The Real Timeline for a Made-to-Order Auffray Print

Custom prints are not stock items. Production, drying, framing and transit each add days, and the honest total is longer than most product pages suggest.

Auvrique Editorial · Fine Art Editions

The short answer

A made-to-order print usually takes 5 to 14 business days to arrive. Production accounts for roughly 2 to 7 of those days, depending on whether the piece is a framed poster or a canvas, and shipping adds 2 to 7 more. International delivery can push the total past three weeks.

Where the Waiting Time Actually Goes

The clock starts when the order is confirmed, not when it is placed. Production for a framed poster typically runs two to four business days. A canvas takes longer, often three to seven, because the ink needs time to cure before stretching. Any store promising same-day dispatch of a custom print is shipping something pre-made, not made to order.

Transit is the second stage, and it varies more than production. Domestic shipping usually adds two to five business days. Cross-border orders can take a week or more, and customs clearance is outside any store's control. A realistic planning figure for an international canvas order is three weeks door to door. The same logic applies to any made-to-order piece, whether it is a canvas edition of a Pontoise scene or a print after Auffray.

What Speeds an Order Up or Slows It Down

Three variables dominate. Format matters most, since framed work involves assembly that canvas stretching does not, and vice versa. Destination matters next, because a domestic address skips customs entirely. Order timing matters too. A print ordered on a Friday evening may not enter production until Monday, and holiday periods add queue time at both the workshop and the carrier.

The practical move is to ask the store two questions before paying. First, what is the production time in business days, stated as a range rather than a promise. Second, which carrier handles the final leg, since that determines whether tracking will be useful. Stores that answer both plainly, as the shipping policy behind most framed editions should, tend to hit their own estimates. Stores that answer vaguely tend to miss them. The same diligence applies when you look for a quality Auffray print for a living room and compare sellers on more than price.

What changes the timeline

Canvas formats generally need one to three more production days than framed posters
International orders add customs clearance time no store can guarantee
Weekend and holiday orders usually enter production on the next business day
Express shipping shortens transit but never shortens production

Planning Around a Date

If the print is needed for a specific date, work backwards and add a buffer. Take the store's stated production range at its upper end, add the transit estimate, then add three to five business days of slack. For a domestic framed poster ordered three weeks ahead, that buffer is generous. For an international canvas ordered ten days ahead, it is not.

It is worth saying plainly that the wait is the cost of the format. A made-to-order print is produced for one buyer at one size, which is why the color fidelity and sizing can be checked before production rather than after. Readers weighing that tradeoff can compare how a framed poster edition ships against a stretched piece, or read how print resolution is judged before ordering a fine art reproduction. The wait buys control. It does not buy speed.

A store that quotes one number for a custom print is quoting a hope, not a schedule.

Format	Production	Total domestic
Framed poster	2 to 4 business days	5 to 9 business days
Canvas	3 to 7 business days	6 to 14 business days
Canvas, international	3 to 7 business days	2 to 3 weeks

Typical ranges for made-to-order prints

Key takeaways

Most custom prints arrive within 5 to 14 business days of ordering.
Production time, not shipping, is the larger and less predictable share of the wait.
International orders should be planned at three weeks to allow for customs.
Express shipping speeds transit only; it never shortens production.

Related questions

Do framed prints take longer than canvas prints to produce?

It depends on the workshop. Framing involves assembly of moulding, glazing and mounting, while canvas requires ink curing and stretching. In practice both fall in the two to seven business day range, with canvas often at the longer end because the print cannot be stretched until it has fully dried.

Can I track a custom print while it is being made?

Usually not. Most stores send a confirmation when production begins and a tracking number only when the parcel is handed to the carrier. That means the production phase, often the longer half of the wait, happens without visibility. Asking for a production estimate in writing is the best substitute.

Is a faster delivery option worth paying for?

Only if production is already finished or nearly so. Express shipping cuts days off transit but does nothing about the production queue, which is usually the bottleneck for a made-to-order piece. If a date matters, order earlier rather than paying for speed that applies to the shorter half of the timeline.

From the Auvrique collection

Made to order · Every size