Terms and Definitions

Limited Edition Print / Limited Edition Reproduction:
A reproduction of an image that has been limited by the artist or publisher to a specific number that will be available for sale. Once that number has been sold, the image cannot be reproduced again, and considered to be Sold Out, or on the Secondary Market. Limited Editions are numbered as follows: print# / edition size. ie. 105/250

Offset Lithograph / Offset Lithograph Limited Edition
Offset Lithography has been the industry standard for creating limited edition prints for years. Capable of "good" reproduction at an "excellent" cost, offset lithography continues to be the best way of getting a large number of prints made available to the most number of customers. Simply put, offset lithography utilizes a different printing plate for each colour to be printed: usually cyan, magenta, yellow and black, although spot colours can also be introduced. Each colour is truly printed on a different printing press, with all the presses connected via a paper feeder. In each press, the printing plate first transfers the ink to a rubber blanket, which then transfers or "offsets" the image to the paper. The use of the rubber blanket or "offset medium" allows for a cleaner transfer of the image to the paper, and corrects any surface imperfections in either the plate or the paper due to the "give" of the rubber. The only drawback to the offset process is the screening technique used in creating the plates. This screening produces dots, or droplets of ink that when combined create the compound colours (any other colours than the cyan, magenta, yellow and black) that you see in the image. Not quite visible to the human eye, under magnification, these dots become quite evident. The resuting image does not have the continuous look of the original watercolour, or of the new Giclee printing process.

Giclee Fine Art Print / Giclee Limited Edition
Pronounced "Zhee-clay", a Giclee art print is produced using a digital computer driven printer instead of an offset press. The Iris 2047G (Giclee) printer provides a steady stream of cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink through each colour aperature, 1/4 the size of the human hair. As the printer is capable of placing over 11 million overlapping drops of ink per square inch, a continuous image is created, with none of the "dotting" commonly seen with Offset Lithographs. Although a time consuming process (up to 50 minutes per sheet), the result is considered superior to that of an Offset Lithograph. As well, the Giclee proces allows for the image to be reproduced onto different media, namely watercolour paper or even canvas. It is our policy not to issue Artist Proofs of any Giclee Edition, as the time required to print each sheet does not allow Mary Rose to be present to "proof" the first images as they come off the press. In reality, the giclee process provides one (1) "artist's proof", normally at half size, that is kept on file by the artist..

Artist Proofs
These prints are in addition to the number of prints in a limited edition. Normally comprising an additional 10% above the edition size, these prints are also numbered accordingly. ie AP 5/25. The number of artist's proofs available for a specific edition should be marked clearly on any promotional materials or certificate of authenticity associated with the print. These prints are named as such because traditionally the artist is present to "proof" the first few prints off the press. When the artist is happy with the final adjustments to the image, and has seen a reasonable amount of prints run identically (10% of print run) then the order to print the edition is given. These first few prints that the artist has approved are considered the Artist's Proofs and usually are sold at a higher price than the rest of the edition.