It's easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of mass-produced art available nowadays. You can still find high-quality, unique art online - and this guide is here to tell you what to look for.
How can I tell if an art print is high quality?
Good quality art prints usually show attention to both materials and process. Look for clues in the product description or ask the seller directly. Key signs include the use of archival materials, giclée printing, and pigment-based inks - these all contribute to a print that stays vibrant over time.
All our prints use archival materials and are printed using a method called giclée printing, which ensures colour accuracy, longevity, and a high-quality finish.
What are archival materials?
Let's talk about archival art. If you've ever looked through an old photo album where the colours have all faded, or seen a yellowing stack of newspapers, you've seen the effect of time on non-archival materials. Luckily, we now have plenty of ways to ensure that our art prints stay bright and beautiful for a lifetime, and when we use these materials we call them 'Museum-Quality', 'Archival,' or 'Gallery-Quality'. In this blog post I'll be referring to them as museum-quality.
Museum-quality paper is made to maintain its original whiteness and brightness over time. These papers are typically pH neutral (since natural acids can degrade paper) and usually lignin free (lignin is the component which causes paper to turn yellow).
Museum-quality inks are made with high-quality pigments that are designed to resist fading - this quality is also known as lightfastness. Cheaper dye-based inks can look just as vibrant initially, but will fade over time, especially when exposed to UV light.
What's the difference between Giclée Printing and Digital Printing?
Both giclée and standard digital printing are forms of digital printing — meaning they use a digital file which is sent to a printer, rather than a physical printing process (like screenprinting). But giclée printing is the superior method when it comes to both quality and longevity.
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Giclée printing uses a specialised inkjet printer with up to 12 different pigment-based inks. These high-quality inks produce rich, accurate colours and crisp, precise details. Giclée prints are almost always made using museum-quality materials - ours included.
- Standard digital printing includes a wide range of printers — from everyday desktop models to large commercial machines used for posters or packaging. Most of these use four basic ink colours (CMYK) and cheaper dye-based inks. While the results can still look good, the materials aren’t usually archival, and the colours can fade over time, especially in sunlight. Digital printing isn’t necessarily poor quality - some digital prints can be excellent - but they’re generally not archival. This method is widely used for things like flyers, advertising posters, movie prints, and magazines, where longevity isn’t a priority.
Is non-archival art still worth buying?
We were very particular about choosing archival, high-quality materials for our own work, so you can be assured that our prints will stay beautiful for years to come. But the answer to the above question is - yes, non-archival art is still worth buying.
A great example is vintage posters, especially movie or advertising prints. These were almost never made with archival materials, but they are still gorgeous pieces of art. Another example is collage art, which often uses found materials (like magazine cutouts or vintage paper) that weren’t made to last. These are a couple of instances where the inherent beauty of the work outweighs the inevitable changes that will happen to it over the years.
There are other times that you simply don’t need a piece to last forever. If the artwork is temporary or only intended for a few years, then non-archival materials can be absolutely fine.
If you do have a non-archival piece and want to help it last, there are a few simple steps you can take:
- Use UV-protected glazing – UV light is a major cause of fading.
- Add a mat (mount) – this creates space between the artwork and the glazing, protecting the surface.
- Seal the back of the frame with framers tape – this helps prevent damage from humidity and dust.
- Avoid direct sunlight – even archival pieces benefit from this.
Careful framing can go a long way toward preserving any artwork, archival or not.
How to do I avoid buying stolen or AI-generated art?
If you’re buying art online, especially from a marketplace, it’s worth doing a quick check to make sure the work is genuine — made by a real artist, not generated by AI or copied without permission.
Here are a few things to look for:
- Is the artist credited? If the artist isn't named, then there is a good chance that the work is stolen.
- Check for artist info Most genuine artists include an About page on their website or shop. It doesn’t need to be lengthy, but it should tell you something about who they are, how they work, or what inspires them.
- Check on the artist's social media page Usually artists will have a list of places where their work is exhibited or available for purchase. If the site or shop you’re looking at isn’t mentioned, you can message them directly to confirm whether it’s legit.
- Look for a consistent style Does the shop feel like it’s all by one person? Or is it a mix of totally different styles vintage Van Gogh reproductions next to Yayoi Kusama exhibition posters next to “originals”? If it looks like a random collection, there’s a good chance it’s not a genuine artist’s shop. Some artists do experiment with a huge range of styles, but this is the exception not the norm.
- Consider the volume of work Even the most prolific artist won’t have 10,000 artworks for sale. An unrealistically large number of listings often means that at least some of the pieces are stolen or AI-generated.
- Do a reverse image search If you find a work that you like but it's not clear if the seller is the original artist, a reverse image search can often lead you to the original artist (and authorised sales channels)
What if I find out that the art has been stolen?
Please tell the artist! We always always always appreciate someone taking the time to let us know that someone has stolen our work, so that we can then take action to get it removed. We even have a special discount code just for people who notify us. And it's always lovely to hear from you.