The earliest were done in 1989 using the Iris Graphics models 3024 and 3047 continuous inkjet printers, a company currently owned by Hewlett-Packard. This was achieved after much experimentation and today it is one of the most widely used method of putting photos on canvas. Giclee is simply a sophisticated way of inkjet printing, which merges the utility of using many professional grades format printers with those archival pigment inks, paper and canvas of acid free watercolor. The process can also be done on other mediums such as fine art and photo-based paper, but canvas is the favorite medium for many because of its many advantages. Loosely translated from French, it means spray or a spurt of liquid and they are today created typically using professional 8-color to 12-color ink-jet printers. The printers used for giclee prints use the CMYK color process but may also have multiple cartridges

There are many reasons why giclee prints are so popular today and these include the fact that the process produces very high quality and better color accuracy prints compared to its competitors, the technology is available in all corners of the world and specialized printers by such companies as Epson, MacDermid Colorspan, & Hewlett-Packard have been made which makes them cheaper because of the competition between the companies, the companies printing on photo canvas have emerged everywhere resulting in reduced costs and if you are interested in selling the pictures you make, then you can test market your art before doing mass production because it is relatively easy and cheap to reproduce art work once it is digitally archived. Other reasons for the popularity are the fact that very little time is used before you get the final product and that you are able to edit your photo resulting in final products that are of higher quality than even the original sample. You should note that it is your right to approve previews and you should not pay before you get the final product and you are satisfied with your work. Since no screen or other mechanical devices are used, there are no visible dot screen patterns and this means that the image maintains all the tonalities and hues of the original painting.

Apart from printing on photo canvas, other applications are reproductions of original two-dimensional artwork or computer generated work. You can even take your child's drawing and re-produce it using this method for posterity. You should note that charging is per meter and so if you want a very small picture, it might not be economical because most printers have a minimum order of one meter and so canvas you had paid for will be left unused.

Putting using this method can earn you a lot of money because New York City is growing into an attraction for investors interested in photos made using this method. This is growing to other places, but your work has to be of very high quality and mostly done by a well-known artist. Get your self a photo canvas and it will add aesthetic value to your wall and your house.