unpack the different types of canvas prints and what you do with Giclée prints after you buy them and how they are framed.

That way, you can drop the word Giclée into the conversation and feel fancy.

Today we are talking about art.

let’s go

Here’s what the art looks like on the mantle.

This piece measures 36″ x 48″. I got it from Yingyang’s Etsy store, and You can see it here.

It’s printed on canvas, rolled into a tube and you have to take it to a framing store or Michael’s or Hobby Lobby and stretch it on a frame.

You can see here how it is stretched over the frame and stapled to the frame.

There is a white border around the center print, so there is enough extra canvas to pull over the frame.

Usually, you have to pay extra if you want it stretched and then framed. I went the budget route and framed it (more on that at the end of the post).

But what exactly is a giclee canvas print and what makes it different from other types of printing on canvas?

(Here you can see the brush strokes in detail)

Types of Canvas Prints:

Giclee canvas print

• Start with high-quality photography or professional scanning
• Uses pigment-based archival ink (not color)
• Get all the details
• Every brush stroke and layer of paint
• Because it is scanned in such detail, it looks very realistic
• True color capture and resolution is so high (300-600 DPI)
• As close as you can get to the original artwork

Hand decorated Giclée

• Starting with Giclée
• The artist decorates the canvas by painting on brushstrokes on the canvas
• Each piece is one of a kind
• Doesn’t look like the original part (which can be good or bad)
• Often sold as limited edition pieces (but of course more expensive).

Ink jet printed canvas

• A low cost option
• Used when art is mass produced
• Color is not always true
• Low quality and details are captured just fine
• Looks great online, but may not be as detailed in person

None of these are generally framed. Framing costs extra, which is where my budget framing idea is perfect. Here’s how we created a large canvas like this one for less than $10.

How to frame your canvas prints

Supplies:

1″ x 1″ poplar board

Flat panel board

nails

Gold spray paint

1. Gather supplies

Please keep in mind that we are making frames for existing canvases using inexpensive supplies. I didn’t want to use 1″ x 2″ boards because the canvases were only 1″ thick and I didn’t want the frame sticking out of the sides of the canvas.

Does that make sense?

I wanted the canvas to be the star of the show, not the frame, so we went with a 1″ x 1″ board instead.

You’ll find boards like this in the “dowel rod” section of a home improvement store, not the molding section.

2. Use a 1″ board to make your frame

We started by creating an existing frame for the canvas.

We made it 48″ wide and 36″ tall.

The two side boards sit on top of the bottom and top long boards.

We cut them 34″ to allow for an extra inch at the bottom.

You can miter the corners, but to make it easier, we just joined them at the ends.

3. Add the corner pieces of paneling

Cut 5″ x 5″ pieces of paneling and attach them at the corners.

This helps provide stability for the frame.

This was the original frame we made. When planning how to frame the canvas, our plan was to attach the canvas to these panel pieces so as not to damage the canvas in any way. I would recommend this option if you want to attach your canvas later.

After you’ve made the frame, spray it gold and nail the canvas to the paneling pieces.

4. Another framing option

But for us?

After we built the frame and attached the canvas, I discovered that the canvas was sitting too far back in the frame.

I want the frame to come to the edge of the print (Remember that white border I talked about earlier on prints? The frame helps cover it.)

So we nailed the board to the side of the canvas.

In other words, we discovered that when learning how to frame a canvas, sometimes you just frame the canvas itself and attach the pieces to the straight sides. We sprinkled them with gold first.

I hope this was a little helpful, and now we can all discuss canvas prints with all our canvas print knowledge.

But a quick question?

Do you know how to pronounce? “Squirt?”

I have an idea, but I’m not sure I’m phrasing it correctly.

And I want to make sure I say it right when I’m fancy. 🙂

Disclosure: This post uses affiliate links

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