Where do you sign your prints?

[capitalK]

Been printing a lot lately in the darkroom. I'm starting to get a stack of 11x14's to mount and I am trying to decide if/how to sign them.

 

[Tuolumne]

I never dign prints at all.

/T

 

[Al Kaplan]

I sign and date mine on the right front in the border. I also include a C in a circle indicating copyright. I usually print full frame with rather wide borders. Sometimes I'll put other information on the back but nobody really sees it. I rarely title a print, but when I do it's on the left in the border.

 

[capitalK]

Not sure why my edited title still shows "dign".

 

[venchka]

OK, I have been wondering about this a lot lately. Thanks for the input.

A followup question: What the heck do you use to actually sign your name? Working with both silver gelatin paper and inkjet paper, the only paper that will accept pencil is Moab Entrada Natural Rag. Entrada has a matte finish and takes pencil well. Ilford fiber glossy silver gelatin paper, Epson Luster and HP glossy or semigloss will not take pencil. A waterproof Sharpie is the only thing I have that will actually write on these slick coated papers.

What say ye?

I assume that those of you who sign the print use a window opening larger than the photograph so that your signature is visible after matting?

Thanks for your help.

Wayne

 

[nikon_sam]

I have never signed a print of mine...I know they're mine...besides I'm the only one looking at them anyway...😉 😀 😡

 

[rogue_designer]

3 places for my gallery prints.

very light pencil on the back of the print. (signature, date, plus edition information)
acid free pigment pen on the border of the print. (signature, date, plus edition info)
pencil on the matte (title, signature, edition)

I matte flush to the image, so the only signature visible is the one on the matte. But i sign the print so that if it's ever resold/reframed/rematted, etc. that information is not lost. (Gotta think about eventual authenticity disputes at the museums) 😉

 

[Al Kaplan]

I used to use a crows quill pen from the art supply with India ink, but I now use an ultra fine point sharpie. A lot of my prints were made and signed long before the copyright law was changed to give an automatic copyright. I guess that I just keep doing it out of habit.

 

[Tom A]

When I do sign, it is in the lower right hand corner, below the "frame" of the shot. On the back I put the "index code" for the print in pencil. This way it can be identified quickly if some one else wants a copy. I also use an embossing stamp (circular - about 1,3" diameter on the left hand of the print. This has my name and a "C" on it. You can get these at companies that specializes in legal documents stamps.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

I think a visible signature cheapens any picture...

 

[dof]

I always include a signature, the date, and edition info on the back in #4 pencil. I've always considered titles and signatures on the front as a testament to the photographer's fragile or inflated ego.

 

[rogue_designer]

I've always considered titles and signatures on the front as a testament to the photographer's fragile or inflated ego.

I thought that until my old gallery called me asking how to handle customers who were asking why the prints were unsigned, and if that meant it wasn't a limited edition, and could we negotiate on the price as a result...

Much easier to sign the matte.

 

[dazedgonebye]

I always include a signature, the date, and edition info on the back in #4 pencil. I've always considered titles and signatures on the front as a testament to the photographer's fragile or inflated ego.

Oh great...one more thing to discuss in therapy! :bang:

 

[bmattock]

I always include a signature, the date, and edition info on the back in #4 pencil. I've always considered titles and signatures on the front as a testament to the photographer's fragile or inflated ego.

On the very few galleries where I have been invited to hang work, there was always a requirement that the prints be signed on the print itself or the mat. I have usually chosen to sign in pencil on the mat. I did this because I noted that's how everyone else did it.

I think you may find my ego is hardly fragile. Inflated, perhaps, but I do that with or without anyone telling me how great I am - I already know.

 

[venchka]

Good To Know

Good To Know

I think a visible signature cheapens any picture...

I wish you were correct. That would reduce the price of the 50-60 Ansel Adams original prints I saw about a month ago. 😉

 

[aizan]

signing on the front is so...cutesy, like being on the local news, or getting your name in print. make way, here comes MR. FAMOUS!

oi...🙄

 

[mh2000]

sign and date lower RHC on the border (under the mat) using sharpie.

 

[bmattock]

signing on the front is so...cutesy, like being on the local news, or getting your name in print. make way, here comes MR. FAMOUS!

oi...🙄

I take it you have not yet had any gallery showings? They do require (in my limited experience so far) that you sign your prints. And they also print up these little index cards that they hang under your framed print, with title, brief bio, and your name. Sorry if that seems precious to you, but it is what it is - not my rules.

Like I said, my ego is huge. I don't need to sign my prints to feel like I'm some kind of mad genius and generally better than mostly everyone. I do that all on my own. My photos aren't that great yet.

 

[dazedgonebye]

signing on the front is so...cutesy, like being on the local news, or getting your name in print. make way, here comes MR. FAMOUS!

oi...🙄

I'm constantly amazed that on reading that some folks here do some thing or other, someone is willing to disparage their actions in rude and dismissive ways.
Disagreeing is one thing, but painting the action as born of ego, insecurity or other character defect is another.


"Oi," indeed.

 

[aizan]

yeah, don't project thoughts and feelings from other posts in this thread onto mine. i was only making fun of the giddy, childish pride some people have when they get a little attention. if your ego can't handle that, maybe someone should burst your bubble.

any artwork that's given or sold should be signed...on the back. whoever gets it will remember who made it, and there is no reason to sign on the front, since galleries do put cards under the print. the front should contain only the photograph.