Artist's proof (AP)
An impression of an edition reserved for the artist, outside the numbered run.
Artist's proofs — marked AP or É.A. (épreuve d'artiste) — are copies of an editioned work reserved for the artist, traditionally around 10% of the edition. They sit outside the numbered sequence but are part of the work's total production, and the market generally treats them comparably to numbered impressions.
Cataloging proofs correctly matters for the edition's integrity: a work's record should show the numbered size and the proof types separately, so "how many exist" has one true answer.