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OUR PRINTS — Whether they have been printed on huge mechanical presses or on our own Epson printer, whether they have been published by other companies or Michael has actually printed them himself, every effort has been made to produce high-quality reproductions for your collection. Many of our older open edition prints and posters were done before the widespread availability of museum quality paper and their prices reflect that. For the last decade we have only used acid-free paper, even on unsigned prints.

PRINT NUMBERING — When artists create original prints by etching on wood, stone, or metal and ink is applied from that surface directly onto the paper, the first few prints are "Proofs." The artist selects the best one, prints the rest of the run to match it and signs and numbers the prints in order. Because the surface may wear out slightly after each print, in theory the first prints (Artist Proofs) and the lower numbers would be of higher quality than the last ones printed. Today, most limited edition prints are printed on commercial offset presses or giclée printers and all the prints are the same. As a way to designate the size of a limited edition and its authenticity, the limited edition print industry has retained this numbering tradition.

OFFSET LITHOGRAPHY has been especially popular with art print publishers for the last 30 years. To reproduce a painting in this way requires that the art be photographed or scanned and the colors separated and broken down into tiny dots of the four process ink colors (cyan blue, yellow, magenta and black). In "four-color" printing the size, arrangement, and patterns of these dots determine how well they reproduce the full range of color of the original art. Each color has its own metal plate and the ink is "offset" onto rubber blankets which print onto acid-free paper. For limited edition prints, special fade-resistant inks are used and additional passes or even additional plates are needed to capture the subtlety of Whelan originals. The entire edition is run at the same time, Michael signs the prints, and then the plates are destroyed.

GICLÉE (pronounced zhee-CLAY) PRINTS are the new standard for fine art reproductions. Using a high-end digital printing process our giclées are printed on museum quality watercolor paper and canvas. Under magnification, they are remarkably similar to continuous tone lithography (no dots). Giclées are more expensive to produce than offset lithos. and the prints may be run at different times, but often they are a more faithful representation of the artwork. We keep our editions small and the colors are gorgeous.

CUSTOM FRAMING — We have been offering affordable high-quality custom framing of Michael Whelan prints for more than 20 years. Our framers are dedicated to conservation framing and we enjoy choosing frames that protect and enhance the prints. Signed prints are always framed with archival materials under conservation plexiglass. If you have a question about our frame choices or have a different framing idea for a print you are ordering, please email us at customerservice@michaelwhelan.com. Be sure to include your phone number and the best time to reach you and we will be happy to work with you.