Fine art prints are usually made by the skilled artist and hand-pulled. Each artwork (also known as a print) is printed on specially made paper, called a canvas, and made into a limited edition, usually no more than ten. Each art print is created to represent an original piece of art that has been commissioned by the owner of the canvas. Art prints may be reproduced and sold privately or commercially.
There are two basic types of fine art prints: photographic prints and digital prints. Photographic prints are usually hand-pulled and made from single sheets of canvas, called stretched canvas. The artwork may be printed in a variety of sizes, usually from a minimum of 8.5″ up to a maximum of 18″. Digital prints, which can be created using digital printing technology, are printed on canvas using a computer-readable digital file. Digital prints are sometimes sold as art prints, but most are simply copies of original paintings. Digital prints may also have a limited edition printed on them, but these are usually only one in ten.
Fine art prints that are created from photographs are often sold together as framed prints with the photographer’s name and address printed on them. These can be an extremely valuable collection, since many artists will sell their works for a lot of money in order to make them. These artists can also be able to produce a print that looks like a painting, but without the work of an artist, the art print would look very much like a photograph.
