The first thing most people look for, after admiring the work, is for the artist's signature which will often be placed bottom right of the image in the margin between the image and the edge of the paper. This is the artist's seal of approval and what gives the work its value. Without the artist's signature to prove authenticity it could be an unsanctioned run outside the intended edition.

Some artists choose to sign the work on the reverse, in which case this should be noted and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. All works purchased from Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair come with a certificate of authenticity provided by Tagsmart.

The size of the edition is determined by the artist. Historically this was based on the material of the ‘matrix’ and how much pressure it could withstand before the image began to distort or fade. The act of creating a print is a time consuming and physical process and the pressure of running a plate or block through a press multiple times will in time cause the image to distort. However advances in technology and materials can allow for much larger runs than in the past.

The artist will indicate the size of the entire edition and the number of the individual print within it by writing the print number over the overall size (often bottom left of the image in the margin). For example the first edition out of a total of forty-five will look like this: 1/45, the second 2/45 and so on until the final edition 45/45.

1/10 – print number 1 from a total of 10 identical prints.

15/20 – print number 15 from a total of 20 identical prints.

Occasionally a number of letters might be found in place of the edition (AP, EA, PP or HC) referring to the Artists or Printer's ‘Proof’. These are pulls, or prints, that are outside the edition and are intended for the personal archives of the artist or in some cases as gifts. These are identical to the edition prints and are printed at the same time. Sometimes working proofs can also be designated an ‘Artist Proof’, this is when a work in progress is pulled and the artist chooses to keep it before continuing to work on the image.

In place of the edition size the letters AP (Artist Proof) or EA (épreveuve d’artiste) will be used to identify it as an Artist Proof. Some artists number their proofs but the general consensus is that these proofs should not exceed 10% of the edition size.

Printmaking is often a collaborative process with the help of a ‘Master Printer’ or ‘Atelier’ and the artist might gift a proof to the pinter or workshop that helped to create the work. Like an Artist Proof the letters PP (for Printers Proof) or HC (hours commerce) would be found in place of the edition size.

The final abbreviation likely to be found on a print is VE, which stands for Varied Edition. Normally, an artist printing an edition is striving to make each print as identical as the next in the edition. A Varied Edition is when the artist intentionally chooses to add variation to each print.

In this case the artist would indicate this by writing VE (Varied Edition) next to the size of the edition. For example VE, 1/10.