Our process

We started Ellipress as an experiment to see if we can make prints and sell them, while sticking to some basic principals: We only sell things we like, and we use the best quality tools and materials we can find.

We make most of our prints using Epson inkjet printers with Epson Ultrachrome HD inks. These pigment inks have a really long life and a wide colour range, especially when used with top quality archival art papers.

Some people call these kinds of prints giclée but we think this is a made up word to try to make the inkjet process appear artisanal. We just call them archival prints. This website is giclée free!

Giclée

Giclée is a fancy French term for inkjet. Originally it was ascribed to output from Iris printers but now includes any archival inkjet large format printer.

The papers we use have a very small amount of surface texture and give excellent colour rendition, making them perfect for illustrations and graphic art. Some of these papers contain a small amount of Optical Brightener Agents*, which help boost their white appearance by reflecting UV light, just like you might add to your washing machine.

GSM

is often referred to as the weight or thickness of the paper. This is actually the weight, in grams, of a square metre sheet of the material.

Hahnemühle Photo Rag is our favourite premium archival 100% cotton artist paper. It’s smooth and white with just a tiny amount of texture. It’s available in 308 and 188gsm weights.

Somerset Photo is an alternative archival 100% cotton artist paper. It has a slightly flatter appearance than the Hahnemühle Photo Rag and is ideal for black and white reproductions.

Epson Hot Press Bright is a 100% cotton rag with a heavy 330 gsm weight. It has a bright white smooth surface.

*Optical Brightener Agents (OBAs)

Most of the art papers we use contain a low amount of Optical Brightener Agents, or OBAs, in them. Some printers would recommend that you should print into papers without any optical brighteners in them at all. A small amount of OBAs makes paper appear a little whiter. Which is nice right? There’s no proof that OBAs in paper make prints less archival but it is true that OBAs in the papers lose their effectiveness over time revealing the natural, often slightly more yellow, colour of the paper behind. So if the print is behind glass and not placed next to non-OBA papers for comparison then the effect will be minimal. So now you know!