Preparing Files for Giclée Printing

How to Prepare Artwork Files for Giclée Printing

Simple guidelines to help you capture, edit and submit your artwork for the best possible fine-art print quality.

1 File Formats & Resolution

Best formats: JPEG (preferred for upload) or TIFF (for archiving). If you start from TIFF, export as high-quality JPEG before uploading — there is no visible loss for print sizes at 300 dpi.

  • Resolution: Aim for 300 dpi at final print size.
  • Upsizing: We can enlarge images up to around 4× the original size with minimal quality loss, provided there are no extremely fine lines or very small text.

2 Colour Spaces & Profiles

Work in Adobe RGB (1998) for widest reliable colour range. Always embed the colour profile when saving your file — this ensures accurate colour interpretation on our systems.

If you’re not sure which profile your image uses, open it in Photoshop or Lightroom and check the “Document Profile” info at the bottom of the window.

For a deeper look at how profiles behave, see Understanding Colour Profiles.

3 File Naming & Upload

Use short, clear filenames (e.g. artistname_title_edition.jpg). Avoid special characters such as / ? * or #. Files are uploaded via our secure system; your artwork remains private and used only for your orders.

4 Photographing Originals

If you capture the artwork yourself, ensure even lighting, avoid glare, and keep the camera parallel to the surface. Distortion (keystone) can occur if you shoot at an angle — we can usually correct this digitally if needed.

Tip: Reflective or metallic paints can be difficult to photograph accurately; proof-strips are ideal for fine-tuning colour in those cases.

5 Checking & Proofing

For colour-critical artwork, order a proof-strip or thumbnail proof before your main print. This allows you to confirm colour balance, saturation, and paper choice under your own lighting.

6 Related Topics

Paper Guide
Printer & Inks
Proofing Options
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Art Cards

UKGiclee Art Cards

We provide a way to print Art Cards in small quantities at affordable prices.
Our cards are printed on A3 sheets with 8 cards on each sheet.
When you set up the sheet, you can choose to have any combination of cards on the sheet, for example 8 cards all the same, 8 different cards or any combination
When you buy the cards, you choose how many sheets you want to be printed – and you will receive 8 cards for each sheet.

What size are the cards?

We trim the cards to A6 – i.e. 14.85cm x 10.5cm

What happens if the image is the wrong shape to fit the card?

Any images that are the wrong shape are automatically cropped so that they fit
Before you buy the cards, you can check what they will look like using the preview.

What does the Preview Button do?

The Preview will create a PDF file in a new tab showing you exactly what will be printed.

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