The heart of any Edition printmaking studio is that the work is produced In-house, it is a close collaborative process between the artists (painter/sculptor/designer) and a Master Printer.

In such a professional studio, the studio is known to be well equipped to specialize in one or various printmaking techniques. Unfortunately smaller workshops are not equally equipped with either materials of superior quality or a dedicated master printer which enable professional Editions to be made.

There are numerous Edition studios, more than a hundred, around the world such as in USA, Europe and Russia that provide a service of producing printmaking Editions.

Collaborative printmaking projects are encouraged and engaged by various galleries, corporate companies, and government aided grants as well as private parties; these Editions are also auctioned by established auction houses thus highlighting Edition prints as a valuable commodity and collection of art. Each print in the Edition is appropriately numbered, signed by the artist and stamped for authenticity.

This collaborative process has a positive consequence for sustaining professional Printmaking studios. These original prints in Lithograph, Etching, Woodcut or

Linocut are considered valuable prints in the art market.

The below illustrates the practice a master printer and artist undertake to print an Edition. There is an entire process before the Edition is even printed.

1.     An initial meeting between the Master Printer and artist to review the work. Whereby the Master Printer will guide the artists on a suitable technique for their work, as there are so many mediums and techniques in printmaking.

2.     A meeting between the Director, the Master Printer and the artist; to discuss in detail the costs involved such as of the materials (paper, ink and other materials), the fee of the studio and the Master printer’s fees etc. As well as establishing a time limit for the project.

3.     Signing a memorandum once artist is satisfied with the brief and costs involved. And as such a deposit payment towards the project is usually taken at this stage.

4.     The next phase is the process of selection of paper and the initial process of preparing the matrix, this is dependent on the artist’s preferred technique.

5.      Once the processing is done, proofing of the plate takes place till the artist is satisfied for the final pull out of the Edition. This would depend on the scale of the Edition.

6.     Once printed each print is checked, prints that do not match are rejected. The Edition prints are then signed and numbered by artist. And lastly the signed edition will be stamped, the stamping gives a clue as to where the Edition was printed.

7.     Then finally, the cancellation of the plate. This is done by scoring a crossed mark over the plate, a concluding print is pulled out with the crossed mark which confirms the plate is now cancelled and no Edition prints can be printed. Cancelling a plate is the best way for an artist to protect the value of their original and official Edition.