What Fine Art Prints Are Actually Made Of — And Why It Matters When You Buy
What Fine Art Prints Are Actually Made Of
There is a particular quality that separates a print worth collecting from one that simply fills a wall. It is not price, and it is not size. It is the feeling, on close inspection, that every decision — the weight of the paper, the depth of the ink, the registration of each layer — was made with intention. That the object in your hands will still be worth looking at in thirty years.
For collectors buying fine art prints in New Zealand, understanding how a print is made is not just technical curiosity. It is the foundation of knowing what you are actually investing in.
The Paper Beneath the Image
Every print begins with its substrate, and it is here that the difference between reproduction and fine art becomes tangible.
Where standard photo papers prioritise surface sheen, fine art papers prioritise permanence. Papers made from 100% cotton rag — such as Fabriano Artistico, which has been manufactured to the same standard for over six centuries — offer an archival stability that synthetic papers simply cannot match. The texture is deliberate: a soft tooth that holds ink without flattening it, allowing tonal depth to breathe.
These papers are acid-free, lignin-free, and certified archival. A well-stored print on cotton rag will outlast the furniture it hangs beside by generations.
Explore my latest screen print series - Nothing for Granted: a 29-colour screen print:
Nothing for Granted - 'Deception' Limited Edition Screen Print
Nothing for Granted - 'Process' Limited Edition Screen Print
Nothing for Granted - 'Inception' Limited Edition Screen Print
Ink That Does Not Compromise
Pigment-based inks are the standard for serious fine art printing because they contain actual colour particles rather than dissolved dyes.
The difference is visible over time: dye-based inks can begin to shift within years; pigment inks — such as those used in studio-grade Epson Ultrachrome or Marstar systems — are rated for well over a century under museum conditions.
For collectors, this matters. The richness you see on the day of purchase is the richness that remains.
The Labour of Hand-Separation
Screen printing at the level of fine art is a process measured in days, not hours. Each colour in a composition must be isolated by hand, exposed to a separate screen, and printed in sequence — layer by layer, one at a time. A single print in a complex edition may require twenty or more passes. Each must register precisely with the last; a fraction of a millimetre of drift, and the entire image loses coherence.
This is not a process that scales easily. It is one of the reasons genuine hand-separated screen prints are produced in small editions — and why, when an edition closes, it is closed.
View Sam Leitch limited edition screen prints
Only 5 remaining - Tui at My Window - Limited Edition Screen Print
Only 3 remaining - Tres Amigos l - Screen Print - Limited Edition Screen Print
Only 5 remaining - Tres Amigos Il - Screen Print - Limited Edition Screen Print
On Framing and Preservation
A print made to last deserves framing that matches its ambition. Acid-free mounts and backing boards prevent the yellowing that comes with standard card. UV-protective glass significantly reduces the effect of ambient light over time. A small air gap between the glass and the print surface prevents condensation from compromising the paper.
These are not refinements reserved for museum collections. They are the standard for any work intended to endure.
Why Edition Size Is Not a Marketing Device
The scarcity of a limited edition print is a consequence of how it is made, not a sales mechanism imposed after the fact. When a screen print is hand-separated and hand-pulled by the artist, the edition size is the number of prints that can be made before the quality of the process begins to decline. When that number is reached, the screens are destroyed and the edition is documented. The work that exists is the work that exists.
This is the distinction between a print collected for its story and one purchased for its subject matter alone.
Discover One-of-One Fine Art Prints for sale
Limited 1 of 1 screen printsTo Own One
The prints available through this studio are produced in small, documented editions on archival substrates — each signed, numbered, and finished by hand. If a work in the current collection speaks to you, it is worth considering sooner rather than later. Editions do not reopen.
Browse the current collection and find the work that belongs in your space.
