Aquatint
A method used in etching to create tone instead of line by applying a thin layer of resin particles to the plate. When acid is applied to the plate, it surrounds these particles and bites through the metal at their edges, creating a grainy effect.
Artist’s Proof (A.P.)
Rarely exceeding 10% of the edition, these prints are intended for the artist’s personal use and are normally identical to the edition prints.
Cancelled plates
When the limited edition has been completed, the plate is defaced (by drawing diagonals across it, drilling holes in it or stamping it "cancelled") or cut up. It is customary to print a "cancellation proof" to reassure collectors that the plate has been "cancelled" thus adding to the scarcity value of the print.
Chine-collé
A print is transferred to a delicate piece of paper which is glued at the time of printing to a heavier piece of paper.
Chop mark
An embossed seal impressed in the paper by the printer and/or publisher.
Counterproofing
Printing directly from a second print rather than a plate.
Drypoint
A form of engraving where a line is scratched onto the plate by a tool with a sharp point. During the drawing action the displaced metal forms a raised burr on the surface along the length of the line or mark. The printing ink is held in the incised line and the ragged burr, and prints with a rich velvety quality.
Edition
The number of prints made from one plate. A print may be published in a limited or unlimited edition. If the edition is limited this will normally be recorded on the print in pencil. For example, a print numbered 25/70 indicates that this particular print is the 25th impression from the plate of an edition limited to 70 impressions.
Engraving
Lines cut directly into a plate using a V-shaped tool called a burin.
Etching
Etching is the controlled erosion of the surface of a metal plate usually by acid. The plate is covered with an acid-resist ground such as bitumen or wax. The design is then drawn into the ground with a sharp implement to expose the metal below. When the artist has drawn through the coated plate it is immersed in an acid bath. The longer the plate is left in the acid the deeper the lines become. The plate is then inked and wiped so that ink remains only in the etched lines. It is then printed under pressure onto dampened paper to achieve an impression.
Impression
The term used to refer to any print taken from metal, stone or wood.
Intaglio
Intaglio is the general name used to describe all printmaking processes where the artist incises or engraves the surface of a plate either directly with tools or indirectly with chemicals to pull a print from it. Direct methods include drypoint, engraving and mezzotint; indirect methods include etching and aquatint. Prints are made by placing a dampened sheet of paper over the plate and running it, under pressure, through a printing press.
Lift-ground etching
Another term for sugar-lift aquatint.
Lino cut
A form of relief printmaking where the artist uses carving tools to gouge into a sheet of linoleum. To produce a print a thin layer of ink is applied to the raised surface of the linoleum, it is then overturned on top of a sheet of paper and rolled again with a clean ink roller. Lino cuts produce bold and expressive prints, and give a final result similar to that of a woodblock print.
Lithography
The term lithography derives from the Greek and means literally "drawing on stone". The design is drawn or painted on the printing surface – traditionally stone but now more often a metal plate – in precisely the same way as on paper. Colour lithography uses a number of plates or stones, one for each colour.
Mezzoprint
An intaglio process that creates a textured, burred surface by working into the plate with a heavy toothed tool and then smoothing these ink-holding areas down with a burnishing tool to create whites and light tones. No acid is used.
Monoprint
Also known as monotype, a single print made by drawing or painting onto a plate and printing this onto paper.
Original or fine art prints
Created by the artist working on a metal plate, lithographic stone, linoleum or wood block or screen and printed in limited numbers. Limited edition prints are numbered and signed by the artist. That is why they are called "original" prints. They are not reproductions. They are produced by hand, one at a time from a plate that the artist has worked on especially for the edition. The making of Original Prints is usually a collaborative process between the artist and a master printmaker.
Proof
An impression outside the edition, usually pulled during the process of working a plate. Types of proofs include trial, instate, special, progressive, and printer's.
Registration
Process of aligning the disparate elements (plates, registration sheet, paper) which may be required to create a print so that the image on the plate or paper is positioned exactly as required.
Relief printing
A process of cutting away from a flat surface (usually a block of wood or lino) areas that are meant not to print. One of the oldest forms of printmaking, and the reverse of Intaglio printing. Ink is rolled on the raised surface and transferred to paper under pressure, either by handrubbing or by using a printing press.
Roulette
A wheeled tool used to produce dots and cross-hatching on the plate.
Sugar-lift
A technique that can record the spontaneity of a brushstroke on the plate. Sugar-based liquid is painted onto a metal plate and removed once the surrounding areas have been protected.
Woodcut
Work created by cutting out the surface of a smooth plank of hardwood with a knife, aided by the use of gouges for more delicate lines.
