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DIGITAL FINE ART- WHERE'S THE ORIGINAL?!!

(this is my interpretation from dealing with the art community and scifi/fantasy conventions for the past few years, as well as personal research into the definitions of "original", "reproductions", "prints", etc. .... I know there are many who do not agree.)

An attempt to clarify the eternal (infernal?) question -- 

Though there are probably those who will argue the point, digital image files can be compared to the plates used for etchings or lithographs. In other words, the image is derived from a matrix prepared as a result of the artist’s skill. That matrix is then used to create an original, high quality fine art piece. 

Definition of “ORIGINAL” - “Original” means that the artist him or herself made the image with his/her own artistic skill. It can, but does not always mean one-of-a-kind. One normally thinks of original as referring to a unique work that the artist made -- a pastel, watercolor, oil painting, etc. But the term also refers to multiples pulled in edition from a matrix such as a stone, plate, woodblock ... or digital file. So there are two kinds of original art: one-of-a-kind works of art or multiple originals. 

Definition of “PRINTS” vs. “MULTIPLE ORIGINALS” - This is a fine line, and the art community continues to split this hair again and again. A “print” is a work of art that has, in some manner been transferred to a “matrix” (a stone, plate, digital file, etc.) which is then used to create a “print” of the image on a tangible media. If the “matrix” was the only former life of the image, as in a digitally created image or an etching, then the resulting prints will be multiple originals and, in most cases, identical. If, on the other hand, the former life of the image was in the form of a watercolor, pastel, oil painting, etc., the term “multiple original” will not apply, since the resulting prints are not identical to the art piece in its original form. Both permutations of “prints” can be presented as limited editions.