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Printmaking Techniques:

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Intaglio: Techniques that transfer ink from the recesses of a plate, rather than from the surface. Techniques using intaglio include etching, engraving, and drypoint. A variety of tools are used.

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Lithography: A planographic technique that can print a variety of drawn and painterly marks, based on the principle that water and grease do not mix. The image is drawn or painted on the stone or metal plate with greasy litho crayon or greasy black ink.

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Relief: Techniques using a printing block, plate or matrix that has had ink applied to raised areas on its surface that have been gouged away using a variety of tools.

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Silkscreen Printing: A stenciling method that involves printing ink through stencils that are supported by a porous fabric mesh stretched across a frame called a screen to produce bold and graphic designs.

 

Printmaking Terms:

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Acid: The corrosive solution used to etch a plate for intaglio printing. The concentration of this bath is precisely measured, as is the submersion time.

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Chine-collé: The process of adhering one piece of paper to another by using a liquid adhesive and running them together through the printing press. Chine is French for “China,” which refers to the thin Asian paper originally used with this technique, and collé means “glued.”

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Collagraph: A technique of relief printing using any combination of actual elements such as cardboard, fabric, washes, carborundum (an abrasive powder), or found objects, which are adhered to a plate, inked, and printed.

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Drypoint: A technique of engraving, especially on copper, in which a sharp-pointed needle is used for producing furrows having a burr that is often retained in order to produce soft, velvety black lines. Aquatint: A technique of etching used to create tonal effects rather than lines. The resulting print often resembles watercolor.

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Green Etching: Electrolytic process for etching metal plates without using acids.

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Linocut: A relief technique using a sheet of linoleum, or similar material, from which shapes are gouged away using chisels or knives.

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Matrix: A physical surface that can be manipulated to hold ink, which is then transferred to paper. Most, though not all, matrices are able to print the same image many times. Matrices used in printmaking include blocks of wood, sheets of linoleum, metal plates, sheets of Plexiglass, and slabs of limestone.

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Relief Carving Tools: Tools, such as chisels and knives, used to carve into a matrix of wood or linoleum.

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Ukiyo-e: The best-known type of Japanese woodblock art print. It often includes color and uses multiple blocks.

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Woodblock printing (block printing): A technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia. It originated in ancient China as a method of printing using multiple blocks on textiles and later paper.

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Woodcut: The oldest form of printmaking, it is a relief process using knives and other tools to carve a design into the surface of a wooden block.

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Wood engraving: A variety of woodcut which is printed using relatively lower pressure to produce more fine lines.

 

Compiled by Janice Napier

Information from the International Print Center New York https://www.ipcny.org/