From Canvas to Print: The Process of Transforming an Original Painting into a High-Quality Giclee Print

How I turn an original painting into a high quality giclee print

I’ll share with you the steps I have taken to turn some of my  most appreciated original paintings into giclee prints that look just like the original art piece in terms of colour and size.

Table of contents:

• Why creating a high quality giclee print

• Who I reached out to

• What I brought when scanning

• What to look for when scanning a painting

• Getting the high quality print

Art pieces are, by definition, unique and unrepeatable. That is because a painting is done by the artist himself - by hand - and it can literally not be replicated identically. There is no way around it.

So, how can we still appreciate having Toni Lopes' American bison “Here I Am” or the Pyrenean cows “Sharing What Is Given” at home, since we know the originals have been sold? Don’t panic! There is a solution!

Nowadays, with the new technology and the high-quality scanners that exist, it is now possible to give you the luxurious experience of having your preferred art piece, hanging on a wall, printed in high definition on a high quality paper.

So, how did I transform my original paintings into high quality giclee prints?

First, I reached out to a visual communication company. Among all the companies that I found, I was recommended one in particular - in the beautiful city of Barcelona, Spain! After a phone call with the company owner, we agreed on a date for me to bring the original paintings in.

Second, upon arrival, we took the paintings to a dedicated room with a scanner. It is not a small scanner like the one we have at home! It is a professional-grade scanner that can scan many types of support with a very powerful eye (check it out below).

American Bison and European Cows original paintings by artist painter Toni Lopes being scanned

Third, once the scanner is done making the digital image of the painting, a first draft is printed so I was able to review how it turned out.

This stage can be comprised by many small tasks where both the company and the artist review, discuss and agree on the corrections to be made. This is a very important stage as that is when we can see whether it matches our expectations or whether it needs some correction (in terms of light, colour,  paper chosen, margins, etc.)

The first draft does not usually turn out as expected. Actually, this is how it is supposed to be. The objective of this stage is really about fine-tuning the result to reach excellence and create a stunning print. A print that could be mistaken by the original painting, and that creates as much emotion from our client’s perspective as possible. We are aiming at excellence in this stage!

I was as meticulous as possible to get the exact result that I was looking  for.

First Giclee print suggestions for the American Bison and European Cows originals by artist painter Toni Lopes

Once every detail is discussed, the digital image of the painting is taken to a dedicated team where they make all the corrections. And they get back with the second draft. Here again, I looked carefully and determined whether this new version was worth approving or whether it needed another tweak. The second draft was worth approving; and so, I went ahead a validated it!

PS: If the second draft had needed another revision, I would have continued the revision step again and pointed out any corrections. And this, until reaching validation!

After I validated the digital image of the painting, the printing team printed the high quality print and handed it off to me. I was in possession of the first high quality prints of my most appreciated paintings: the American bison “Here I Am” and the European cows “Sharing What Is Given”. You can now appreciate them!

Keep on painting your path!