ABOUT OUR PRINTS CUSTOM PUBLISHING GUIDELINES We publish and print for artists; gallery owners who look for a way to economically produce limited editions; museum shops managers who want to fulfill demand for reproductions of art in museum exhibitions; architects or interior designers who need high quality works on paper for offices, hotels or other hospitality venues; department stores that need something better than conventional run-of-the-mill offset prints; gift shop owners who want something unique; or not-for-profit groups that look for ways to raise funds.
Our art replication method permits the production of a small or limited number (minimum 10 of any single subject) of almost any black & white or full color work of art published on high quality 100% rag artists' stock, simulated antique parchment, specialty art papers and even fabric such as silk, without the customary expense of up-front setup charges for such things as negatives, color separations, scanning, color calibration or printing plates, which are required by offset and other printing techniques.
Developed to fulfill a demand for the economical reproduction of original etchings and color artwork by Leon Dolice (1892-1960), an artist who devoted his life to street scenes of New York City in the 20th century, this printing technique solves the custom print publishing needs of many of the kinds of people we have listed above. It is used successfully to produce very high quality replicas of works on paper, fabric and other substrates for many artists, art galleries, department stores, museum and gift shop managers, interior designers and facilities managers.
Although these prints have the same color quality and longevity characteristics as giclées, they do not require the white-glove treatment in handling and framing that giclées demand.
If you're considering custom publishing of any kind, call us first to see how our unique and very economical printing techniques can expand the horizons of your imagination for new and unique art for your customers.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: Are these prints offset lithographs, inkjet (giclée), electrostatic, thermal sublimation prints, or what?
A: They're printed using our own unique hybrid of different technologies (electrostatic, thermal transfer, polymeric encapsulation) adapted from professional commercial display and graphic arts printing and image proofing systems. This proprietary printing method was developed over the past ten years specifically to enable the economical production of small numbers of high-quality replicas of etchings, linocuts and other fine art original prints on paper by Leon Dolice (1892-1960), an artist who specialized in scenes of New York City in the 1920's through the 1950's. The technique was eventually expanded to enable the publishing of a small number of custom prints on demand, without the costly set-up fees associated with giclées or offset prints.
Q: What is color-fastness or longevity of these prints?
A: All our prints are produced with a nearly invisible, ultraviolet protective, gas impermeable thermally bonded polymer coating. No standardized comparative tests have been made by any independent testing organization on prints produced since the introduction of the process. However, we periodically conduct in-house testing, particularly when we experiment with new paper substrates, ink combinations or other unproven materials. This consists of exposing unprotected prints to direct sunlight for a period of weeks. If any fading is observed, we do not use the substrates or materials involved. Since we began marketing our prints over ten years ago, we have never received any returns or complaints about fading of even a single print.
Q: Do these prints require any special handling, such as giclées, which must be kept away from wet or damp surfaces and environments and which are extremely light-sensitive?
A: Unlike giclée and other inkjet prints that have to be handled with "white glove" caution when framing, our replicas are practically impervious to moisture and even staining on the printed areas, since the printed surface is literally encapsulated in a nearly invisible polymer coating. In most cases, even non-volatile fluids spilled on the printed surface area can be removed with a damp cloth.
They are also not susceptible to variations in humidity in the atmosphere, within normal limits; nor have we found them to be prone to color-shift due to the reaction of the inks to contaminants in the atmosphere, such as ozone; or to UV radiation. All of our standard prints are all produced on acid-free or ph neutral paper stock, and are actually less susceptible to acidification damage from exposure to lignin products in non-archival framing than most lithographic offset prints, although we do recommend archival framing to retail clients.
Q: Can these prints be dry mounted?
A: We suggest that you treat our prints as fine works of art on paper and do not mount them, using any techniques whatsoever. Because the printing method used in the production of the prints itself uses thermal technology, we do not recommend the use of heat-activated dry mounting equipment if the prints must be mounted. Exposure to heat in excess of 150 degrees Farenheit can cause color shifting and modification of the reflectance value of the UV protective surface on the prints. Cold-vacuum-table mounting or other cold-mount techniques have been regularly used with no untoward effects upon the prints.
Q: Can the image sizes of stock or custom prints be modified to our specifications?
