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The Artwork and the File

When you collect digital art, you own the work — not just a copy of it.

Every digital artwork exists as a file. That file might be a video, an image, a piece of code that generates something new each time it runs, or something more complex. What you acquire as a collector is a specific instance of that work — a unique or editioned output, with documentation that establishes it as yours.

The file is not the whole picture, though.

Where that file lives, how it is preserved, and how ownership is recorded are separate questions — and they matter as much as the work itself.

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Understanding the relation between the file, the art and the support is essential.

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The Certificate: NFT or Other

Ownership is documented. The form that documentation takes depends on the work.

Some works are sold with a certificate of authenticity — a document signed by the artist or gallery that establishes provenance, edition, and ownership. Others use an NFT, a unique record stored on a blockchain that functions as a digital certificate. An NFT is not the artwork itself. It is closer to a title deed than to the thing it represents.

Both approaches serve the same purpose: they make ownership verifiable and transferable. What matters is that the documentation is clear, durable, and tied to a work you understand.

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An NFT records ownership. It does not define the artwork.

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Where Does The Work Actually Live?

Somewhere specific — and you should know where.

This is one of the most practical questions a collector can ask. Digital artworks are stored in different ways: on a private server, on decentralized storage systems designed for long-term preservation, directly on a blockchain, or on a physical device handed to you at the point of sale.

Each approach has different implications for how the work is preserved over time. A work stored on a centralized server depends on that server staying online. A work stored directly on a blockchain or a decentralized network is more durable. Before acquiring, always ask: where does this work live, and what happens to it if the platform disappears?

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The right question is not only what you own. It is where it lives.

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Download your guide in PDF >

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Access the other guides of the Digital Art Collecting 101 series:

Guide 1: Digital Art - The Basics

Guide 2: What Do I Actually Own?

Guide 3: How Do I Live With It?

Guide 4: Where Do I Begin?

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The Artwork and the File

When you collect digital art, you own the work — not just a copy of it.

Every digital artwork exists as a file. That file might be a video, an image, a piece of code that generates something new each time it runs, or something more complex. What you acquire as a collector is a specific instance of that work — a unique or editioned output, with documentation that establishes it as yours.