Original Art - refers to art that is created by the artist's hand and is not reproduced mechanically.

Unique - this term is applied to original artwork. All original, one-of-a-kind pieces are unique works.

Mixed Media - Artists often combine two or more printmaking methods to produce unique mixed-media works. Sometimes collage techniques are added to prints to produce a mixed-media piece.

Prints - Original graphics also are "limited editions," but prints produced by original means - and do not exist already in another medium - are considered multiple original prints, not reproductions.

Limited Edition - In art, a limited edition is one of a sequential number of images in a published edition for which a predetermined number of impressions were from a plate or master. Once these are made, no more impressions are to be taken, assuring that the edition is "limited." The number of impressions in a limited edition should be information that is available to the consumer.

Both original graphics and reproductions are offered as "limited editions" from artists and art publishers.

Edition - The total number of prints or reproductions made of a specific image and issued together from a publisher.

Signed and Numbered - At the bottom of each print in an edition, the artist pencils in his signature and numbers the print. The numbering appears as one number over another, for example, 15/30. This indicates that this was the 15th print to be signed and that there were 30 prints in all.

Artist's Proof - (This may be penciled in at the bottom of a print as A/P) Prints outside the standard edition which are intended for the artist's own private collection and use as part of the original artist-publisher agreement.

Intaglio - From an Italian word meaning "cut in," intaglio prints are made from images cut below the surface of the printing plate. Ink is forced into these cutout images and then forced onto the paper in a press exerting great pressure. Intaglio prints include etchings, aquatints, drypoints, engravings, soft-ground etchings and mezzotints. In some processes, the lines are cut out by hand with tools; in others, they are bitten out by acid.

Giclée - An image that is created or scanned into a computer, then printed on a high-speed ink-jet printer. (The term literally means "spurt " or "spray.") Special inks produce incredibly true colors without the dot pattern associated with offset lithography. With advances in technology, the giclée has continued to evolve, and has become an accepted printing method. The quality of the inks used to print, and the substrate on which the image is printed, affect the quality and longevity of the print. A giclée can be either original art (when the image is created originally in the computer) or a reproduction (when an image is scanned into a computer, then printed.)

Photography - Photographic prints can be made from photographic negatives, positive transparencies or digital images, and printed on a wide variety of substrates, including photo paper, fine art paper and canvas.

Limited Edition Reproduction - (Sometimes referred to as "offset lithograph.") Art that has been photo mechanically reproduced from another medium and printed by one of several methods, often by offset presses. The edition size has been predetermined by the publisher, generally based on the artist's popularity and sales potential.