Print run terminology?
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Flimby
A/P = Artist Proof, usually the copies that the artist sells
S/E = Special Edition, usually a change in paper or ink color
P/P = Printers Proof, usually given to the printer as part compensation for their work
I looked for these terms in the wiki, if I can't find them I'll add a list.
S/E = Special Edition, usually a change in paper or ink color
P/P = Printers Proof, usually given to the printer as part compensation for their work
I looked for these terms in the wiki, if I can't find them I'll add a list.
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jamesgunter
- Art Expert
- Posts: 5250
- Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2007 12:00 am
- Location: Birmingham, Al
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I thought S/E was subscription edition?Flimby wrote:A/P = Artist Proof, usually the copies that the artist sells
S/E = Special Edition, usually a change in paper or ink color
P/P = Printers Proof, usually given to the printer as part compensation for their work
I looked for these terms in the wiki, if I can't find them I'll add a list.
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Flimby
your'e right, it can be that as well (and probably is most of the time)jamesgunter wrote:I thought S/E was subscription edition?Flimby wrote:A/P = Artist Proof, usually the copies that the artist sells
S/E = Special Edition, usually a change in paper or ink color
P/P = Printers Proof, usually given to the printer as part compensation for their work
I looked for these terms in the wiki, if I can't find them I'll add a list.
-
jamesgunter
- Art Expert
- Posts: 5250
- Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2007 12:00 am
- Location: Birmingham, Al
- Contact:
Artist's Proof
Formerly, when an artist was commissioned to execute a print, he was provided with lodging and living expenses, a printing studio and workmen, supplies and paper. The artist was given a portion of the edition (to sell) as payment for his work. Today, though artists often get paid for their editions, the tradition of the "artist's proof" has persisted and a certain number of impressions are put aside for the artist to do with as he or she will. Artist's proofs are annotated as such or as A/P, A.P., Épreuve d'Artiste or E.A.
Bon à Tirer Proof
Literally, the "ok-to-pull proof." If the artist is not printing his own edition, the bon à tirer (sometimes abbreviated as b.a.t.) is the final trial proof, the one that the artist has approved, telling the printer that this is the way he wants the edition to look. There is only one of these proofs for an edition.
Cancelling Plates
In modern terms, after a limited edition of a print is completed, the plate or stone or block may be erased or defaced with lines or holes to discourage further printing. This ensures the integrity of the size of the original edition by either preventing any further printings or by making any later printings recognizably different from the original ones. In earlier times, matrices were often printed until they wore out or until there was no further demand for the print, although lithographic stones, being very expensive, were usually erased by regrinding to make way for another image. The physical cancellation of plates began, like pencil signatures, sometime around the 1880's, but it has not been universally practiced.
Hors Commerce Proof
Impressions annotated H.C. are supposedly "not for sale." These "proofs" started to appear on the market as extensions of editions printed in the late 1960's. They may differ from the edition by, for example, being printed on a different paper or with a variant inking; they may also not differ at all. Publishers sometimes use such impressions as exhibition copies, thereby preserving the numbered impressions from rough usage.
Matrix
From the Latin word mater, meaning mother, the matrix is the form or surface on which the image to be printed is prepared, for example, a woodblock, a metal plate, a lithographic stone or a mesh screen.
Monotype/Monoprint
As their names imply, monotypes and monoprints (the words are often used interchangeably but shouldn't be) are prints that have an edition of one, though sometimes a second, weaker impression can be taken from the matrix. A monotype is made by drawing a design in printing ink on any smooth surface, then covering that matrix with a sheet of paper and passing it through a press. The resulting image will be an exact reverse of the original drawing, but relatively flatter because of the pressure of the press. A monoprint is made by taking an already etched and inked plate and adding to the composition by manipulating additional ink on the surface of the plate. This produces an impression different in appearance from a conventionally printed impression from the same plate. Since it is virtually impossible to manipulate the additional ink twice the same way, every monoprint impression will be different from every other one. Alternatively, an artist may build a monoprint from several plates or screens, and optionally add ink or other media directly to the resulting image. Degas made monotypes; Whistler made monoprints.
