Signing your prints - what info?

[Mike Guilbault]

When signing your prints, what other information do you typically add, such as edition number, date, or something else?  If you add the date, is it the date the photograph was taken, or the date the print was made?  Is there a rule of thumb or preferred practice on what to include along with your signature?

[r010159]

Do not make this any more complicated than it needs to be. You can just sign the photos and be done with it. Personally, if I included a date, it would be the date of the first printing of the photo. But that is what I think.

Bob

[ThirstyDursty]

Sign the back with pencil

Title
Edition
Signature

I've chosen not to sign front. As it has to be 110% perfect or the print is ruined. After you wreck a couple like me you might change your mind. Also when framed...I think it looks better on the mat.

So I do it on back with pencil and on mat if they have ordered it framed.

I've done it a few times on print with ink...wrecked a few. Now only do it by special request

[louoates]

I just include my digital signature in the bottom right of the image.

[ashaughnessy]

On the front of the print, below the image, signature on the right and title on the left. I mat/mount leaving a margin so these are visible. It helps if you have attractive handwriting. On glossy paper I found a nice brush pen that looks good, on matte paper I use an "H" pencil.
Once matted/mounted, I then stick a label on the back of the mount with information about the print, usually a longer description. I found when showing at markets and the like that people will, most of the time, pick up the print and look at it then turn it over to look at the back, so I put something there for them to look at.
Anthony

[Jager]

Name and year the photo was taken in the lower right.  Location in the lower left.

Any provenance information, title, edition number, etc. on the back.

[Dave Gurtcheff]

I mount and mat my work. On the mat, left side, under the print, I put the title and date taken. On the right is my signature. Both done with light pencil. I also put a sticker (label) on the back as shown below. I might add I started out my career as an apprentice draftsman, before I got my engineering degrees, so my lettering is neat and precise.
Dave in NJ

[JayWPage]

I sign the print on the lower right and write the print number and year the print was made on the lower left. Customers can mat the prints with the signature showing or not as per their preference.

On the reverse side of the print I sign and date the print in pencil when I print it. I also include a signed certificate with each print giving some info about the image, where and when it was taken, the print number, whether the edition is open or limited, my website, etc. This can be attached to the back of the picture when it is framed.

[MHMG]

There's no wrong answer here. Tell the story you want to tell with your prints. The print can stay unsigned. It can include a signature front or back, or signature and date front or back. Or it can contain lots of metadata on the verso of the print, or underneath the over mat on the front, or even in a title/subtitle arrangement in full view from the front viewing angle for future print collectors to ponder... who, what, when, where, etc.  You can add logos, create monograms, etc. Your choice. Whatever you think adds but doesn't detract from the value of your work.

Several years ago I  bought a photograph at a flea market dated 1885. The image was of a lovely young woman in formal attire. But what really drew me to this photograph? The name of the studio and the additional information on the verso! The cabinet card mount was imprinted with "Electric Light Studio", and there were additional references to Harrisburg, PA, and to the studio's hours of operation. Harrisburg only began to get electrified in 1879, and thus this studio was an unabashedly proud early adopter of modern technology, photographing with electric lights into the evening hours while other studios were still relying on daylight coming through skylights in the ceilings.

cheers,
Mark
http://www.aardenburg-imaging.com