Giclees can be printed on any number of media, from canvas to watercolor paper, to vinyl, even transparent acetates.  Giclees are superior to traditional photo lithography in nearly every way. The colors are brighter, longer lasting, and are so high resolution that they are virtually 'continuous tone',  rather than tiny dots.  The range, or "gamut", of color for Giclees is far beyond that of photo lithography, and details are crisper.

Giclees use inkjet technology, but far more sophisticated than your desktop printer.  The process employs six colors , light cyan, cyan, light magenta, magenta, yellow and black (sometimes TWO blacks) of lightfast (fade resistant) pigmented inks and finer, more numerous replaceable printheads, resulting in a wider color gamut, and the ability to use various media to print on.  The ink is sprayed onto the page,  mixing the color on the page to create truer shades and hues, my new Z 3200 From hp. will have 12 colors.

Giclees were originally developed as a proofing system for traditional photo lithographic printing presses.  But it soon became apparent that the presses were having a hard time delivering the quality and brilliant color of the Giclee proofs.  Giclee's evolved into the new darlings of the art world.  They are coveted by collectors for their fidelity and quality, and desired by galleries and artists alike because they don't have to be produced in huge quantities with their large layout of capital and storage.