An open edition is a fine art print made to order and not capped at a fixed number, so it stays available rather than reaching a cut-off. A limited edition is capped: a set quantity or a set time, then closed once those terms are met. Both are printed to the same standard here, on the same papers and the same pigment inks, so the difference is availability, not grade. The print itself is the same fine art object either way; only the availability changes.
What stays the same in both
Both share the same fine art process and are made to hold their colour for generations. What changes between the two is one thing: whether the number of prints is capped. An open edition stays printable for as long as the series it belongs to is open. A limited edition seals at its set number or set time, and once those terms are met the edition closes.
Why limited editions are numbered, and open editions are not
A limited-edition print carries my signature and a number, written as a fraction such as 12/40, which fixes the edition and gives each print its own identity within the run. An open edition has no fraction, because there is no fixed total to count against. For what the fraction records and how that total holds from the day the edition opens, see what limited edition means in art.
Where artist's proofs fit the comparison
Proofs belong to the limited side. An artist's proof, marked AP, is set aside from a numbered edition and counted into the declared total at release, so it is one more way a limited edition is sealed and recorded. An open edition, having no fixed count, has no proofs in the traditional sense. For what a proof is and how it differs from a numbered print, see what an artist's proof is.
Where the one-of-ones sit
Beside open and limited I keep a third class: the one-of-one, a single unrepeatable work rather than an edition at all. There is no edition count to speak of, so it sits apart from the comparison this page draws. For what a one-of-one is and how it differs from a print made as an edition, see is a giclée an original.
What this means for collecting
What a collector acquires, in every case, is the surface: the image, the charge held in it, the paper and inks chosen for that piece. Edition terms then describe how the work is offered. A limited edition is finite and numbered. An open edition stays available while its series is open. A one-of-one is singular. Each describes availability and form, and none is a grade of quality.
What is the difference between an open edition and a limited edition?
An open edition is printed to order and not capped, so it stays available while its series is open and carries no fraction. A limited edition is capped at a set number or set time, signed and numbered, then closed once those terms are met. Both use the same archival paper and pigment inks and are made to the same standard, so the difference is availability, not quality. A small edition is not a better print; it is a more restricted one.
When an open edition's series closes or a limited edition reaches its terms, the run stops, and the terms stated at release hold without reopening. The full mechanics of each class sit on the edition mechanics page.