Numbering
The numbering of individual impressions of prints can be found as early as the late nineteenth century. However, it did not become standard practice until the mid 1960's. Today, all limited edition prints should be numbered, with the first number being the impression number and the second number representing the total edition, thus 12/50, impression number 12 from an edition of 50. The numbering sequence does not necessarily reflect the order of printing; prints are not numbered as they come off the press but some time later, after the ink has dried. And one must keep in mind that the edition number does not include proofs (see Proofs), but only the total in the numbered edition.
Printer's Proof
A complimentary proof given to the printer. There can be from one to several of these proofs, depending upon the number of printers involved and the generosity of the artist.
Posthumous Edition
This is one printed from a matrix after the death of the artist. It has usually been authorized by the artist's heirs or is the product of a publisher who previously purchased the matrix from the artist. It should be limited in some way (though not necessarily hand-numbered) or it becomes simply a limitless restrike. Posthumous editions of prints that were pencil signed in their original edition frequently bear stamped signatures authorized by the artist's heirs or the publisher.
Publisher
A publisher is one who underwrites the printing and marketing of an artist's prints. An artist may be his own publisher. A publisher brings together artist and printer (assuming the artist does not do his own printing). The printer may also himself be a publisher. This is not a new idea. There were print publishers already in the sixteenth century and the great majority of original prints made in the nineteenth century were commissioned and brought to market by publishers.
Restrikes
Theoretically, these are any printings made after the first edition. A more useful definition, though, would define restrikes as later impressions not authorized by the artist or his heirs, as opposed to authorized subsequent editions. The inevitable problem with restrikes is that they are printed in almost unlimited quantities, thus diluting the value of every individual impression. While some restrikes are of good appearance, the excessive printing of the matrix tends to wear it out and many restrikes are only ghostly images of what the print is supposed to be. In the case of images that may be intrinsically valuable (i.e. Rembrandt etchings), the worn-out copper plate is frequently reworked several centuries later so that while the restrike may be said to have come from the original plate, there is hardly anything left of the original work on the plate, even the plate signature often being re-etched by someone else.
Second Edition
A second edition is a later printing, usually authorized by the artist or by his heirs, historically from the original matrix, after an edition of declared number has already been printed. It should be annotated as a second, or subsequent, edition. Sometimes second editions are made, many years after the first, because the artist originally printed only four or five impressions, hardly amounting to an edition at all. Other times, they are simply a method of extending the commercial possibilities of the matrix to a greatly expanded market. A photographically produced replica of the original print, whether printed in a limited edition or not, is not a second edition; it is a reproduction.
Signatures
The very earliest prints were not signed at all, although by the later part of the fifteenth century many artists indicated their authorship of a print by incorporating a signature or monogram into the matrix design, what is called "signed in the plate" or a "plate signature." While some prints were pencil signed as early as the late eighteenth century, the practice of signing one's work in pencil or ink did not really become common practice until the 1880's. At this time, it was done for the benefit of collectors; artists and publishers noticed that when presented with a choice, collectors preferred to buy pencil-signed impressions rather than unsigned ones. The practice spread rapidly and today it is usual for original prints to be signed. An unsigned impression of the same print is generally not as commercially valuable. When a print is described simply as "signed" it should mean that is signed in pencil, ink or crayon; a plate signature should not be described as "signed." A stamped signature should be described as such.
Subscription Edition
Some artists offer "subscriptions" to their work produced over a period of time. Some of these artists choose to number those prints intended for subscribers separately from the main numbered edition, although the prints of both editions are pulled from the same (1st) printing run. In this case, this separately numbered group is often designated "S.E." or the like. Sometimes a Subscription Edition of a print can be a variant of the main edition, using different paper or inks.