A: On custom orders of prints in quantities of 10 or more each, images can be scaled in any percentage up to a maximum size of approximately 10 inches by 14 inches. We do not recommend scaling prints beyond 150% of their original size, as this can result in degradation of the quality of the images. Before we produce any custom prints, however, we will produce and send you a final proof for your approval. You will then send this print back to us and we will match it from the record of color settings we have made, and from visual inspection by our artists/printers.
Q: Using your printing technique, can you exactly match the colors of an original work that we would like to have reproduced?
A: If you require color matching equivalent to CIE or LAB color, the answer is no. Although the color gamut of our systems is considerably greater than that possible with offset prints, it does not equal that of the professional imaging proofers that sometimes use six to eight separate ink colors, or to thermal or dye-sublimation imagesetting printers used to make matchprints. In adjusting color we aim for the closest match to original art as possible. For custom work, we will always provide you with a sample print for your approval before we produce prints in any quantity.
If your artwork requires extensive color correction, using Photoshop or other image editing software, these services are billed at a cost of $60/hr. Before we proceed with any editing work, we will contact you with a firm estimate of what these charges will be.
Q: Can you print metallic or fluorescent colors?
A: No. For this type of work we suggest contacting a printer specializing in serigraphy.
Q: Can you print on canvas?
A: We can print on almost any substrate, but do not specialize in printing on canvas. If you need prints on canvas that simulate original oil paintings we can produce them for you quite economically through one of our commercial service partners who specialize in the area of publishing replicas of oil paitings on canvas.
Q. Can you print on the highest quality artist's papers such as Arches, and on deckled edge papers?
A. We have published prints on literally hundreds of different kinds of papers, from newsprint to hand-made papers that cost in excess of a hundred dollars a sheet. Most clients choose our 255GMS (90#) paper which has deckled or torn edges on three sides in the 11 x 15 inch size, and two deckled/torn edges in the 15 x 22 inch size. If you have a special paper in mind, we can probably get it for you, as we have access to thousands of fine papers; or send us a couple of sheets of what you would like to print on to test, and we will run sample prints for your approval.
Q: Is your process basically a digital printing technique?
A: Yes.
Q. Can you accept digital files, and if so, in what format?
A. We can accept digital files, as high resolution TIFFs or PSDs (Photoshop), on CD-ROM or Zip. We do not accept files as email attachments, PDF documents, or FTP. Currently, wide-gamut color matching between different computer systems is still in its infancy. Also, because of the conversions from analog to digital and back on both your system and ours which would take place in this process, we prefer to receive scanner-ready flat original art or professional photographs, so there is only one A/D conversion. Call us if you have any particular technical questions regarding reproduction of your artwork from digital files.
Q: What is the largest size flat art that you can scan?
A: Using our own equipment, we can scan artwork up to 11 x 17 inches, and we do not charge for this service when producing our own prints from flat camera-ready art. If you have flat art larger than this size, or slides or negatives, we must send the artwork out to be professionally scanned on negative or drum scanners. In this case, you will be charged only our own cost for out-of-house high resolution scanning, plus a small service charge. We emphatically suggest however that you provide us with original camera-ready material or with a professional photograph, smaller than 11 x 17, as a master.
Q: Can you accept cibachromes, inkjet prints, color copies, machine-produced photographs or offset lithographic prints as original art for scanning?
A: We regularly reproduce finished replicas from many of these types of output. We do not suggest you send photographs that have not been processed by a professional photo lab however, as professional scanning equipment cannot read the colors in machine-produced photographs accurately. The quality of what we can give you in final replicas is wholly dependent upon the quality of what is given to us -- (GIGO). If we feel that the material you send is not reproducible, we will not work with it and will return it to you with our explanation.
Q: Most giclées have very narrow borders. How wide are the borders around the images of your prints?
A: We print 8 x 10 inches on paper stock that measures 11 x 15 inches, which is a minimum border of approximately 1-1/2 inches to the edge of the paper. On images larger than 8 x 10 up to 10 x 14, we print on paper sheets of approximately 15 x 22 inches. We can customize your work in this respect in any way to meet your individual requirements. Because of the deckle edge on many fine art papers, some framers have found that framing our replicas unmatted, floating to show the edges of the paper, is very effective. If your work is to be matted and framed, and you do not require wide borders, we can optimize the cost to you of paper stock by minimizing borders, if you prefer.
