Printmaking

Printmaking is a fun way to make art by printing on paper or things like fabric, wood, or metal. Artists use special tools to put ink on the surface. These tools can be made from metal, stone, wood, or screens. Some common ways to print include engraving, etching, lithography, woodcuts, and screen printing.

Each printed picture is called an impression. When many copies are made from the same tool, they are called an edition. Artists often sign and number each impression to show it is part of a special group. This makes each print unique and valuable. People have used printmaking for many years to share and enjoy art.

Techniques

Printmaking techniques are divided into four main categories.

Relief, where ink is applied to the surface, while carved or displaced grooves are without ink. Relief techniques include woodcut or woodblock, wood engraving, linocut and metalcut.

Intaglio, where ink is forced into grooves or cavities in the surface. Intaglio techniques include collagraphy, engraving, etching, mezzotint, and aquatint.

Planographic, where the matrix keeps its original surface, but is specially prepared to allow for the transfer of the image. Planographic techniques include lithography, monotyping, and digital techniques.

Stencil, where ink or paint is pressed through a prepared screen or material with cutout elements, including screen printing, risograph, and pochoir.

Types of printmaking outside of this group are viscosity printing, water surface printing such as paper marbling. Contemporary printmaking may include digital printing, photographic mediums, or a combination of digital, photographic, and traditional processes.

Many of these techniques can also be combined.

Woodcut

Woodcut is the earliest printmaking technique. It was probably first developed as a means of printing patterns on cloth, and by the 5th century was used in China for printing text and images on paper. Woodcuts of images on paper developed around 1400 in Europe, and slightly later in Japan.

The artist either draws a design directly on a plank of wood, or transfers a drawing done on paper to a plank of wood. The artist then uses sharp carving tools to carve away the parts of the block that will not receive ink. The surface of the block is then inked. Then a sheet of paper is placed over the block. The block is then rubbed or run through a printing press. If the print is in color, separate blocks can be used for each color.

Engraving

The process was developed in Germany in the 1430s. Engravers use a hardened steel tool called a burin to cut the design into the surface of a metal plate, traditionally made of copper.

To make a print, the engraved plate is inked all over, then the ink is wiped off the surface, leaving ink only in the engraved lines. The plate is then put through a printing press together with a sheet of paper. The paper picks up the ink from the engraved lines, making a print.

Etching

Etching is part of the intaglio family. In pure etching, a metal plate is covered with a waxy or acrylic ground. The artist then draws through the ground with a pointed etching needle, exposing the metal. The plate is then etched by dipping it in a bath of etchant. The etchant leaves lines in the plate. The remaining ground is then cleaned off the plate, and the printing process is the same as for engraving.

Mezzotint

An intaglio variant of engraving in which the image is formed from subtle gradations of light and shade. Mezzotint is a form of printmaking that requires artists to work from dark to light. To create a mezzotint, the surface of a copper printing plate is roughened evenly all over. The image is then formed by smoothing the surface. When inked, the roughened areas of the plate will hold more ink and print more darkly, while smoother areas of the plate hold less or no ink.

Aquatint

A tonal technique typically used in conjunction with Intaglio techniques, especially etching, and printed in the same way. Like etching, the aquatint technique involves the application of acid to make marks in a metal plate. Where the etching technique uses a needle to make lines that retain ink, traditional aquatint relies on powdered rosin which is acid-resistant in the ground to create a tonal effect. The rosin is applied in a light dusting, the rosin is then cooked until set on the plate. The plate is then exposed to acid, to which the rosin particles are resistant.

Drypoint

A variant of engraving, done with a sharp point, rather than a v-shaped burin. While engraved lines are very smooth and hard-edged, drypoint scratching leaves a rough burr at the edges of each line. This burr gives drypoint prints a characteristically soft line quality.

Lithography

Lithography is a technique invented in 1798 and based on the chemical repulsion of oil and water. A porous surface, normally limestone, is used; the image is drawn on the limestone with a greasy medium. Acid is applied, transferring the grease-protected design to the limestone, leaving the image 'burned' into the surface. Gum arabic, a water-soluble substance, is then applied, sealing the surface of the stone not covered with the drawing medium. The stone is wetted, with water staying only on the surface not covered in grease-based residue of the drawing; the stone is then 'rolled up', meaning oil ink is applied with a roller covering the entire surface; since water repels the oil in the ink, the ink adheres only to the greasy parts, perfectly inking the image.

