What Is a Fine Art Print?
- Aug 17
- 2 min read
One question we are often asked at exhibitions:
What actually distinguishes a Fine Art Print from a regular photo print?
The short answer: material, printing process, longevity and the artist’s decision about
how the work should be produced.
A Fine Art Print is a high-quality art print produced with archival pigment inks on archival paper. But it is not simply about achieving the highest possible print quality.
Paper, surface, colour and production process become part of the work.
Our editions add another element:
They are limited, hand-signed and numbered.
What Is the Difference Between a Fine Art Print and a Regular Photo Print?
A regular photo print is primarily intended to reproduce an image.
With a Fine Art Print, the way the image is reproduced becomes part of the work itself.
Paper, pigment inks, surface and colour reproduction are deliberately chosen and
matched to the image.
That is why the same image can look completely different on two different papers.
What Paper Is Used for Fine Art Prints?
The paper is the skin of the image.
We print our editions on Arches BFK Rives 310 gsm, a matte paper made from 100% cotton.
The paper has a visible and tactile texture. It reflects considerably less light than conventional photographic paper, giving the images a different material quality.
That is one of the reasons we use it.
How Long Does a Fine Art Print Last?
Fine Art Prints are produced with archival pigment inks designed for high lightfastness
and colour stability.
How long a print actually remains unchanged also depends on how it is framed, displayed and stored.
Direct sunlight, moisture and unsuitable materials can damage even a high-quality print.
Is a Fine Art Print an Original?
That is an interesting question, and the answer is:
It is not a unique photographic object, but it can be an original artwork within an edition.
For our works, Florian Seidel defines the edition, format, paper and production process.
Each print belongs to a limited edition and is hand-signed and numbered.
Once an edition is sold out, it is not reprinted.
Why Are Fine Art Prints Limited?
Limiting an edition does not automatically make an image good art.
But it defines how many copies of a work may exist.
For our editions, this number is determined from the beginning.
This makes it transparent how many signed copies of an artwork can enter circulation.
Does a Fine Art Print Need to Be Framed?
No.
An unframed print makes the surface and texture of the paper particularly immediate.
A frame protects the work and gives it a stronger presence as an object in the room.
Both can be right.
See also: Fine Art Prints: Framed or Unframed?
How Are Our Fine Art Prints Made?
It always starts with a photograph.
What happens next depends on the image.
Some photographs remain almost exactly as they were taken.
Others are copied, stacked, fragmented, enlarged or repeatedly rearranged until the photograph becomes something of its own.
The print is not simply a reproduction of the finished image.
Paper, size and surface are part of the work.
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