I ordered a 40 x 60 family Giclee print in sepia from a lab I won't mention now. It was great but the right eye on the wife and mother is noticeably lighter than her left eye. There is an area maybe 4 or 5 square inches that is lighter that the image on the file, but it is only the eye that really shows. The mom is blond and the light area doesn't look bad except for the eye.

But it looks weird and the client won't accept it.

I sent the lab a picture of the Giclee prints and the original file I sent them showing that the file was not the way it looks on the print. I just sent it Friday and haven't heard from them. I will of course call them Monday.

But the easiest, fastest thing would be if I could have an artist or retoucher just retouches the print. I could probably do it myself, and I have the Kodak retouching dyes.

But would those Kodak dyes work on the Giclee canvas? The great retouchers in my area all retired. And none of them know about want to do to the Giclee surface, what inks or dyes to use.

Normally one would just reprint it, but it takes a long time to ship a 40 x 60. If would be faster to retouch if we could do it and have it look great. Shipping for a 40 x 60 is about two weeks by freight.

Does any one have any idea if it is possible to retouch a Giclee print, and what one would do it with?

In all my web browsing I have never heard of anyone coming up with a way to retouch inkjets. Never. Unless you decided to actually paint with acrylics or oils right on the canvas. But then that a completely different product.

Thanks for the courtesy of a reply. It would be painting right on the canvas. I have no idea if in fact labs do this. If a tiny piece were to fleck off while stretching the Giclee canvas on to the stretcher, does the lab do a little touch up instead of reprinting the entire picture?

If I had a print I didn't care about I could experiment but I was hoping some one with some expertise could give us an answer based on experience.

Let us hope. Thanks again.

Hi Abra,
I hope you don't mind my butting in. I am interested in whether you ever found a solution? Based on your description it sounds like it's a lab problem. Why isn't the lab just reprinting? Why does it take so long to ship? I would assume you are making a good profit on this print so why not pay extra to have it shipped by FedEx, UPS or some other shipper by express if time is of the essence?

I hope you get the problem solved.

Regards

Aloha Abra!

I've been keeping an eye on this thread to see what others might have to say...This is NOT my specialty, but I have taken lessons in retouching prints, and I have done lots of minor retouching on my canvas prints.

There are a couple issues. If your lab used a finishing coat like Premier Art's heavy roll on art guard, you probably won't get anything to stick to it. If they used a lacquer based spray coating, you can.

For little spots on canvas I have used both ink, (from a pen...don't tell anyone...), and acrylic paints. For slightly larger areas I use the acrylic paints, then put another coat of finishing spray.

I think retouching dyes would work also, but matching the colors is critical. And with the problem you describe, it sounds like a daunting task, and really should be the lab's responsibility to reprint or fix.

All the little quality control issues that crop up with labs is the primary reason I finally made the decision to do all my own printing! It's demanding of your time, but at least if you're not happy with the print, you can do it over NOW, and not have to wait to receive it and then be disappointed, and hassle with the lab to make it good.

I hope it all works out for you.
Aloha,

Thanks for your reply.

The lab did agree to reprint, and asked that I cut out about 1 square foot of the poorly printed area to send back for them to use in training.

I might experiment with some of the remaining canvas just to see what happens.

The lab itself doesn't retouch an area like the face, but if there is a small white fleck they will dab on marker pins. As you know professional level marker pens come in a big choice of colors.

But I have wondered how people who print their own giclee prints would handle it. It is expensive to reprint a big print due to a small flaw, so I imagine some photographers have experimented with various media, as you have.

Thanks for the help. I lived in Hawaii in the 60's for two years and for a summer around 1971. I have such fond memories of it then. I have been afraid to come back and see it so greatly changed, as it must be. It was so pristine then, comparatively speaking. And in ones' memories it is even more magical. Aloha!