Andy Warhol, for example, owns a part of his fame to employing then innovative technique of using light-sensitive gelatines to reproduce photographs on screenprints. The use of new and innovative printing techniques also contributes to the value of the print.
Needless to say hand-coloured prints are even more expensive. Multi-coloured prints are pricier than black and white ones, since every colour demands the creation of a special plate. That means that etchings and woodcuts are usually priced higher than lithographs and screenprints, as they demand more of an effort from an artist. Prints made in more labour-intensive techniques are considered more valuable than prints that are easier to make. Nowadays, it’s difficult to imagine that any artist would authorize and sell a print that’s not up to standards, but there are still later impressions of historical prints on the market with reduced depth and contrast and therefore diminished the value. Limited editions are made to create scarcity for the print, but also to ensure equal quality of all prints. To avoid problems with worn-down plates, artists produced prints in limited editions. Prints by Goya, for example, are notorious for their lack of quality in later impressions, which is why they are priced less than prints that got off the press early. That’s why many collectors prefer earlier impressions of these prints.
Woodblocks, for example, break down around the edges and metal copper plates deteriorate, making lines thinner and impression hazy. Lithography, for example, became a popular printing technique because thousands of exact replicas could be made without damaging the image. Some printing techniques allow artists to produce thousands of quality prints.
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