In the past year Aderman has printed 12 giclée editions with Hunter Editions of Kennebunkport, Maine. Recommendations from publishers at the '98 show turned her head to this new medium. "They said it was the best and easiest way to get started because I could produce as few or as many prints as I wanted, enabling me to keep costs down," she explains.

"It's difficult for an artist to sell 900 to 1,000 prints," says self-published California artist Edward Gordon, who printed offset lithographs from 1982 until 1997, when he converted to giclée printing. "For years I had offset lithos done by a master printer, but I was never really satisfied with the work. My originals had always sold well, and I thought, 'if only the prints could look like them.' Offsets are always sluggish."

Would Gordon ever return to his old mode of reproduction? "Never. There's no reason to go back to offset," he says. Although Gordon advises fellow artists considering using the giclée medium not to be greedy about edition size and price during their initial go-round, he concedes, "I was kicking myself for not doing more during one of my first giclée editions." Demand was high, he claims, because of the "extraordinary" quality. "It's a wonderful way to be self-published," he adds. "You can do an edition of 50 to test the market out."

How an artist and printmaker work together to produce an edition varies from one printmaker to the next, based mainly on the company's size and working style. Most, though, stress the importance of effective communication with their clients.

"Artists need to tell the printer what they are trying to convey in their piece - the ultimate goal of the reproduction," says Shawn Madden, director of sales and development with Harvest Productions of Placentia, California. "What are the most important elements of the piece? We want to capture the intent. For example, is it something that's supposed to be uplifting? This helps people proofing the piece reach that objective."

Printmakers generally load images of artwork into their computer systems via drum scanners, flatbed scanners, or digital cameras. Scanning a high-quality transparency is most common, although the trend is toward scanning original artwork. But even when working from transparencies, most printmakers still prefer having originals in-house.

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"For our color matching we like to have the original hanging around for a few days to look at it while we proof," explains Nate Dickinson, partner at Pearl Publishing in Portland, Oregon. According to Victoria Hartwig at Pearl, 60 percent of their artists submit transparencies, 20 percent opt for an original scan on the company's flatbed scanner, and 20 percent deliver a digital file, usually because an original is not handy.

If Pearl doesn't have access to the original, they send a proof the artist and communicate by phone to fine-tune any changes. "The artist might say, 'See this over in the corner? I want it to be a little more blue.' We work through it," Dickinson says. Sometimes artists send swatches of the actual colors they used, along with their transparencies.

Capturing an image is the most critical aspect of giclée reproduction, so a great deal of focus is placed on the specialists who do this job. An inaccurate capture may not allow for compensation later by digital means.

"Work with someone with whom there is a rapport. The technician should understand the way the artist thinks," says artist Terry Towery, who works with Sutton Graphics of Toronto.

"My experience is that it's better to scan watercolors directly because with humans and a transparency there is more of the element of human error," says Mary Dawn Roberts, who has been an artist for 25 years and owns Garden House Gallery in Guelph, Ontario. She also works with Sutton, which uses high-resolution Hell drum scanners. If Sutton can't scan an original directly, they recommend an 8 x 10 transparency be made for scanning. For oil paintings, which might have lumps, transparencies or digital camera captures are preferred because shadow detail might be lost with a direct scan.

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At Hunter Editions, 50 percent of the time a 4 x 5 inch Power Phase digital camera by Phase One Company is used to capture artwork directly on the computer, says Kevin Rich, production manager. The other half of the time, a large flatbed scanner is used for transparencies. "You can get a lot more information out of a digital capture of an original," says Mike Brown, president of Hunter. "The size of the artwork is not an object, either."

At Harvest Productions, as at Hunter, half the time they deal with originals, and half the time they use transparencies. At Harvest, however, a digital camera is not always used for originals; some are scanned on a Tangent flatbed scanner. "The technicians use one or the other based on what they think will work best. The quality is the same," says Erica Webb, customer service manager. In addition, having an original on the premises allows for re-scanning if the initial results are less than desirable.

Most printmakers have the cost of a few proofs built into basic giclée reproduction fees. Hunter, for example, allows for three, which are delivered in sequence along with "adjustment" worksheets, on which artists make comments. According to Brown, 90 percent of the time three proofs are plenty, and the artists can expect to have their reproductions done within 10 business days.

Planning peripheral specifics shouldn't be overlooked. Border size, inks, and type of paper should be outlined beforehand in a contract.

"All communication on how a job should print is the responsibility of the printmaker," says Brown. "We fax the artists a sheet that has all the specifics based on our phone conversation. The artist signs it and sends it back. Making mistakes like having a two-inch border when the artist wanted a 1 1/2 inch border can cause problems and unneeded stress."

The images used for giclée reproduction are archived, providing great flexibility in terms of staggering the production of an edition. "We save the image on CD, so that artists can call to print the rest of their edition," says Dickinson of Pearl Publishing.

Artists can also change the size of their reproductions. "You might do a 16 x 20 inch and find there's a demand for 12 x 14 inches. The printer can do that," says artist Arthur Bray, who prints with Sutton Graphics.

The per-print cost of giclées is at least 5 to 10 times more than for offset lithographs. Following suit, an offset might retail for $125, but a giclée would likely have a price tag of $600 to $900, limiting the size of the potential market - even though its quality is certainly better.

"It has more intrinsic value: the color fidelity is higher, and it has more longevity," says artist Mary Dawn Roberts. "But I think people truly buy art based on how the image looks. 'Do I like it?' They ask themselves. Only when you can discuss a piece with someone can you get into the merits of giclées and explain the reasons for the higher price."

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In terms of quality and flexibility, giclée reproduction can be a worthwhile medium for both established artists and neophytes. But both parties should certainly take care to research the commercial part of selling their work. "Make sure you have a marketing plan - that you have people who want to buy them," says Roberts. When you do, the results will be well worth it.