Screenprinting

Screen printing creates prints by using a fabric stencil technique; ink is simply pushed through the stencil against the surface of the paper, most often with the aid of a squeegee. Generally, the technique uses a natural or synthetic 'mesh' fabric stretched tightly across a rectangular 'frame.' The fabric can be silk, nylon monofilament, multifilament polyester, or even stainless steel.

Monotype

Monotyping is a type of printmaking made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. The surface, or matrix, was historically a copper etching plate, but in contemporary work it can vary from zinc or glass to acrylic glass. The image is then transferred onto a sheet of paper by pressing the two together, usually using a printing-press. Monotypes can also be created by inking an entire surface and then, using brushes or rags, removing ink to create a subtractive image.

Monoprint

Monoprinting is a form of printmaking that uses a matrix such as a woodblock, litho stone, or copper plate, but produces impressions that are unique. Multiple unique impressions printed from a single matrix are sometimes known as a variable edition.

Mixed-media prints

Mixed-media prints may use multiple traditional printmaking processes such as etching, woodcut, letterpress, silkscreen, or even monoprinting in the creation of the print. They may also incorporate elements of collage, or painted areas, and may be unique prints.

Digital prints

Digital prints refer to images printed using digital printers such as inkjet printers instead of a traditional printing press. Images can be printed to a variety of substrates including paper, cloth, or plastic canvas.

Foil imaging

In art, foil imaging is a printmaking technique made using the Iowa Foil Printer, developed by Virginia A. Myers from the commercial foil stamping process. This uses gold leaf and acrylic foil in the printmaking process.

Direct-to-garment printing (DTG printing)

Direct-to-garment printing (DTG) is a process of printing on textiles using specialized aqueous ink jet technology. DTG printers typically have a platen designed to hold the garment in a fixed position, and the printer inks are jetted or sprayed onto the textile by the print head.

Color

Artists who make prints have many ways to add color to their work. They might use special printing plates, blocks, or screens for each color. Usually, they need about three to four plates, but sometimes they use up to seven. Each plate has a different color, and they are printed one after another to build the full picture.

One way to make color prints is called the reduction method. The artist starts with a simple block and prints a color on it. Then they carefully cut more away from the block and print another color on top. Each time they print, the new color goes on top of the old one.

Registration

When making prints with more than one color, it’s important to line up each color correctly. This is called "registration." Good registration means all the colors fit together just right. Some artists, like Andy Warhol, might line things up on purpose in a way that isn’t perfect to make interesting effects. How well things line up can depend on the type of printing used.

Protective printmaking equipment

When making prints, it’s important to stay safe. Printmakers who work with etching and lithography should wear closed-toed shoes and long pants. Today, they use rubber gloves to keep their hands safe. They also wear special respirators to protect themselves from harmful vapors. Most acid baths have ventilation hoods to help keep the air clean.

Printmakers should use respirators and masks with particle filters, especially when working with aquatinting. During this process, they may come in contact with rosin powder, which can be dangerous.

Print preservation

Modern prints on paper can last for a very long time if they are kept away from sunlight and moisture. Paper can get damaged by things in the environment and by how it is handled. Prints made with special acid-free paper can last more than 1,000 years, but regular paper might only last about 500 years. Older prints might look better than newer ones, depending on how the paper was made. Over time, older prints can change color due to acids in the paper.

A problem called foxing can cause brown spots in paper, caused by mold or chemical reactions. To help older prints, washing and special treatments might be needed. Color prints can fade if they are in too much light, so it's best to keep the light level low, to 50 lux (5 foot-candles) or less, and use lights with UV-filtering protection. When putting prints in frames, use special materials to keep them safe. Prints on animal skin (vellum) need to be kept at the right humidity level, between 25% and 40%, and prints on silk should be kept away from all light, including camera flashes.