What a Custom Ohara Koson Print Takes to Arrive

A made-to-order reproduction moves through two stages, production and transit, and each carries its own clock. Here is how the days add up, and where delays actually come from.

Auvrique Editorial · Fine Art Editions

The short answer

A custom Ohara Koson print typically takes one to two weeks from order to delivery. Production of a made-to-order reproduction runs roughly two to five business days, then shipping adds three to seven business days domestically and longer internationally. Framed pieces and canvas can add a day or two over unframed posters. Order early if a specific date matters.

The two clocks that set your timeline

Every custom print runs on two separate clocks. The first is production, the days a workshop needs to print, inspect and prepare the piece. For a made-to-order reproduction this usually falls between two and five business days. Framing adds work at this stage, since the print must be mounted and fitted before it can leave. Canvas needs stretching time as well.

The second clock is transit, and it belongs to the carrier, not the printer. Domestic shipments commonly take three to seven business days once the piece ships. International destinations can run one to three weeks, and customs clearance is the variable nobody can promise. Add the two clocks together and one to two weeks door to door is the honest expectation for a single framed or canvas piece. Anyone promising faster is compressing the production stage, and that is where quality slips.

How order volume changes the wait

A single print is the fastest case. One piece moves through printing, framing or stretching, and packing as one job, so the two-to-five-day production window holds. Two or three pieces ordered together usually ship together on the same schedule, since they fit one production run. The timeline stretches when a batch is large enough to be printed in waves, which can add several days before the last piece leaves the workshop.

Volume also affects cost per piece, which matters if you are furnishing a room rather than filling one wall. A set of smaller works, such as a trio of bird-and-flower compositions, often prices better than three separate orders. If you are weighing formats before you commit, the choice between canvas and a framed poster affects both the wait and the wall, and it is worth settling first. Our own catalogue currently runs to other artists, so a Koson buyer will be ordering from a specialist seller, and the same volume logic applies there.

What moves the timeline

Framed pieces need mounting and fitting before they ship
Canvas requires stretching, which adds a production day or two
International orders sit longest at customs, not in production
Large multi-print orders may be produced in waves

Ordering against a fixed date

If the print needs to be on a wall for an event, work backwards from the date, not forwards from today. Allow two weeks for a domestic order and add a buffer of three to five days. That buffer absorbs the two most common delays, a framing component out of stock and a carrier miss. A seller who answers a date question directly, with a range rather than a promise, is the one to trust.

Ask one question before you pay: when does production actually start? Some sellers begin the same day, others batch orders weekly, and that single detail can shift delivery by half a week. It is also worth confirming whether tracking is provided at dispatch, because a tracked shipment lets you see a delay forming while there is still time to react. For a first order, a single piece is the sensible test before committing to a larger set.

The delay is almost never the printer. It is the frame, the customs desk, or the courier.

Order	Production	Total to delivery
Single unframed print	2 to 4 business days	About 1 week domestic
Single framed or canvas	3 to 5 business days	1 to 2 weeks domestic
Small set, 2 to 3 pieces	3 to 6 business days	1 to 2 weeks domestic
International order	3 to 5 business days	2 to 4 weeks, customs permitting

Typical door-to-door ranges for made-to-order reproductions

Key takeaways

One to two weeks door to door is the realistic range for a custom print ordered domestically.
Framing and canvas stretching add production days over a plain print.
International delivery is governed by customs as much as by the carrier.
For a fixed event date, order at least two and a half weeks ahead.

Related questions

How quickly can I get an Ohara Koson canvas?

A canvas reproduction usually takes slightly longer than a framed poster because the print is stretched after printing. Expect three to five business days of production, then standard transit, so roughly one to two weeks domestically. Ordering at least two weeks before you need it removes most of the risk.

Do framed prints take longer to ship than unframed ones?

Yes, by a small margin. Framing adds mounting and fitting to the production stage, typically a day or two, and framed pieces are packed more heavily for transit. The difference is rarely more than a few days, but it matters when you are working backwards from a specific date.

What usually delays a custom print order?

Three things cause most delays: a framing or stretching component out of stock, a carrier miss in transit, and customs clearance on international orders. Production itself is rarely the bottleneck. Asking when production starts and whether tracking is provided at dispatch tells you most of what you need to know.

From the Auvrique collection

Made to order · Every size