Aquatint: An etching technique that creates areas of tone. A plate is treated with a fine layer of resin prior to submersion in an acid bath. The acid bites the plate between the grains of resin, creating a rich texture whose darkness is determined by the length of exposure to the acid.
Artist’s proof (A.P.): Proofs printed for the artist and excluded from the numbered edition.
Bon à tirer (B.A.T.): (French, “good to pull”) The proof approved by the artist as the standard of printing for the edition.
Burnishing: use of a flattened tool to level or partially erase worked areas of an intaglio plate.
Chiaroscuro woodcut: A form of woodcut involving several blocks in which one or more of the blocks is used to print large areas of tone. Typically, a chiaroscuro woodcut will involve a line block to indicate the outlines of the composition and tone blocks with areas carved out to create highlights by allowing the white of the paper to show through. The final effect is similar to an ink wash drawing with highlights and line drawing.
Chine collé: (French, “Chinese paste”) A process used to adhere a thin paper of a different color or texture onto a larger, heavier sheet during printing.
Collography: A printmaking process that uses a collage of various materials glued together on a rigid surface to yield an intaglio print, a relief print, or a combination of both.
Counterproof: A monotype that is produced by pressing a piece of paper over a freshly printed (or drawn) image. The image is transferred, in reverse, from the original print onto the new piece of paper.
Drypoint: An intaglio process in which a plate is directly incised with a needle. The result, when printed, is a raised cut or burr that produces a velvety line. Editions are usually small because the burr breaks down after consecutive printings.
Edition: The total number of prints (exclusive of proofs) of a single image or series of images printed from the same plate or stone.
Engraving: An intaglio technique in which a burin is used to cut into a plate, creating deep or tapered lines depending on the pressure used. Engraving differs from etching in that no acid is used and differs from drypoint because the metal is dug out and burs are scraped off the plate.
Etching: An intaglio printmaking process in which a metal plate is coated with an acid-resistant ground and drawn upon with etching tools to expose the metal. The plate is then immersed in an acid bath that eats away or “bites” the exposed areas, causing depressions that can be inked and printed.
Hard-ground etching: An etching process in which an acid-resistant compound is heated until it becomes liquid and is then applied to a warmed metal plate. When the plate has air-cooled and the ground re-hardens, it is ready to be drawn upon with etching tools.
Heliogravure: A forerunner of photogravure in which the photographic image is projected directly onto the plate rather transferred to it on an emulsion. The term “photogravure” is often used indiscriminately for both techniques.
Intaglio: Techniques that involve scratching or etching line or tonal areas into the surface of a metal plate. The plate is covered with ink and then the top surface is wiped clean, leaving ink in the line or tonal areas. Wet paper is placed on the plate and run through a press. The paper is forced into the crevices containing the ink, and the image is transferred to the paper.
Laid paper: Paper showing the pattern of vertical wire-marks and horizontal chain-lines produced by the papermaker’s mould during its manufacture.
Lithograph: A grease-based drawing is applied to a stone or aluminum plate and treated chemically. The stone is kept wet and rolled with ink. Only the grease drawing attracts the ink; the water on the rest of the stone or plate repels the ink. When the stone is fully charged with ink, it is run through a high-pressure press, which transfers the image to a sheet of paper.
Metalcut: A form of relief printing from an intaglio plate. In the fifteenth century metal cuts often employed drill holes that printed as white dots. Engraved lines will print white rather than black in metal cut since the surface, rather than the marks in the plate, is inked.
Mezzotint: An intaglio process invented around 1650 that allows the printing of rich tonal areas of black and grey. The mezzotint process begins by texturing a metal plate in such a way that it will hold a great deal of ink and print a solid black field. This is done with a tool called a “rocker.” A rocker is essentially a large curved blade with very fine teeth along its edge. This blade is rocked back and forth, putting courses of fine dots into the metal plate. After this has been done repeatedly the plate will be covered with fine stipples that can hold ink. The next step is to scrape away the stippled texture where lighter passages are needed. The more vigorously the plate is scraped the less ink it will hold and the whiter it will print. Mezzotint differs conceptually from other intaglio methods because the artist works from black to white rather than white to black. For this reason mezzotint lends itself to scenes with many dark passages.
Monoprint: Any unique print that is created from a plate that has an image fixed on it (otherwise known as a “worked” plate).
Monotype: An image is drawn or painted onto an un-worked plate (a plate that does not have an image already fixed on it by another method) and pressed onto paper to create a unique print. A second impression can sometimes be pulled from the plate, producing a “ghost” image.
Photo-lithograph: A technique by which an image is produced on a lithographic plate through photographic means.
Pochoir: A stencil print that does not involve a screen. Usually pigment is brushed across the openings of the template. Often the brush marks are discernible.
Printer’s proof (P.P.): Proofs printed for the printers who work on an edition.
Relief: Any print in which the image is printed from the raised surface of a block. Woodcut, linocut and relief etching are examples.
Right to print (R.T.P.): See Bon à tirer
Silkscreen (also called screenprint or serigraph): Stencil process using mesh stretched over a frame. Ink is forced through openings in the mesh, which can be blocked through a variety of methods.
Soft-ground etching: An etching technique in which paper is laid over a non-drying ground and drawn upon. The soft-ground adheres to the paper, exposing the metal, which can then be bitten in an acid bath. The quality of line is often soft and grainy and can reveal the texture of the paper used in the drawing.
Sugar lift (also known as “lift ground”): Etching technique in which a substance (in the case of sugar lift, a paste of sugar and water) is applied by brush to a metal plate. After resist varnish is applied and dried, the plate is put in warm water, dissolving the sugar solution and “lifting” the acid resisting ground, leaving the plate exposed to the action of acid. This technique often creates brush-stroke character in lines.
Spit-bite: A variation of aquatint in which the artist paints an acid solution on the prepared plate rather than immersing the plate in an acid bath.
Trial proof (T.P.): Any test impression taken from a plate, block, stencil, or other print matrix to test how that particular image, or part of an image, will reproduce.
Woodcut: A form of relief printing in which a piece of wood (usually the plank side of soft wood) is carved so that the raised areas carry ink to produce the design.
Wood engraving: A relief print carved in the end grain of a block of wood whose thickness is the same as the height as a piece of movable type (“type high”). This was traditionally a commercial technique practiced by specialists and used in magazines and book illustrations.
Working proof (W.P.): A proof taken during the development of an image on which notations and corrections concerning color changes, plate changes, pressure of the press, etc., are made by the artist or the printer.
Wove paper: Paper manufactured on a screen of brass wires all of the same weight that has been woven to produce an even, smooth surface. The paper itself is smooth and free of visible marks from the wires.