Q: Can you print multiple images on a single large sheet; simulating the "window pane" effect seen in some etchings and other multiple prints?
A: We can print almost any number of images on a large sheet, within limitations. We have done prints in which up to nine separate images were printed on a single large piece of paper, each with its own simulated plate mark, imitating the appearance of nine separate intaglio plates struck on a single sheet, called sometimes in the trade as "window-panes". This is very dramatic.
Q: As an artist, can I rework and embellish the prints you make of my artwork with oil paints/acrylics/other media after I receive them, so as to make each a unique work of art?
A: It depends on what medium you want to use to embellish the prints after they are finished. We can treat the surface of our prints with workable fixative that makes this possible for certain media, and we can also apply surface brushstrokes to enhance even further the look of original paint on paper. Beyond that, because of the varying nature of embellishment material that can be applied to the surface of our prints, we cannot guarantee the longevity of the adhesion of any material you may add to the print after we have processed it and shipped it to you.
Q: Can you print images on my own paper stock?
A: We can print on many substrates, including archival artist's papers; linen and silk and even rigid surfaces. If you have specific needs, we are glad to discuss them with you. If you have a particular substrate of your own on which you would like us to print, we ask you to provide us with a number of samples for testing before we proceed. We will determine if our technique is possible on your base medium.
Q: Can you modify the look of our original art to suggest the effects of age or antiquity?
A: Actually, this is a specialty for which our company has become recognized by a number of our wholesale clients, including galleries, department stores and interior designers. Not only can we print on simulated antique papers, parchment, oriental papers and papyrus -- not possible with any other process -- we can manipulate the background of images to simulate the effects of aging, acidification, foxing, etc. for custom projects. We welcome interesting challenges that help us expand our capabilities.
Q: What are your pricing guidelines?
A: As a general guideline: for quantity orders of ten identical prints or more of a single subject, (which is our minimum order) your costs may be estimated on the basis of a retail list price of $2 per united inch (height + width) of the printed image area. As quantities of each print increase, this cost can be reduced. For straight, unmodified reproductions of your own work, we do not apply any set-up charges. For extensive image manipulation in Photoshop or other image-editing programs, we will always give you an estimate of the time and expense involved before we undertake any work.
Q. Can your prints be delivered overnight from stock on hand?
A. No. Every print we make is produced on demand, which means that the original from which it is copied has to be retrieved either physically or electronically and output to our equipment for each order. Time from order to delivery customarily is two to three weeks.
Q. Is each one of your prints identical in quality to all the others? In other words: will a print we reorder weeks or months after a previous order identically match the first one we purchased?
A. Prints can only be guaranteed to be identical for lots that are ordered at the same time. If you require a precise color match to one of our previously produced replica prints, you must provide the original for us to work from each time you place an order. We will do our best to match it in every respect. We can keep a digital record of your image on file, but for technical reasons, we cannot guarantee exact color matching for separate or subsequent orders.
Q. Can you scale artwork we provide to smaller or larger sizes?
A. Prints can be scaled down to almost any smaller size, and up to approximately 150% of the size of the originals. If you require a specific size, within 1/8th of an inch either in height or width, calculate the exact size you need in proportion to the original and we will do the best we can to reproduce it in the size you require. For orders of multiple copies of any one subject at any one time, all the image sizes will be identical.
Q: Do you publish a print catalog?
A: Because we only do custom publishing from original images that our clients provide to us, we do not publish a printed catalog. If we were to do so, we would have to either charge for it or to severly increase prices for our printing services. If you have an idea of what kind of artwork you are looking for, we would be glad to investigate our library of sources and try to fulfill your needs.
Q: What are your payment terms and shipping costs?
A: If you have never ordered from us before, we request a 50% deposit with your purchase order, and the balance C.O.D. If you require other terms, please write us for a credit application. Institutions and D&B rated firms submit P.O. for 30-day net billing. All domestic shipping is FOB New York, NY; FedEx ground or USPS priority insured unless otherwise requested. International orders shipped USPS insured prepaid in full by international money order, bank draft on a U.S. bank or money transfer only. We do not accept credit cards.
Q: I have other questions. Whom do I contact?
A: Call Joe Dolice at 212-529-2025, fax 212-260-9217 or email him at joe@dolice.com. For snail mail, the mailing address is: J. L. Dolice, 649 East 9th Street, New York, NY 10009.