How to use the Print Edition Numbering Calculator
- Set the edition size and the proofs. Enter how many numbered prints you will sell, then the artist proofs (AP), printer’s proofs (PP), hors commerce prints (HC) and the BAT. With Set APs to 10% of the edition ticked, the AP count follows the edition size automatically. The first stat shows how many sheets you actually need to print.
- Choose how the numbers look. Pick
12/50or12 of 50, and Arabic or Roman numerals for the proofs. The numbering strip previews the sequence, and Copy numbering list gives you every number on its own line, ready to paste into a spreadsheet or a labelling template. - Plan the price steps. Enter the starting price, the increase (a percentage or a fixed amount), how many sales trigger each step and how to round. The table lists every tier with its running total, and the chart shows revenue building up as prints sell.
- Compare with an open edition. Enter the price and the number of sales you would expect from an unlimited run. The note under the table tells you how many open-edition sales it would take to earn the same profit.
- Save or share the plan. Export CSV saves every number with its price, and the settings live in the page address, so a bookmark or a shared link opens the same plan.
How edition numbers work
The fraction on a print is a promise. The bottom number is the edition size — the total that will ever exist in this version — and the top number identifies one sheet. Once you write 50 underneath, you can’t quietly print a fifty-first in the same size and medium without breaking that promise to every buyer. By convention the number goes in pencil at the bottom left, the title (if any) in the middle and the signature at the bottom right.
The order of numbers carried meaning when plates wore out. In etching, and especially drypoint, every pass through the press flattens the plate a little, so early impressions are crisper and collectors learned to prefer low numbers. With giclée and other digital prints, sheet 1 and sheet 50 are identical, so the number is a record of sequence rather than quality. Many printmakers still number in the order the sheets were signed rather than the order they were printed.
Proofs sit outside the numbered run. They are real prints of the same image, but they don’t count toward the edition size, which is why collectors and some state laws care about how many there are. Several US states, including California and New York, have fine print disclosure laws that require sellers to state the size of the edition and the number of proofs. Keeping artist proofs to about 10% of the edition is the most widely followed rule of thumb; the calculator flags anything above it.
Proof marks at a glance
| Mark | Stands for | What it is | Usual count |
|---|---|---|---|
| AP, A/P or E.A. | Artist’s proof (épreuve d’artiste) | Copies the artist keeps or sells later | Up to about 10% of the edition |
| PP | Printer’s proof | A thank-you copy for the printer or print studio | One per printer |
| HC | Hors commerce, “not for trade” | Samples for exhibitions, galleries or sales reps | A few |
| BAT | Bon à tirer, “good to pull” | The approved proof every edition print is matched against | One |
| TP | Trial proof | Working proofs made before the image was final | Not counted; often unique |
The default example, worked through
An edition of 50 with the 10% ceiling gives 5 APs; add one printer’s proof and one BAT and you print 57 sheets. The price starts at $150 and rises 10% after every 10 sales, rounded to the nearest $5:
| Prints | Exact price | Rounded | Running total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–10 | $150.00 | $150 | $1,500 |
| 11–20 | $165.00 | $165 | $3,150 |
| 21–30 | $181.50 | $180 | $4,950 |
| 31–40 | $199.65 | $200 | $6,950 |
| 41–50 | $219.62 | $220 | $9,150 |
Selling out brings in $9,150, which is $1,650 or 22% more than selling all 50 at a flat $150, and the average buyer still pays only $183. Printing 57 sheets at $22 each costs $1,254, leaving $7,896. An open edition priced at $45 with the same $22 cost earns $23 a sale, so it would need 344 sales to make the same money — and every one of those is another print to make, pack and post.
Tiered pricing works because it is honest about scarcity. Early buyers get the best price as a reward for trusting you, later buyers pay for a print that is demonstrably closer to selling out, and the rising price is visible in your own sales history.
Tips from practice
Fix the edition before the first sale. Decide the size, the paper and the dimensions, write them down, and treat them as final. A different size or medium can be a new edition, but say so clearly on the listing and the certificate.
Keep a numbering log. Note who bought each number, when and for how much. The Certificate of Authenticity Generator can put the same edition details on paper, and the Art Inventory Tracker keeps the list in one place.
Price APs at the top tier or a little above. They are the scarcest version of the print, so selling them below the last numbered price undercuts your own collectors. The AP sales menu lets you count them at the top price or 20% above it.
Use pencil and steady light. Graphite doesn’t fade or bleed into the paper the way many inks can, and numbering a whole edition in one sitting keeps the handwriting consistent.
Start smaller than you think. An edition of 25 that sells out builds more demand for your next release than 250 that linger in a drawer.