Limited Edition Prints Explained

Prints are often the first original works a collector buys, and some of the most rewarding. They are also full of conventions that are easy to misread: numbers in pencil, initials in the margin, stamps pressed into the paper. Once you know what they mean, they tell you a great deal about the object in front of you.

Original prints and reproductions

The most important distinction comes first. An original print is a work the artist conceived as a print, made from a matrix the artist created or closely supervised: an etched or engraved plate, a lithographic stone or plate, a woodblock, a screen. Each impression is an original work of art.

A reproduction is a copy of a work that exists in another medium, typically a photograph of a painting printed by a photomechanical or digital process. Reproductions can be beautiful, and some are signed and numbered by the artist, but they are not original prints and should not be priced or described as if they were. Archival inkjet prints, often called giclées, can be either: some artists make original works digitally and print them as editions, while many giclées are simply reproductions of paintings. The description should make clear which it is.

Common printmaking techniques

• Etching and engraving. Lines are cut or bitten into a metal plate, which is inked and printed under pressure. Look for the plate mark, a slight indentation around the image.
• Lithography. The image is drawn on stone or a plate and printed using the way grease and water repel each other.
• Screenprinting. Ink is pushed through a fine mesh screen, one colour at a time, giving flat, vivid areas of colour.
• Woodcut and linocut. The image is carved into a block, and the raised surface is inked and printed.
• Digital prints. Made from a digital file on an inkjet printer with archival pigments and paper.

Reading the numbers

A limited edition print is usually numbered as a fraction in pencil, often in the lower left margin: 12/50 means this is impression number twelve in an edition of fifty. The total edition size matters more than the individual number, because it tells you how many exist.

It is often assumed that lower numbers are better. For most modern editions that is not the case: impressions are not necessarily numbered in the order they were printed, and many techniques do not wear the matrix in a way you could see. Treat the number as identification, not as a ranking.

Proofs outside the edition

Beyond the numbered edition, a small number of proofs are often printed. They are marked rather than numbered within the edition:

• AP or EA (artist's proof, épreuve d'artiste). Kept by the artist, traditionally a small number in relation to the edition.
• PP (printer's proof). Given to the printer or printmaker.
• BAT (bon à tirer). The approved proof that the printer matches for the rest of the edition.
• TP (trial proof). An earlier proof made while the image was still being worked out, sometimes different from the final edition.
• HC (hors commerce). Literally "not for sale", originally intended for exhibition or reference.

Proofs are genuine parts of the printing, and some collectors seek them out. They also add to the total number of impressions that exist, which is worth knowing.

Signatures and marks

Most limited edition prints are signed by hand in pencil below the image, usually on the right, with the number on the left. A signature in the plate is part of the printed image itself, so it appears identically on every impression and is not a hand signature. Some prints carry an estate stamp or an estate signature applied after the artist's death, which should be described as such.

Printers and publishers often mark their editions with a blind stamp or chop mark, a small embossed symbol pressed into the paper without ink, usually in a lower corner. These marks, along with the paper's watermark, help to identify an edition.

Restrikes and open editions

A restrike is a later printing from the original matrix, sometimes made long after the original edition and sometimes after the artist's death. Restrikes are real impressions from the artist's matrix but are generally less sought after than the original edition and should be described as restrikes. An open edition has no fixed limit on how many can be printed.

Condition issues specific to prints

Works on paper are sensitive to light and to the materials around them. When buying a print, check for:

• light-fading, especially in colour prints that have hung in bright rooms
• mat burn or light-staining, a brown line or tone from an acidic mount
• foxing, small reddish-brown spots
• trimmed margins, which reduce both appearance and value
• creases, tears and handling marks
• being laid down, that is, glued to a backing board

Our guide to reading a condition report explains these terms in more detail.

Questions to ask about a print

• Is this an original print or a reproduction?
• What is the technique, and who printed and published it?
• What is the edition size, and how many proofs were made?
• Is it signed by hand, and where?
• Is it recorded in a catalogue of the artist's prints?
• Has it ever been framed in direct light or against an acidic mount?

For the wider question of authenticity, see What a Certificate of Authenticity Really Proves.

Prints on Meridian's

Listings on Meridian's can record a print's edition number and edition size, whether it is signed and where, and any catalogue references the seller provides, alongside the condition notes and documents. That information is the seller's own, so ask the seller directly about anything you need to know. The free AI research consultant on each listing can help you find out whether a catalogue of the artist's prints exists and what is publicly known about an edition.