Trial Proof
An impression pulled before the edition in order to see what the print looks like at that stage of development, after which the artist may go back to the matrix and change it. There can be any number of trial proofs, depending upon how that particular artist works, but it is usually a small number and each one usually differs from the others. In French, a trial proof is called an épreuve d'essai, in German a Probedruck.
Variant Printing
An evolution of Hors Commerce Proofs, variants can be a method for an artist to experiment with paper and ink combinations prior to settling on the final selection. More recently, variants are being produced by artists in limited editions for sale or distribution along with the main edition. Variants differ from the main edition by, for example, being printed on a different paper or with a variant inking.
Studio Proof (or Show Proof)
Commonly annotated as S/P.
[edit]
Formerly, when an artist was commissioned to execute a print, he was provided with lodging and living expenses, a printing studio and workmen, supplies and paper. The artist was given a portion of the edition (to sell) as payment for his work. Today, though artists often get paid for their editions, the tradition of the "artist's proof" has persisted and a certain number of impressions are put aside for the artist to do with as he or she will. Artist's proofs are annotated as such or as A/P, A.P., Épreuve d'Artiste or E.A.
Bon à Tirer Proof
Literally, the "ok-to-pull proof." If the artist is not printing his own edition, the bon à tirer (sometimes abbreviated as b.a.t.) is the final trial proof, the one that the artist has approved, telling the printer that this is the way he wants the edition to look. There is only one of these proofs for an edition.
Cancelling Plates
In modern terms, after a limited edition of a print is completed, the plate or stone or block may be erased or defaced with lines or holes to discourage further printing. This ensures the integrity of the size of the original edition by either preventing any further printings or by making any later printings recognizably different from the original ones. In earlier times, matrices were often printed until they wore out or until there was no further demand for the print, although lithographic stones, being very expensive, were usually erased by regrinding to make way for another image. The physical cancellation of plates began, like pencil signatures, sometime around the 1880's, but it has not been universally practiced.
Hors Commerce Proof
Impressions annotated H.C. are supposedly "not for sale." These "proofs" started to appear on the market as extensions of editions printed in the late 1960's. They may differ from the edition by, for example, being printed on a different paper or with a variant inking; they may also not differ at all. Publishers sometimes use such impressions as exhibition copies, thereby preserving the numbered impressions from rough usage.
Matrix
From the Latin word mater, meaning mother, the matrix is the form or surface on which the image to be printed is prepared, for example, a woodblock, a metal plate, a lithographic stone or a mesh screen.
Monotype/Monoprint
As their names imply, monotypes and monoprints (the words are often used interchangeably but shouldn't be) are prints that have an edition of one, though sometimes a second, weaker impression can be taken from the matrix. A monotype is made by drawing a design in printing ink on any smooth surface, then covering that matrix with a sheet of paper and passing it through a press. The resulting image will be an exact reverse of the original drawing, but relatively flatter because of the pressure of the press. A monoprint is made by taking an already etched and inked plate and adding to the composition by manipulating additional ink on the surface of the plate. This produces an impression different in appearance from a conventionally printed impression from the same plate. Since it is virtually impossible to manipulate the additional ink twice the same way, every monoprint impression will be different from every other one. Alternatively, an artist may build a monoprint from several plates or screens, and optionally add ink or other media directly to the resulting image. Degas made monotypes; Whistler made monoprints.
Numbering
The numbering of individual impressions of prints can be found as early as the late nineteenth century. However, it did not become standard practice until the mid 1960's. Today, all limited edition prints should be numbered, with the first number being the impression number and the second number representing the total edition, thus 12/50, impression number 12 from an edition of 50. The numbering sequence does not necessarily reflect the order of printing; prints are not numbered as they come off the press but some time later, after the ink has dried. And one must keep in mind that the edition number does not include proofs (see Proofs), but only the total in the numbered edition.
Printer's Proof
A complimentary proof given to the printer. There can be from one to several of these proofs, depending upon the number of printers involved and the generosity of the artist.
