Seeing double

Having your own print of an artist’s work can be a great memento. Seeing a piece of art and then being able to take a copy home for a fraction of the price is a great benefit of print—for me, it was a card with images and text that represents my hometown in a colourful collage that caught my eye.

At the other end of the creative process, the number of people branching out into the fine art sector looks like it could be on the up. However, how can sign-makers get in on the action by taking advantage of wide-format equipment, and ultimately add a valuable string to their bow?

Of course, when deciding to get into the replication of artwork, it is crucial to stay as close to the original as possible. This can be achieved by using pigmented inks for only the sharpest colour. Artwork can be scanned and printed from a digital file onto high quality paper. Special effects can be carried out by incorporating white ink and varnishes, which can create more interest and make copies more authentic by replicating brush strokes and texture.

Martin Johns, market development manager of pro graphics at Epson, says the market for fine art printing is ‘very established’, adding: “It’s very affordable now because the price of printers has come down. Artists refer to their final product as an Epson print rather than a giclée print now. You also have self-publishing artists who want to set up their own studio at home and they can do that now, not just with one of our large-format printers but also with a 17" or A2 large-format printer.”



To further its position in the market, Epson collaborated with Royal Academy School in London. Johns continues: “At the time they were new into digital fine art printing so we kitted out their suite with a whole range of our products to get the students up to speed. Since then a lot of the universities in London associate themselves with our products because the quality of the print is paramount and therefore they want the highest quality possible.”

Right tools for the job

Large technology manufacturers have produced specific equipment suitable for fine art printing. With an extensive range of not only hardware but also inks and media, Epson is often called upon for such a task.

“Fine art printers usually use aqueous-based products, so you need water-based ink. You need a minimum of eight to ten colour machines to be able to produce fine art prints. With the hardware, it’s not just about the speed or resolution, it’s about the combination of the quality of the print, the stability of the ink, and the media
you are going to print on,” explains Johns.



The company’s Ultrachrome inks have made breaking into the sector more achievable, as printers were once a lot more expensive to purchase and then to run. Johns says: “Back when we launched Ultrachrome in 2002 was the start of using our range of large-format inkjet printers with our inks and media to produce fine art prints. That massively reduced the initial cost of entering that market.”

Back to the present and Epson’s Ultrachrome HDR (high dynamic range) inks claim to be raising the performance of pigment inks. Johns points out: “It's not just the ability to print high quality colour, but also high quality black and white images, which is also important for this market.”



Epson’s white inks are designed for proofing rather than fine art printing, and Johns says the need for varnishes could be redundant in today’s market: “Initially printers would lay a varnish on for protection, but as ink has moved on over the years you don't need to be able to protect it to have any longevity. We quote for our inks 75 years before it starts fading, which is a requirement of our market.”

Epson’s media ranges up to 330g, and includes both textured and smooth finishes. “Fine art print media has to be acid free which means that it won’t yellow,” explains Johns. Other recognisable media brands are also compatible with Epson’s kit, as Johns adds: “We don’t restrict people just to use our media, we want people to be able to produce fine art prints on a whole range of recognised media.



“One of the unique features about our range of products is that the media you can print on can be up to 1.3ml thick. We have something called posterboard, with a matt finish, which you can print directly onto and that’s quite unique.”

Wide-format print specialists, Colourgen, who also distribute Epson products, agree that water-based printers are ideal for fine art printing. In terms of carrying out special effects with white ink and varnishes, marketing manager Melanie Enser says they are, if used creatively, a great way to ‘add embellishment’.

She comments: “With spot varnishes you could bring out certain colours within an image, so it’s not all varnish but sections of the image pop out. White ink means that you could be a bit more creative too. I think those two things could be used creatively to enhance fine art.”

Down to a fine art

However, it is not just major technology manufacturers that are reaping the benefits of fine art printing and reporting a healthy market. Karina Goodman is an artist and printer at Studio 61 in Derbyshire. She not only produces fine art prints for customers, but also has her own artwork reproduced.

Goodman reveals that she produces prints for artists, textile artists, and photographers—with end uses such as artist collections, interior design, and even portfolios and presentations needed in order to join prestigious organisations.

Equipped with an Epson R3880 printer, Goodman scans or photographs the client’s image which she can then use to print. While she has not worked with any sign-makers as of yet, she would not rule it out in the future.

She says: “Ideally we like to have the original item to hand for colour matching. We use the correct printer profiles for the paper that we use, only Hahnemule because it is the best! We can print up to A2 size paper. We rarely get asked for anything bigger. If there was a demand for bigger paper sizes we would invest in the equipment to cope with this.”



The paper is then cut to the appropriate size and Goodman explains that precautions are taken to ensure a fault free end product. “The printer always wears gloves when handling the paper so there are no oils coming into contact with the printing surface. We always allow adequate drying time for each print before stacking the order.”

Goodman’s emphasis on high quality prints transfers to the reproduction of her own artwork, saying: “It allows me to offer my customers a reproduction of my original oils or watercolours knowing that it has been printed to a high standard on quality archival paper, recognised worldwide as museum quality.”

Open to sign-makers

Speaking to artists and large technology manufacturers provides valuable context about the market for fine art printing and what is available, but how can we apply this to the signage industry? Is it a sector sign-makers should consider entering?

Enser of Colourgen says even though sign-makers do not usually have a water-based printer, they will normally have a UV or solvent based printer. And while this would once have been a prohibitive barrier to entry for this sector, she explains this is no longer the case: “Previously fine art didn't fit into that area very well but now because the droplet sizes that these solvent printers put down onto the media are much finer, and the choice of media is much greater for solvent printers, there is an opportunity now for sign-makers. Until a few years ago, you just couldn't get hold of fine art materials for those printers but now there are more.”

O Factoid: ‘Giclée printing’ is used to describe the fine art digital printing process and is derived from the French verb ‘gicler’ meaning ‘to squirt or spray’. The process involves combining pigmented inks with high quality paper to achieve durable prints. O

Enser also picks up on the amount of materials that are now available that could aid sign-makers with fine art. “There are interesting materials coming along, particularly fabrics, there are an awful lot more of those around now and they lend themselves quite nicely to fine art applications. This could be for printing wallpaper but it’s mostly for canvases, textiles, and papers,” she says.


In terms of making a profit, Enser believes there is hope, saying: “The typical signage market is low priced and there’s a lot of competition so they have to price themselves very keenly. If they were to look at specialising in fine art there should be a lot more profit in it for them.

“Equally there needs to be more skill in terms of colour management and making sure the tones and shades are exactly right, as artists and photographers will be a lot pickier about that. They might need to look more closely at the RIPs and technology they’re using to make sure the colours are what they should be.”

For Johns of Epson, there are many possibilities for sign-makers, including using signage printers for fine art type applications. He says: “We have a range of signage printers, such as our Surecolor s-series. We also have a ten colour machine and a 7600, which can be used for ‘fine art printing’ but it's more like mass produced fine art printing on canvas.



“If they’ve got an eco-solvent signage printer, and the majority of their work is in signage, they can use that product to print high volume canvas print runs but I wouldn't necessarily call them fine art prints. If sign-makers really want to get into the fine art market they need to purchase an aqueous-based product, which they can also use for indoor signage.”

So, it looks positive for sign-makers who want to break into the fine art sector, with industry experts advising the purchase of an aqueous based product and honing your colour management skills. The bottom line is that it is possible, and with that comes an open door for sign-makers to walk through and add even more value to their business.

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