GEMINI LAUNCH NEW PRINTER

GEMINI DIGITAL COLOUR PRINTERS NOW HAVE A GICLEE PRINTER FOR SHORT HIGH QUALITY PRINT RUNS

Already the longest established Indigo digital colour printers in the UK, Gemini Digital Colour Ltd of Bridgend are delighted to announce that renowned artists Jane and David Carpanini will officially open our new Giclee fine art printing facility at 12.00 Noon on the 25th of April.

David Carpanini was born in Glamorgan in 1946. He was trained at Gloucestershire College of Art and Design, Cheltenham; the Royal College of Art and the University of Reading.

In 1969 he won the British Institutions Awards Committee annual scholarship for engraving and has since exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy and other major exhibitions in the UK and abroad.

His work has been the subject of three television films and has been acquired by numerous public collections including: the National Museum of Wales; the National Library of Wales; the Contemporary Art Society for Wales; British Steel; National Coal Board; Glynn Vivian Gallery, Swansea; Newport Museum; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; Government Art Collection, D.O.E.; as well as many University and College collections in the UK.

He is President of the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers and formerly Professor of Art at the University of Wolverhampton.

Jane Carpanini was elected a member of the Royal Watercolour Society in 1978. As one of the youngest practitioners to gain membership of this distinguished body, she established a reputation for expansively composed and meticulous watercolours of the towns and villages, mountains and coastline of North Wales. Her work is represented in the collections of the National Library and the National Museums of Wales. In 1983 she won the Hunting Group's prize for the Watercolour of the Year by a British Artist.
There will also be a limited number of specially invited guests from the local Art community and the media.
Gemini have invested significantly in a state-of-the-art Roland printer, using eight colours for subtle matching. Printing on either fine art papers or even canvas - the new machine will give artists the facility to produce anything from a postcard to a limited edition print big enough to cover a wall! Unlike conventional printing, new technology means there are no fixed minimum quantities. For example, if an artist wishes to release a limited edition print, with a run of 300, rather than printing off all 300 at once, Gemini would produce them in batches of 5 or 10 as they were sold. This obviously cut's the cost to the artist and eliminates waste - no unsold prints under the bed!
The inks are light fast and fade resistant so the colour should remain will to the original for many years to come. The reproduction is so accurate that on more than one occasion, artists have failed to distinguish between their original and copy printed using the Roland.

Giclee - a quick guide…

What is it?

Giclee prints are widely regarded as the highest quality reproduction currently available.

The benefits of Giclee at a glance

· Very high-quality reproduction
· Superb colour matching
· Look and feel of original artwork
· Perfectly reproduces subtle tones and graduations
· Light fast - won't fade or discolour
· On-demand service - order only what you sell
· No waste,
· Greatly reduced 'up-front' costs.

We use the Hahnemuhle range of mould made papers, which have the look, feel and general texture of the original artist's medium. The process also produces wonderful canvasses which once stretched, varnished and framed are a very faithful reproduction and hard to tell from an original oil painting.

Fine Art Printers Gemini Digital Colour Ltd have added Giclee to their formidable digital printing armoury. Capitalising on the tremendous success of their short-run work produced on their two Indigo Digital Colour offset presses, the brand new Roland FJ500 Hi-Fi jet will give their clients an almost bewildering choice.

The Roland prints in Eight (8) light-fast colours for total accuracy in matching original artwork. In addition to the conventional four process colours (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) it has a Light Cyan, Light Magenta, Orange and Green. This enhances the colour gamut to the tune of 16 million plus different colours!

The Printer produces ultra-fine random droplets of ink at a resolution of 1440 dpi. Even viewed under a magnifying glass, there is no discernible dot or screen visible - in fact, in side-by-side tests, several artists have failed to distinguish between their own original and a copy produced on the Roland.

Running fine art papers or canvas up to 54" (1371mm) wide, the printer gives Gemini the ability to print anything from a postcard to a Picasso. With the emphasis firmly on small print-runs and limited editions, Gemini caters for many self-publishing artists.

Fine Art Business Manager Craig Whitney had this to say " We are very excited at the prospect of being able to produce very high quality reproductions at almost any size. The Roland was chosen for its versatility and reliability, as well as the 8 colour range which gives such accurate reproduction."

Fine Art Trade Guild members, UK Digital Printer of the Year 1997 and the UK's longest-established Indigo Digital Colour printers, Gemini have a heritage in print, (through letterpress, lithographic and now digital) which stretches back to 1895.

Gemini has just published a guide for artists, which illustrates the possibilities - and suggests how to avoid the potential pitfalls - of getting into print. As well as money- saving tips and ideas, it contains technical information and hints to ensure no unnecessary time or money is wasted. This is available free of charge to anyone by calling or e-mailing

"Our aim is to provide the same personal service and affordable prices that have proved so popular over the years. So many of our Art clients have come by recommendation that we haven't even advertised ourselves yet! Once the art market gets wind of this one-stop approach to high-quality colour, available virtually on-demand with no minimum quantity at any size, I'm sure even more people will be finding out just how good we are"

Craig Whitney - Gemini Digital Colour Ltd -
Also attached - Background Information

Gemini Profile and Background

A brief introduction to the services Gemini Digital Colour can offer: -

We already work with many artists (including members of the Royal Watercolour Society) and Fine Art Publishers, to produce:

· Limited edition prints
· Posters
· Greetings cards
· Postcards
· Invitations to exhibitions
· Catalogues and portfolio's

And a huge variety of associated printed matter…

The high quality and relatively low cost is always very well received and we are keen to assist more artists to get their work into print.

· We specialise in shorter print runs, so we don't impose any minimum quantity.

That makes our services very attractive to artists who don't want to produce many hundreds or even thousands of copies of their work. It's an ideal way to find out if a particular work has wider commercial appeal, for test marketing, or producing limited edition prints. In contrast to most other Digital systems, to reproduce the finer details of fine art printing, we use ink rather than toner (most colour photocopiers use toner).

· We offer a free proofing service and we can print on a wide variety of environmentally friendly paper stocks.

We can work from any of the following:-

· Original Artwork
· Transparency
· Good Quality Photograph
· Disc/CD
· ISDN
· E-mail

· We are one of very few Digital Colour Printers in the UK who are Fine Art Trade Guild members, so you can be assured colour matching and quality are of the highest standards.

In 1997 we were voted UK Digital Printer of the Year and have been finalists three years running in that prestigious competition. Furthermore, we are the longest established Digital Colour printers, (using the unique Indigo presses,) in the whole of the UK.