Collectors of art prints tend to focus on niche media or specific eras or historical periods. Limited edition art print collectors may eschew fine-priced offerings that come from open-ended catalogs, and lithograph and serigraph collectors may similarly refuse etchings and engravings at good prices. Print types include woodcuts, lithographs, giclees (digital reproductions that tend to withstand environmental degradation), and heliogravures (essentially metal etchings based on photography techniques). Antique art prints, such as those found in the Audubon series, can fetch high prices at online auctions. These prints often focus on natural scenes, such as those from botany and biology, but they can also depict critical scenes from history (such as Civil War battles). Etching is one of the most interesting ways of creating a print. Top quality etchings utilize razor sharp diamonds to digest metal surfaces with acid and wax. In terms of determining the authenticity of expensive art prints, look for provenance documents. These not only detail the pedigree of ownership but also the print conditions throughout the piece's travels. If the provenance is for whatever reason incomplete or spotty, you may want to have a third-party art print maven or historian evaluate the work. In rare cases in which provenance cannot be determined by detailed evaluation, an expert may "attribute" a piece to a certain artist. Attribution is based on the artist's catalog and circumstantial evidence. Art print collectors often make a game out of locating conclusive evidence as to the origin of attributed prints. On the other hand, if you are simply buying inexpensive art prints to decorate with, you don't have to worry about these issues. | 
