Aspiring art collectors might be shy at first about purchasing a limited-edition print. If an artist such as Peter Max is promoting himself and his work in national television interviews and on iPhone apps, if images from his works are appearing on postcards and tote bags, then what could be the value of spending several thousand dollars to buy a copy of one of his original works? The answer, according to Ruth-Ann Thorn of Crown Thorn Publishing in San Diego, Calif., is that owning a work, even a print, by a famous and widely collected artist is always a good investment. "Sometimes a print is better than an original," says Thorn, who notes that during his lifetime Rembrandt sold tens of thousands of etchings—copies etched into metal—of his works at affordable prices. Today those same etchings would sell for as much as $30,000. Picasso’s posters have sold for $8,000 to $10,000.

Thorn says that buying a limited-edition print of a famous artist’s work is far better than buying an original work by a lesser-known artist who is not widely collected. The trick, says Thorn, is to find artists whose works are likely to increase in value. Here, she and other experts offer advice on how to find such artists, as well as additional pointers for would-be buyers of limited-edition art.

Popularity Is a Plus
What makes Picasso and Gustav Klimt household names? These were artists who actively marketed themselves, who made many prints of their works until they were known by millions and collected by many people from all walks of life. Many artists today work in that mode, creating accessible art that is widely collected by many kinds of people, not just connoisseurs. These artists include LeRoy Neiman—known for his colorful, abstract depictions of celebrities and sporting events—and Thomas Arvid, whose works feature wine bottles and glasses. These artists have a solid and dedicated following and release new works in limited editions on a continuing basis.

Neiman has been introducing new work in original and print form since the 1970s, and he has sold thousands of prints of his work over the years. His prints from 30 years ago are now reselling for five and six times the original price, says Thorn.

"I do a lot of work with [Neiman]," says Dewey Graff of Dewey Graff Fine Art in Eden Prairie, Minn., a dealer in limited-edition prints who works closely with both artists and publishers. "When Neiman comes out with a new work, it’s not uncommon for the prints to double and triple in price within a few days."

Some artists are household names before they begin to sell their art. An example is Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones. Because he is so well known, his limited editions sell and resell at high prices. Celebrity drives demand, and demand drives pricing.

Edition Size Matters
Once you’ve found an artist who is successful and whose works you admire, you need to choose a work and an edition size that suits you. Many dealers will tell you to buy from an edition of fewer than 300 copies. "People think that sounds like a lot of copies out there, but I tell them that given all the people in the U.S., 300 is a small number," says Graff, who notes that very famous artists need larger print runs. "If the top artists ever came out with an edition of less than 300, it would create a feeding frenzy."

Jim Atkinson of Atkinson Mann Fine Art in Dawsonville, Ga., notes that a smaller print run doesn’t necessarily translate into more valuable prints. "The edition size is a function of the demand for the work. A larger print run may mean that there is much more demand for the work," he says. "Thomas Kinkade will do editions of 4,000, but he has galleries all over the world." Stephen Holland, by contrast, will do print runs of 125, very small editions, but he specializes in sports-themed artworks, and that’s a smaller niche, says Atkinson.

Buyers should be aware that the stated edition size may not be the total number of copies produced. Some artists produce U.S. editions and then multiple additional editions in Europe and Japan. "Some artists feel that they should do different runs in different trim sizes for the same work, and that means that this image really has multiple print runs," says Thorn, who warns collectors to be leery of those works.

Edition Numbers Don’t Matter
Most prints used to be lithographs, which are produced through a process in which the image is re-created on a metal plate that is then pressed to the paper. Until the 1990s, the earliest prints were often used as artist’s proofs. They were the clearest copies and were considerably more valuable than any other print in an edition. The later numbers in any edition would be of slightly lower quality.

These days, most prints are made by a computer-based printing process called giclée, in which the paint is sprayed onto the canvas and each copy is exactly alike in quality. In this way, edition numbers don’t matter, and in fact are arbitrarily assigned. A few prints are made from a combination of screen printing and giclée.

What does matter is the type and quality of any finish work that is done to the print after it has been produced. Many artists hand-embellish every work, which means they add finishing touches by hand. "Some artists have people do the hand-embellishing for them under their direction. So be sure to ask if the artist has done the work on the print himself," says Atkinson.

Choose a Dealer You Trust
Just as important as selecting the artist and the work is finding a gallery or dealer with whom you are comfortable. Find someone who is an authority on the artist and on works that interest you. "I think of art collecting as like buying a piece of jewelry: You should know the person you are buying your art from, and you should trust that person as much as you trust your jeweler," says Graff. "You want to work with someone who is knowledgeable and who can educate you along the way."