Certificate of Authenticity
A document issued with limited edition prints, with the print published date, size of the image, original art media, number of the prints in the edition, a statement about the work from the artist and the fact that the plates have been or will be destroyed to close the edition.
Artist Proof prints...A/P
Common practice is that 10 to 15 percent of an edition is reserved for the artist. These proofs are identical to impressions in the edition in most instances. Print Marking example; A/P "1/35" is the first print of an edition of 35 Artist Proof impressions.
Limited Edition Prints...L/E
A fixed number of identical prints of an image, signed by the artist, sequentially numbered, and showing both the print's number and the total edition size. Each print is referred to as a "limited edition print."
Open Edition
The quantity of prints reproduced is not limited. As long as the image is in demand, it will be reprinted.
Giclee
A fine art print that has become more precise with the advent of the revolutionary printing process Giclee (zhee-clay) a French term meaning "spray of ink." In the Giclee process, a fine stream of ink (more than four millions droplets per second) is sprayed onto archival art paper or canvas. Each piece of paper or canvas is carefully hand mounted onto a drum which rotates during printing. Exact calculation of hue, value and density direct the ink from four nozzles. This produces a combination of 512 chromatic changes (with over three million colors possible) of highly saturated, non-toxic water-based ink. Since no screens are used in Giclee printing, the prints have a higher resolution than lithographs and the dynamic color range is greater than serigraphs.
Serigraph
A print made by the silk-screen process involving the use of stencils. Paint is applied to a fabric screen, penetrating areas not blocked by a stencil. Several stencils are used to produce a multicolored print.