The word "print" is all too frequently, and erroneously, used to describe any 2-dimensional work of art produced as a multiple. Artists exhibiting at art fairs, disreputable commercial galleries, frame shops and home décor centers often pass off reproductions on unsuspecting buyers as legitimate "prints." Wildlife "prints" for example, are not authentic prints - they are little more than reproductions of works done in another media, usually oil paintings or pastel drawings. To be considered as an "authentic" print the printing matrix must be fabricated by the artist and the individual prints pulled by hand, either by the artist or by an assistant. Most wildlife prints, and other prints found in the aforementioned venues, amount to little more than "posters without the lettering," albeit they are printed on a heavier weight, higher quality paper. The significant question is "In what state does the original image exist?" If the answer is as an oil painting, pastel drawing or perhaps a watercolor, then the resulting multiple images are reproductions rather than "authentic" prints. Reproductions are created by first photographing the original work and using the film negative to produce a 4-color screen separation. The color separation is then used to produce printing plates for commercial high-speed color offset printing.

These reproductions are frequently sold to unsuspecting buyers as "Limited Editions" - almost always a sure sign that you are dealing with a reproduction rather than an authentic print. Technically, all prints in an edition could be considered to be part of a "limited edition" since the total number of prints to be produced is determined prior to printing. Unfortunately, such "Limited Editions" are only limited to as many as the producer can sell or are part of a very large edition. They are designated as "Limited Editions" only to convince the buyer that they somehow rare and/or special, which they are not! I have seen "Limited Editions" that number in the hundreds, and in some cases, well over 10,000.

Many reproductions are advertised as "signed and numbered by the artist," to further confuse the buyer and to give the prints a semblance of authenticity. Authentic prints are also signed and numbered by the artist but there is a major difference; in the case of an authentic print the artist signs and numbers each print to indicate the size of the edition, which print within the edition the buyer is viewing, and most importantly, that the print has been hand-pulled and approved by the artist. Commercially printed reproductions are not printed by the artist and the fact that they may be "signed and numbered by the artist" does not in any way make them a bone fide print or enhance their value. What the buyer has actually purchased is a reproduction bearing the artist's autograph.

This unscrupulous and unethical practice has been carried to an extreme by disreputable print publishers and dealers selling "original lithographs by Salvatore Dali." Before Dali died he signed reams of blank lithograph paper which has been in storage for years. Print publishers are now photographing sections of Dali's paintings, making color separations, and printing these reproductions over his signature and selling the reproductions as authentic "Dali lithographs." True, the image is derived from Dali's work and the prints are technically lithographs but the "prints" are certainly being misrepresented since the artist never saw or approved the prints. Before purchasing a print, especially one which is expensive, the buyer would do well to deal with a reputable dealer and/or consult with someone who knows prints.