FAQs

What exactly is giclée printing?
'Giclée' is a French term meaning "to spray". It refers to the method of a high-end inkjet printer applying the ink to specialty papers at a resolution of 300dpi or greater. In order for the term to be fully true, the printers most commonly use pigment inks which are "archival", meaning that the colours are precise, "lightfast" and accurate for a long time to come.

Can you scan a printed photograph for me?
No, we don't have a flatbed scanner, we can only scan your negatives or transparencies as film, not a printed, paper photograph.

I have a large original artwork that I would like photographed and digitised, what is the maximum size you can accommodate?
We have a large open space in the studio, so if you can get it to us, we can photograph it for you, the scale of your work is not an issue.

Can I sell my artwork through Otter Prints?
If you would like to submit your work to us for consideration and inclusion on the website, email us here. Please include a brief synopsis of yourself, your practice and the prices and sizes you would want to charge for prints of your work. Relevant terms and conditions will be supplied if you are successful.

How much do you charge for shipping?
UK shipping on all orders over £100 is free, and a flat fee of £5.00 is charged on orders below that. Worldwide shipping depends on the destination and is calculated during checkout.

How will you package my prints for delivery?
We use acid-free tissue paper to package all our prints, ensuring the print surface is always protected in transit. For paper sizes A2, A1 and A0, we carefully hand-roll the prints and ship them in 2.5mm-thick, crush-resistant tubes, and for smaller sizes we use stiffened heavy duty cardboard envelopes.

How accurate are the colours on the prints compared to what I can see on the website?
We take care to accurately colour-match what you see on screen to the print output, but screen types differ slightly and not all will be calibrated. Obviously, print colours are slightly more vibrant in real life – we hope you'll be pleasantly surprised by this!

How do I know which paper stock to choose?
It really comes down to personal preference, and whether you want prints with a very subtle sheen, as with the semi-gloss, or very flat and without a reflective surface, as with the matt paper. Usually, prints with a lot of darker areas print better on semi-gloss paper and allow for 
more shadow detail, but both papers print most images beautifully. If you'd like us to suggest our preference, please ask.

Do your measurements refer to the paper or the image size?
The sizes refer to the width and height of the paper. The image size is always slightly less and we print the images in the centre of the paper, with a white border.

For framing purposes, what size are the borders around the images?
As photographs are of differing ratios, the borders on the right and left (for landscape images) vary. As a constant, we print both the top and bottom borders equally when printing landscape-oriented images, for portrait images, the left and right sides remain the same and are as follows:

A5 - 5mm
A4 - 15mm
A3 - 25mm
A2 - 35mm
A1 - 45mm
A0 - 55mm

How long will my print last for?
Under various different light sources, in display conditions, the pigment inks we use for our giclée prints are lightfast for up to 75 years.

Can I handle my prints easily?
Yes, if you're careful. We always advise handling 'naked' prints as little as possible prior to framing, but if you do, hold the print on the white border to minimise finger marks. The semi-gloss surface is more prone to showing greasy fingerprints, but the ink doesn't mark easily, while the matt surface doesn't show much in the white of the paper, but the ink can be very easily marked or scuffed.

Do you offer mounting and framing as an additional service?
Unfortunately not, but we can make some suggestions of local framers who can assist with this.

For any further queries, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help.