What is an edition?
How originals, limited editions, and open editions work — and why edition size is a promise to collectors.
Updated July 22, 2026
An edition is a set of copies of an artwork that you offer as a defined group. On ManageCanvas, every sellable piece belongs to an edition, and the kind of edition tells collectors how scarce it is.
The three kinds
- Original — a one-of-a-kind work. The edition is exactly one.
- Limited edition — a fixed, numbered run (for example, 30 prints numbered 1/30 through 30/30). Once the run sells out, no more are made. The number is the point: scarcity is the value.
- Open edition — printed to order with no fixed cap. Open editions make no scarcity promise, so they aren't numbered.
Why edition size is a promise
When you sell a limited edition, its size — say, "edition of 30" — is a commitment to every buyer: there will only ever be 30. That promise is exactly what a certificate of authenticity records, and it's what collectors pay a premium for.
This only works if ManageCanvas is the single place you track that edition. If you also sell copies of the same image somewhere else — a different platform, a gallery's own certificate, or an extra unnumbered batch — then "edition of 30" is no longer true, and the promise breaks for everyone who trusted it.
When you certify a limited edition here, you're agreeing that the size you declare is the true, total, and final number across every channel. That's what keeps a ManageCanvas certificate worth something.
How editions work on ManageCanvas
Each artwork can have one or more editions. For each edition you set:
- the kind (original, limited, or open),
- the size (for a limited run),
- a price, and
- how the certificate is delivered.
As pieces sell, ManageCanvas tracks which numbers are placed, so your storefront can show something like "12 of 30 available," and each buyer receives a certificate tied to their specific number.
In short
- Originals are unique; limited editions are a fixed, numbered run; open editions are uncapped.
- The edition size is a scarcity promise, recorded by the certificate.
- Keep every unit of a certified edition on ManageCanvas so that promise stays true.