So, giclee prints are not really prints at all?

[Sattua]

I have been browsing around trying to find some Maria Sibylla Merian prints. Very few are available (at art.com, allposters.com, postercheckout.com) and they are all expensive “giclee” prints. Art.com explains that “giclee” means that a black and white outline of the picture was printed out, and then some Joe Schmoe painted-by-number inside the lines.

A) So it isn’t really Maria Merian’s work, it’s half hers and half Joe Schmoe’s
B) We’re supposed to pay a premium for it.

Do I have the situation in hand?

[Swallowed_My_Cellphone]

A giclée print is basically a very high tech version of an ink-jet print. The word “gicleur” means “nozzle” in English. The inks now days are archival and aren’t supposed to fade (or at least they giclee prints are supposed to be comparable to photographs, but the process hasn’t been around long enough to prove that’s the case).

The process have been developed to be as faithful to the original image as possible.

ETA: here’s Wiki’s take on it. It is a more hands-on limited edition type process than say off-set poster printing.

[Squink]

@Sattua

Do I have the situation in hand?

Wikipedia mentions nothing about Joe Schmoe painting in the outlines.
It sounds like Giclée is all about inkjet printers:

Giclée (IPA: /ʒiˈklɛɪ/ or /dʒiˈklɛɪ/, from French /ʒiˈkle/), commonly pronounced “zhee-clay,” is an invented term for the process of making fine art prints from a digital source using ink-jet printing.
The word “giclée”, from the French language word “gicleur” meaning “nozzle”, was created by Jack Duganne, a printmaker working in the field, to represent any inkjet based digital print used as fine art.

[Sunspace]

According to this Google definition, giclee printing appears to be a very high-quality form of inkjet printing.

[CalMeacham]

The word “gicleur” means “nozzle” in English.

Ahh – I see. “Giclée printing” sounds classier than “nozzle printing”.

[Sattua]

So what on earth is art.com on about with the paint-by-number?

Look at the text here, regarding one of the prints I’m thinking about:

http://www.art.com/asp/sp-asp/_/PD--11790212/SP--A/IGID--757824/Garden_Treasures_V.htm?sOrig=SCH&ui=9483B1EC8835494F92997614894F0CC2

[qubed]

@CalMeacham

Ahh – I see. “Giclée printing” sounds classier than “nozzle printing”.

No, it sounds classier than “i printed this off my $99 CircuitCity inkjet printer”

Well, when you hear the word “inkjet” that’s the first thing most people would think of, even if it’s not the case.

[Sunspace]

@Sattua

So what on earth is art.com on about with the paint-by-number?

Look at the text here, regarding one of the prints I’m thinking about:

http://www.art.com/asp/sp-asp/_/PD--11790212/SP--A/IGID--757824/Garden_Treasures_V.htm?sOrig=SCH&ui=9483B1EC8835494F92997614894F0CC2

Bwuh? It says it’s “hand-pulled” from a reproduction of the original engraving plate, then watercolour-painted. I don’t see anything regarding any form of digital printing.

[Swallowed_My_Cellphone]

@Sunspace

Bwuh? It says it’s “hand-pulled” from a reproduction of the original engraving plate, then watercolour-painted. I don’t see anything regarding any form of digital printing.

Me neither. It doesn’t claim to be a giclée.

It’s an engraving print that has been hand-painted with watercolours.

I’ve done linoprints that way.

But if I was buying a print, it would bug me if it was not hand-painted by the original artist. If that’s the case, then the OP’s assessment is correct. It’s been pulled from (presumably) the original plate, and then hand painted by Joe Shmoe.