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About our products
A real piece of art will trigger your emotion whether you like the art or not. It reveals the passion and emotion of the artist. A reproduction needs to have that same magic element.
With the Giclée printing techniques it is possible to create beautiful reproductions of automotive art that will make you experience the emotion of the original artwork.
Our artists only have so much time to create their artworks and the availability of original artworks is limited. Beside the original artworks we therefore also offer limited edition Giclée prints. You can own a signed reproduction that will maintain its value and might become a collector’s item. In the following text the Giclée and reproduction techniques will be explained and the difference in the several products highlighted.
· The Technology used for our Giclée prints
· Giclée prints of historical automotive photos and fifties art style
The Technology used for our Giclée prints
What is a Giclée?
Giclée is derived from the French word ‘gicler’ which means to spray. The technique is to apply high-quality inks in several color layers on special art printing paper or canvas.
Giclée printing is a relatively new printing technique that complies with the highest graphic requirements of artists, museums and art collectors. Giclée art printing has become an equal merit for techniques like etching, silk-screen printing and stone litho. Several museums are exposing Giclées instead of the original artwork. This demonstrates that Giclée is a high quality reproduction of the original artwork.
Artists (especially the fine art artists) only produce a limited number of artworks during their live. With the Certified Art Giclée™ art prints it is now possible to serve more customers. Issuing limited editions increases the opportunities for the artist to obtain more exposure and for the collector to own an art reproduction signed by the artist.
The technology to print a Giclée is commonly available nowadays and Giclée prints are being offered by many companies even at low costs. Having the right equipment however is not a guarantee for a good print. Many prints show stripes, are missing the color intensity of the original and are fading fast. Most of these prints are made with solvent, dye inks which are designed for the regular printing industry using standard photography images.
The Giclée prints, offered by ClassicCarGift, are made with an extremely high resolution (minimal 1140dpi up to 2880 dpi, dpi= dots per inch). They are printed with expensive archival inks on acid free materials, canvas and paper types which are coated with a special layer that will protect degradation of the ink. The canvas prints can be coated with a UV filtering varnish or UV Top Coating. This allows a lifelong warranty.
The majority of our reproductions are made by Re-Art, the leading company in Art Reproduction Technology. Re-Art is the founder of the Giclée Printers Europe association (GPE) and initiator of the “Certified Art Giclée™” quality hallmark. Re-Art is complying with the American standard Giclée Printers Association and Tru Giclée hallmark.
Our artists demand the highest quality materials for creating their artworks and try to excel with each painting that they create. They demand the same quality for the reproductions of their artworks. ClassicCarGift offers beside the high-grade Certified Art Giclée™ also a cheaper Décor Giclée alternative.
The Process
Creating a Certified Art Giclée™ starts with digitalizing the original. At Re-Art this is done by making photos of the original with a Cruse Synchron Table scanner. The advantage of the Cruse reproduction camera is the uniform lighting. Each square millimeter of the original will have the exact same lighting. Something that is impossible with standard studio lights. Especially oil paintings benefit from the lighting of the Cruse since it eliminates uneven light distribution, unwanted reflections and lack of depth.
Every artwork requires a customized recording approach. An oil painting with different transparent layers can cause refraction of the light and create an unwanted color spectrum. Each Classic Car artwork is therefore analyzed carefully to determine and customize the best scanning option.
The patented synchronous lighting system illuminates only a small strip of the original artwork while the original moves with the scan-line of the scanner above. This creates the even lighting. Special “cold” lamps are used and since the illumination is only done for a very small time frame 
there is no discoloration of the original or risk of damage due to high temperature exposure.
In situations where we do not have the possibility to use the Cruse scanner for imaging the artwork we will use standard photography. Most of our Décor Giclée reproductions are done that way.
The next step is the color conversion and proofing to adjust the printing settings in such a way that the colors of the reproduction are identical to the original. The colors are being managed 
and secured through a fully ICC profiled color management workflow. An important aspect of the color management is that the used equipment is being calibrated every week. Proofing’s are printed for review and comparison by the artist himself.
Often the artist will modify the digital file to ensure that the reproduction will maintain the character of the original. Upon approval of the artist a digital master file will be created which will be used to create the limited edition Giclée prints.
Each Giclée is individually printed and visually inspected to ensure a screen less end result. Creating a Certified Art Giclée™ requires skilled craftsmanship and is usually performed by a master printer.
The Certified Art Giclée™ is in compliance to the highest requirements and specifications made by artists and collectors on graphical art and is a worthy equivalent to etching, silk screen printing and stone litho.
Durability of Giclée prints.
