Prints
How to Choose Art Prints
Art prints begin in different places. In an original print, the image is made through the printing process itself. The cut edge of a linocut and the bitten line of an etching belong to the image, rather than to a painting somewhere else. A woodcut print transfers ink from the raised, uncarved surface of a wooden block. In a screen print made as artwork, a stencil stops ink at parts of a mesh screen. A reproduction begins with an existing work, whether a drawing, painting, or another print. Posters cross the same territory. A vintage lithographic poster may have been printed for the street; a new offset poster may begin as a digital design.
Paper changes an image before the frame enters the picture. Fine art prints can be made on smooth paper or on a sheet whose grain remains visible through the ink. A bright white sheet can sharpen a black line; a warmer sheet changes the space around it. Texture affects how ink takes and how light returns from the surface. The sheet may have deckled edges, a wide margin, a printer's mark, or almost no paper visible beyond the image. Those margins matter when a signature or edition number sits below the impression. Vintage prints may carry folds or other marks from their earlier life; a new poster may have a clean, full sheet.
A print's stated dimensions may describe the image, the full sheet, or the outside of its frame. For a framed print, the outer dimension is the one that occupies the wall. A mat can give a small impression more space without enlarging the image. Framed art prints arrive with that relationship already set. An unframed sheet leaves room to show its full margin or cover part of it. A single large print and a group of smaller ones can cover the same width while asking for different viewing distances. Glass or acrylic adds another decision: the paper needs space behind it, and the finished piece needs a place where direct sun will not fall across it.
What's the difference between an original print and a reproduction?
An original lithograph print transfers an image from a prepared stone or metal plate to paper. The artist draws on that surface with a greasy material; ink takes in the drawn areas and is repelled by the damp blank areas. An etching print takes ink from lines bitten into a metal plate. Woodcuts, linocuts, engravings, and screenprints can also be original impressions. A reproduction begins with an image that already exists. Both objects are prints.
Art reproductions of historical works are usually made from a photograph or scan of a surviving painting, drawing, poster, or printed sheet. Vintage art prints are older sheets themselves, whether they began as original impressions or reproductions in their own time. When an older sheet is photographed and printed again, the artist had no part in making that later sheet. It is not an impression from the artist's edition or hand-signed and numbered by that artist. A signature visible within the image was copied with it. A separate edition or estate approval would need its own documentation.
What is a giclee print?
Giclée refers to fine art inkjet printing from a digital file. That file might reproduce a painting, record an earlier print, or contain an image made digitally. The term describes the printing method; it cannot tell the whole story of the image's origin. Paper matters here, too. A smooth sheet holds fine detail differently from one with a pronounced grain. Ask what image the file was made from and what paper carries the ink.
What does signed and numbered mean on a limited edition print?
A limited edition has a stated number of impressions in its main run. On a mark such as 12/50, 12 identifies this impression and 50 is the edition size; the fraction does not promise it was the twelfth sheet through the press. Artist's proofs may sit outside that numbered run and should be identified separately. A signed and numbered print can be an original impression or an editioned reproduction; those marks alone do not establish which. A hand signature is different from one printed as part of the image. An open edition has no fixed edition size.
What size art print should I get?
Check whether the dimensions describe the image, the whole sheet, or a finished frame. A mat and frame can make a modest image occupy substantially more wall. For a large art print, measure the finished width as well as the image; the frame may be the edge the room reads. Above a sofa or sideboard, roughly two-thirds of the furniture's width is a common starting point for the finished arrangement, whether it holds one print or several. On an open wall, a center around 57 inches from the floor is another hanging convention.
How do I frame an art print?
First decide whether the paper's edge and any writing in the margin should remain visible. A window mat can show the image while covering part of the sheet; a float mount can reveal its outline. A framed art print needs a gap between the paper and glazing, supplied by a mat or spacer. For work meant to be kept, ask for conservation-quality materials in contact with the paper and a mounting method that can be reversed. The frame opening must fit the sheet, not merely the printed image.
Will UV glass keep an art print from fading?
UV-filtering glass or acrylic reduces one source of light damage. It does not make direct sunlight a safe place for paper: visible light can also change inks and the sheet itself. An interior wall away from strong sun and heat is the better position, particularly for an older or fragile print. Glazing also keeps dust and handling away from the surface, provided the image does not touch it. No frame can establish a universal lifespan for every combination of paper, ink, and exposure.