Collect the work, understand the edition

Start with the artwork, then understand its identity, ownership and playback.

An edition is more than its marketplace thumbnail. Its program runs in your browser, using the edition's inputs to create an image, an animation or an interactive experience.

Start with the work

Prefer live rendering when viewing or exhibiting the work. Open a project in the art viewer, choose an edition and let its program run. Read the artist's description and try the available controls. Live rendering preserves the work's movement, interaction and detail as its program produces them on your display. Compressed images and GIFs are useful for browsing and sharing previews, or as a fallback when a device cannot run the work.

For example, EoD is intended to evolve continuously. A looping preview repeats the captured clip, not the full progression of the running work. Other projects have their own relationships to time and interaction.

A collector's route

1. Understand minting and ownership: project eligibility, edition identity and checking a transfer.
2. View and interact with your collection: live artwork, mobile controls and saved outputs.
3. Keep a copy: preserve source, edition inputs and a tested viewer alongside your collection records.

What identifies an edition?

Keep its chain, contract address and global token ID. The project ID and edition number make it recognizable within Immutables.art; the global token ID identifies it within the art contract. These numbers are not interchangeable.

Transferring an edition changes ownership, while its original mint transaction remains part of its history. See contracts and identity for the distinction between the artist's code-page NFT and the edition you collect.

Read beyond the thumbnail

Traits describe choices in the program, rather than the full visual experience. Consider composition, movement and the artist's intent alongside trait data. The seed guide explains reproducible variation and why a transaction hash alone does not guarantee unpredictable mint outcomes.

For an exhibition, share the edition URL and institution guide. The NFT can remain in your wallet while a museum or gallery renders it: display requires no token transfer or custody. Keep credit, source license and agreed presentation terms with the work's records.