Posthumous Edition
This is one printed from a matrix after the death of the artist. It has usually been authorized by the artist's heirs or is the product of a publisher who previously purchased the matrix from the artist. It should be limited in some way (though not necessarily hand-numbered) or it becomes simply a limitless restrike. Posthumous editions of prints that were pencil signed in their original edition frequently bear stamped signatures authorized by the artist's heirs or the publisher.
Publisher
A publisher is one who underwrites the printing and marketing of an artist's prints. An artist may be his own publisher. A publisher brings together artist and printer (assuming the artist does not do his own printing). The printer may also himself be a publisher. This is not a new idea. There were print publishers already in the sixteenth century and the great majority of original prints made in the nineteenth century were commissioned and brought to market by publishers.
Restrikes
Theoretically, these are any printings made after the first edition. A more useful definition, though, would define restrikes as later impressions not authorized by the artist or his heirs, as opposed to authorized subsequent editions. The inevitable problem with restrikes is that they are printed in almost unlimited quantities, thus diluting the value of every individual impression. While some restrikes are of good appearance, the excessive printing of the matrix tends to wear it out and many restrikes are only ghostly images of what the print is supposed to be. In the case of images that may be intrinsically valuable (i.e. Rembrandt etchings), the worn-out copper plate is frequently reworked several centuries later so that while the restrike may be said to have come from the original plate, there is hardly anything left of the original work on the plate, even the plate signature often being re-etched by someone else.
Second Edition
A second edition is a later printing, usually authorized by the artist or by his heirs, historically from the original matrix, after an edition of declared number has already been printed. It should be annotated as a second, or subsequent, edition. Sometimes second editions are made, many years after the first, because the artist originally printed only four or five impressions, hardly amounting to an edition at all. Other times, they are simply a method of extending the commercial possibilities of the matrix to a greatly expanded market. A photographically produced replica of the original print, whether printed in a limited edition or not, is not a second edition; it is a reproduction.
Signatures
The very earliest prints were not signed at all, although by the later part of the fifteenth century many artists indicated their authorship of a print by incorporating a signature or monogram into the matrix design, what is called "signed in the plate" or a "plate signature." While some prints were pencil signed as early as the late eighteenth century, the practice of signing one's work in pencil or ink did not really become common practice until the 1880's. At this time, it was done for the benefit of collectors; artists and publishers noticed that when presented with a choice, collectors preferred to buy pencil-signed impressions rather than unsigned ones. The practice spread rapidly and today it is usual for original prints to be signed. An unsigned impression of the same print is generally not as commercially valuable. When a print is described simply as "signed" it should mean that is signed in pencil, ink or crayon; a plate signature should not be described as "signed." A stamped signature should be described as such.
Subscription Edition
Some artists offer "subscriptions" to their work produced over a period of time. Some of these artists choose to number those prints intended for subscribers separately from the main numbered edition, although the prints of both editions are pulled from the same (1st) printing run. In this case, this separately numbered group is often designated "S.E." or the like. Sometimes a Subscription Edition of a print can be a variant of the main edition, using different paper or inks.
Trial Proof
An impression pulled before the edition in order to see what the print looks like at that stage of development, after which the artist may go back to the matrix and change it. There can be any number of trial proofs, depending upon how that particular artist works, but it is usually a small number and each one usually differs from the others. In French, a trial proof is called an épreuve d'essai, in German a Probedruck.
Variant Printing
An evolution of Hors Commerce Proofs, variants can be a method for an artist to experiment with paper and ink combinations prior to settling on the final selection. More recently, variants are being produced by artists in limited editions for sale or distribution along with the main edition. Variants differ from the main edition by, for example, being printed on a different paper or with a variant inking.
Studio Proof (or Show Proof)
Commonly annotated as S/P.
[edit]
link to the wiki article:
http://www.expressobeans.com/wiki/index ... menclature
http://www.expressobeans.com/wiki/index ... menclature
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