Start With Resolution and Print Size

The first number to look for is resolution, and it only means something next to a size. A file at 300 dpi produces a sharp print at roughly 8 by 10 inches. The same file stretched to 40 by 60 inches will soften, however good the printer. So ask one question of any listing: what is the dpi at the size being sold? A seller who cannot answer it is selling from a low resolution source, often a scan of a book plate or a compressed image pulled from the web.

This matters more with Jean David than with a loose brush painter. His work runs on clean outlines, flat fields and decorative pattern, and flat fields are where cheap reproduction fails first. Look for banding, faint horizontal stripes across a solid area of color, and for edges that feather where they should be crisp. Zoom into the product photograph if one is offered. If the seller's own preview image looks blurry, the print will look worse.

Concede the risk plainly. Most Jean David prints sold online are made from digital files of uncertain origin, because the artist's estate licensing is not centralized the way it is for Monet or Klimt. That does not make every print bad. It makes the burden of proof the seller's, not yours.

Color Accuracy and Materials

Color is the second test, and the harder one to do from a screen. Jean David's palette leans on warm earth tones, deep blues and saturated decorative reds, and a cheap print will either mute those or push them neon. Compare the product image against two or three independent reproductions of the same work from museum or auction databases. If the seller's version is noticeably more vivid than every other source, the file has likely been over saturated to look better on a phone screen.

Materials decide how the color holds. Pigment inks resist fading for decades; dye based inks can shift within a few years, especially in a sunny room. Archival paper means acid free, usually stated as such. Canvas should be described by weight or as archival, not just as canvas. Vague material language is a quality signal in reverse. A serious printer states what it uses because the materials are the product.

Read the Seller, Not Just the Listing