What is an Original Print? How is it different from a Fine Art Print?

What is the Difference Between an “Original Print” and a “Fine Art Print”?

In this blog, I would like to demystify some of the confusion surrounding the term “Print” as it relates to art.  There are several ways that the word print is used:

1. Original Print (Printmaking)
2. Limited Edition Print
3. Giclee Print
4. Fine Art Print

I am going to define these in reverse order, from the lowest to the highest in terms of value, in my opinion.

A Fine Art Print is a reproduction of an existing piece of original art, printed by a machine onto canvas or paper.  The Fine Art Print is not an original piece of art in itself, even if it is signed and numbered by the artist; it is a copy.  It is a reasonably low-cost way to own an image by an artist whose work you admire.

A Giclee Print is a very high quality (often called archival, or museum quality) fine art print that is printed using a specialized high resolution inkjet printer, using archival inks.  Archival, in this context, means “long lasting”.

_{This is a giclee print on watercolor paper of my original reduction linocut Sadie in Marfa.}

A Limited Edition Print is simply a term used when the artist promises to print only a set number of prints.  The edition of prints will be numbered, signed and (usually) dated.  The number on each piece will be written as a fraction that indicates the print number, and the total number in the edition.  For example, 1/30 refers to the first print in an edition of 30 prints.  (In printmaking, the prints are numbered in the order that they are created.  For a relief print, such as linoleum printing, it is the order that the artist pulls them off of the linoleum.  The prints are kept in this same order throughout the entire printing process, for every layer of color printed.)  The term “limited edition” is often used for fine art prints, giclee prints, and original prints.  Some photographers will print limited editions of their photographs.

An Original Print is where the original artwork is actually the print itself.  In other words, the print is made by hand by an artist who also creates the printing plate.  In relief printing, the plate is created by the artist’s carving a flat piece of wood or linoleum, putting ink on the face of the plate, and pressing the plate onto paper to leave an imprint.

I am a Printmaker; I make reduction linoleum prints (also known as reduction linocuts). 

Reduction Linoleum Cuts | Anne Gaines

They are Original Prints, and are always Limited Edition Prints. 

The reduction printing process got its name because the face of the linoleum plate is “reduced” each time the plate is carved and another color is printed.  To meet the requirements of limited editions, the printmaker is required to destroy the plate after the edition is completed (thereby guaranteeing that there can be no more than the promised number of prints in the edition).  Reduction printmaking, by its very nature, causes this destruction of the plate.  One feature of reduction printmaking is that, once the plate is cut, there is no going back to the previous layer.  As a result, it takes concentration and paying close attention, so that portions of the linoleum are not cut before they should be!

For more information about Printmaking – click on this link for a great description

Printmaking | Print Austin