Digital Prints

Print Council of America’s definition of traditional
printmaking methods where “the
impression or print is made directly from
the original material by the artist or pursuant
to his or her directions; the image does
not exist unless it is printed.”) Therefore, a
print made from a digitally captured,
scanned, or manipulated photo is an original
digital print. (Even traditional photographs
have always been considered
“multiple” original prints.) So is a print
made from what a digital artist creates with
a digital graphics tablet or related software.
These two main divisions represent two different
ways of looking at the digital printing
process. (Of course, there are other ways,
too.) Why is all this nitpicking important?
Because in the world of art, the idea of “originality”
is carefully considered by many galleries,
art festivals, and art buyers. Just as the label “photograph” can affect a work’s desirability,
acceptance, and price, so too do the labels “reproduction” or “original print.”
Chapter 1 ■ Navigating the Digital Landscape 31
Printmaker Lester Wilson of
Greencastle Photo Service, Greencastle,
Indiana, checks a digital reproduction
from his ColorSpan Giclée PrintMaker
FA inkjet printer (in background).
Courtesy of Seth Rossman
An original print of JD Jarvis’ The
Unwoven Tale was featured in a group
exhibit at the Cork Gallery at Lincoln
Center, New York City in 2004. The
artist explains: “The piece is an
example of the amalgamation or
synthesis of natural media digital
painting techniques and tools, and
algorithmic or machine-art imagery
created inside a filtering software.”
Courtesy of JD Jarvis/
www.dunkingbirdproductions.com