Artist proof, edition size and how to number limited edition prints

What is an artist proof?

An artist proof is an impression pulled from the same master as a limited edition and set apart from the numbered prints. Graphicstudio, the print workshop at the University of South Florida, describes artist proofs as Signed impressions of a print separate from the numbered edition, to be retained or distributed at the artist’s discretion. Tate describes proof prints as identical to the edition.

California's fine prints law gives the term a legal definition. It says proofs are multiples that are the same as, and which are produced from the same master as, the multiples in a limited edition, and that they are set aside from and are in addition to the limited edition to which they relate. In plain terms, an artist proof looks exactly like the edition prints, but it is counted separately from them.

That separate count matters to buyers. Example: an edition of 50 with five artist proofs means 55 prints of that image exist, not 50. When you sell a limited edition, say how many proofs exist alongside the edition size.

Edition marks on numbered prints: AP, PP, HC and the fraction

Numbered prints carry a small mark, often in the margin under the image. Tate notes that editioned prints are usually signed, numbered, and often dated by the artist, and that an edition is numbered 1/25, 2/25, etc. The table lists the marks you will see most often and what each one means.

California's certificate rules group AP, PP and similar marks together: a limited edition sold there must state the authorized maximum number of artist’s, publisher’s or other proofs, if any, outside of the regular edition, next to the authorized maximum number of signed or numbered impressions, or both, in the edition and the total size of the edition. The order of numbers carries no extra value: Graphicstudio's glossary says the sequence of numbers should have no meaning in valuing the print.

Limited edition prints vs open edition prints

A limited edition has a fixed maximum. California defines it as prints from one master that are the same image and bear numbers or other markings to denote the limited production thereof to a stated maximum number of multiples. A run counts as limited even without numbers if the prints are otherwise held out as limited to a maximum number of multiples.

An open edition has no stated maximum. You can print as many as you sell, often on demand, and the prints are often unsigned and unnumbered. Limited edition prints sell on scarcity, so the promise has to hold: once an edition is closed, do not print more of the same image as another edition. Tate notes that when the artist or publisher limits an edition, the printing surface is usually destroyed. For a digital file there is no plate to destroy, so your own record is what keeps the count.

Some artists offer both: a smaller signed and numbered edition next to an open edition of the same image in a different size or on a different paper. If you do this, say clearly which is which on the listing, so a buyer of the open print does not think it is part of the edition.

How to choose an edition size

Tate puts modern artists' print editions at anything between 2 and 1000 or more. Pick a number you expect to sell out in a reasonable time, because an edition that sits unsold for years does little for the scarcity it was meant to create. A slow hand process limits how many prints you can make, so it tends to suit a smaller edition.

Example: an artist who sells around ten prints of a popular image each month might set an edition of 50 at a higher price, with five artist proofs. Those are stated assumptions for illustration, not a benchmark.

Decide the edition size before the first sale and write it down with the number of proofs. In California, for a limited edition printed after January 1, 1983, the stated size works as an express warranty that no additional multiples of the same image, including proofs, have been produced in this or in any other limited edition. Printing more of the same image later, as part of this or another limited edition, breaks that promise.

How to sign and number art prints

These are common conventions for signing and numbering prints by hand. They are habits of the trade, not legal rules, and many artists vary them.

1. Use pencil

   Many printmakers sign and number in graphite pencil on the margin below the image, by hand on each print. For prints with no white border, the same details often go on the back.

2. Write the number on the left

   Write the edition number as a fraction under the bottom left corner of the image. Example: 12/50 for print 12 of an edition of 50. Proofs get AP, PP or HC in the same place, with their own count if you number them, such as AP 2/5.

3. Put the title in the middle

   The title of the work usually goes under the centre of the image. Some artists leave it out, especially on small prints.

4. Sign on the right

   Sign under the bottom right corner, often with the year. California treats a print as signed only when it was autographed by the artist’s own hand, and not by mechanical means, after the multiple was produced, irrespective of whether it was signed or unsigned in the plate. A printed signature does not make a print signed.

5. Record each print

   Keep a log with the number, the date signed, the buyer if known, and the paper and size. The record lets you answer a buyer's question later and shows that the edition did not grow.

Numbering prints: what to write down and disclose

Numbering prints is a promise about how many exist, so the paperwork is part of the job. Keep one record per edition with these details, which match what California asks a seller to state about a limited edition:

• The print process. California's definition of a fine print names engraving, etching, woodcutting, lithography, and serigraphy, plus prints made from photographic negatives.
• Whether the print is a photomechanical or photographic type of reproduction of a work made in another medium, such as a giclee of a painting.
• the year, or approximate year, the multiple was produced.
• The edition size, the number of proofs of each kind and the total.
• Whether or not the master has been destroyed, effaced, altered, defaced, or canceled after the current edition. For a digital file, say whether you will print it again in another size.
• Any earlier editions from the same master, with the total number of multiples, including proofs, of all other editions produced from that master.

New York has a similar law. It covers more than one hundred dollars ($100) each, and the seller must disclose details including the number of multiples in a 'limited edition'. Both states' rules on certificates of authenticity are covered in Nation's guide to certificates of authenticity for art. Rules vary by state, and this page is general information, not legal advice.

Where Nation fits

Questions about artist proofs and numbered prints