Because of its duplicative nature and its use of multiple layers of ink, the practice of printmaking can be very complex. It is important to record numbered and unnumbered prints, various states or iterations of a print and other kinds of multiples. Without proper records, the nature and value of a print may be uncertain, making it difficult to distinguish it from a poster or other commercially printed image. To combat this confusion, Tamarind instituted a system of print cataloguing that involves recording the edition size, the printer, the cancellation of the matrix and all of the print’s various physical details in an effort to maintain complete transparency. These guidelines are now in practice in printshops everywhere, no matter the method used, and they have been adopted as the definitive ethical standards of printmaking.