The storage life of a Giclée depends on a variety of factors. Sometimes the colors stay the same but the ink and materials are degrading and loose there binding. Thus the combination of ink, materials, coating and printing techniques is crucial. Re-art is only using reliable high-pigmented water-resistant archival inks. These inks have the highest possible shelf life.
Only materials are used that have been tested extensively on light fastness and shelf life by a reputable and independent test institute. Shelf life tests have been performed on the ink, paper and canvas materials by the Wilhelm Imaging Research Institute in Iowa, USA.
In combination with the inks, paper and canvas materials and the optional varnish or scratch resistant UV-Top Coating it is possible to create Certified Art Giclée™ ’s with a shelf life up to 300 years*.
*Testing conditions and results according to the Wilhelm Imaging Research Institute: 25°C, relative humidity 60% and a light intensity of 450 lux, exposed 12 hours per day. These conditions are comparable to normal lighting in galleries, museum, offices and living rooms.
Environmental friendly process
The selected inks are chemical free and water based and do not have a negative effect on the environment. The paper and canvas types are mainly made from natural compounds, ph.-neural and without chemical whiteners and bonding.
The Certified Art Giclée™ quality Hallmark is the European standard for original limited Giclée art issues. With this Certified Art Giclée™ trademark there is an official distinct between high quality, valuable, museum quality Giclées and the inkjet prints of disappointing quality, also sold under the name Giclée.
The Certified Art Giclée™ logo is a guarantee for customers, artists, galleries and museum that the Giclées will have a long shelf life and are of the highest possible quality. Each Giclée therefor comes with a certificate of authenticity.
Each Certified Art Giclée™ is made with water resistant archival pigment ink on acid free materials. These materials are coated with an invisible layer that will create a chemical reaction between the ink and the material. The minimal resolution is 1440 dpi resulting in a screen less result and unprecedented level of detail. The shelf life of a Certified Art Giclée™ is between 80 and 300 year depending on the choice of materials, coating and how the artwork is exposed*.
A Certified Art Giclée™ will always be numbered and signed by hand by the artist. The accompanying certificate will be numbered and signed as well and will also include the signature of the masterprinter.
* Testing conditions and results according to the Wilhelm Imaging Research Institute: 25°C, relative humidity 60% and light intensity of 450 lux, exposed 12 hours per day. These conditions are comparable to normal lighting in galleries, museum, offices and living rooms.
Certificates with Certified Art Giclée™ Hallmark and the GPE logo
Each Certified Art Giclée™ will come with a certificate of authenticity. This certificate will show the image of the artwork, the name of the artist, title, number of issues and the name of the masterprinter. Each certificate will have an embossed hallmark together with the signatures of the artist and the masterprinter. This certificate is also the warranty on the shelf life.
Beside the exclusive Certified Art Giclée™ ClassicCarGift also delivers Décor Giclée™. The Décor Giclée™ is a lower budget alternative Giclée art reproduction. This product is a beautiful Giclée art print but without the extreme long shelf life and specifications of the Certified Art Giclée™ and without a Certificate of Authenticity.
For most Decor Giclée’s represented by ClassicCarGift the images are created by standard photography and not with the Cruse scanner.
The Decor Giclée still has a superb quality, outranking the regular paper and canvas reproductions. The selected inks are a grade below the inks used for the Certified Art Giclée™ and the color spectrum is smaller.
This Décor Giclée allows you to own a high quality reproduction at an affordable price.
Giclée prints of historical automotive photos and fifties art style
The historical automotive photos and the fifties automotive art are handcrafted using the Giclée printing technique on museum-quality archival paper with eight-color inks. The basis for each print is a high-resolution master file made from scanning the vintage source materials at 500 to1,000 dpi (dots per inch). Each image is professionally color corrected and optimized for large-format printing.
Paper thickness & Finish; The prints of the historical automotive photos and fifties art are struck on Crane textured fine art paper from New England (since 1879, Crane has made the paper that U.S. currency is printed on) and on Arches Infinity mould-made watercolor paper from France. These materials are beautiful textured (herringbone pattern), 100 percent cotton archival papers. These papers produce gorgeous results.
The 19 mil Arches (pronounced “Airsh) and 15 mil Crane papers are similar in thickness to poster boards. 19 mil is equivalent to 0,48 millimeter and 15 mil is 0,38 millimeter. This results in a much nicer fine-art print than the offset-lithography posters.
When we receive your order your print is specifically made for you. Please allow 2 to 3 weeks for delivery. These prints are shipped in heavy-duty cardboard mailing tubes five inches in diameter. Prints should be removed from the tube promptly upon delivery. Once they are mounted, matted and framed they will be perfectly flat.
Source:
Re-Art, the leading company in Art Reproduction Technology www.re-art.com
With special thanks to Marcel Salome, founder and owner of Re-Art.