Seiko Epson pursued ever-more-detailed expression of color since its first days selling scanners and inkjet printers. The company boasts scanners featuring high resolution/high gradation, along with a deep subject depth. It also offers inkjet printers which produce images of unprecedentedly high quality using six or seven colors of microdots. Using this combination to scan and print artworks enables one to reproduce every nuance, shadow, irregularity, and layer of paint in the original work. As a result, this technique has evolved as a technique for making prints of analog works. This technique even reproduces neutral colors, subtle brush strokes, and media texture at a quality beyond what older methods such as offset printing and silk screening can provide. This scanner-and-inkjet-based technique has been named “PiezoGraph.” It has attracted attention as an epochal advance in the ability to express the artist’s vision.

Currently, the PiezoGraph, which has evolved as a technique for making prints of analog works, is not simply used to make prints. Rather, it is unfolding as an expressive method which can create new value on its own. The main elements cited as underpinning its development are the exceptionally broad range of media to which it can print and its ability to apply digital technology.

- The wide selection of media expands creative possibilities

Because the PiezoGraph is inkjet-based, no contact is made with the print medium. It does not apply force to paper or medium, as with previous prints. The media compatibility of its ink is also excellent. For these reasons, it offers a great degree of freedom in selecting a printing medium. Thus, it is even successful in capturing the feel of Japanese paper (washi) and cloth. The broad selection of media translates into broad creative possibilities. It can be described as a technique offering a different form of expression than offset printing and silk-screening.

- Using digital technology to produce works original unto themselves

The PiezoGraph turns analog artworks into digital ones. It therefore allows the colors of an original work to be adjusted, or for multiple materials to be combined in the creation of a new work. Moreover, it can be used as an intermediary step, whereby works printed using it are then retouched further with paint. This is not a mere duplication technique; it is a form of artistic expression for creating works original unto themselves.

Trademarks
PiezoGraph and EPSON PiezoGraph (and their Japanese equivalents) are registered trademarks of Seiko Epson Corporation. website