Printmaking Terms
This section explains common printmaking terms artists and galleries may use when describing original prints, limited editions, proofs, and print processes.
Understanding these terms helps artists present prints more professionally, explain how an image was made, and give collectors greater confidence in what they are purchasing.
Basic Print Terms
A print is an artwork created by transferring an image from a prepared surface, called a matrix, onto paper or another material. Unlike a painting or drawing, a print may exist in multiple impressions. Original prints include etchings, lithographs, screenprints, woodcuts, and other artist-directed processes.
Edition
An edition is the total number of prints produced from one image or matrix. Limited editions are usually numbered, such as 12/100, meaning the twelfth print from an edition of one hundred. Edition size helps collectors understand scarcity, value, and availability.
Matrix
A matrix is the surface from which a print is made. It may be a metal plate, lithographic stone, woodblock, screen, linoleum block, or another prepared surface. The artist creates or transfers the image onto the matrix before printing.
Impression
An impression is one individual print pulled from a matrix. Each impression may be part of an edition, proof, or trial. Quality can vary depending on ink, pressure, paper, and the condition of the matrix.
Pull
To pull a print means to transfer ink from the matrix onto paper. The term comes from traditional printmaking, where the printer pulls an impression from a plate, stone, block, or screen. Each pull creates one printed image.
Intaglio Processes
Intaglio
Intaglio is a printmaking family where the image is cut, scratched, or bitten below the surface of a plate. Ink sits inside the recessed lines or textures and is transferred to damp paper under pressure. Etching, engraving, drypoint, aquatint, and mezzotint are intaglio processes.
Etching
Etching is an intaglio process where a metal plate is coated with an acid-resistant ground. The artist draws through the ground, exposing the metal, and acid bites the exposed lines. The plate is then inked and printed under pressure.
Drypoint
Drypoint is an intaglio technique where the artist scratches directly into a metal or plastic plate with a sharp needle. The raised burr along the line holds ink and creates a soft, velvety appearance. Because the burr wears down, early impressions are often especially valued.
Aquatint
Aquatint is an etching technique used to create tonal areas rather than simple lines. A plate is dusted with fine resin particles and then bitten in acid. The result can resemble watercolor washes, shadows, or soft tonal fields.
Mezzotint
Mezzotint is an intaglio method known for rich blacks and smooth tonal transitions. The plate is roughened so it prints dark, then areas are scraped or burnished to create lighter tones. Mezzotint is valued for dramatic light and shadow.
Engraving
Engraving is an intaglio process where lines are cut directly into a metal plate using a sharp tool called a burin. Unlike etching, acid is not used to create the line. Engraving produces crisp, controlled marks.
Lithography & Screenprinting
Lithograph
A lithograph is a print made from a flat stone or metal plate. The process relies on the natural resistance between grease and water. Lithographs can capture soft lines, crayon-like textures, and painterly effects.
Stone Lithograph
A stone lithograph is printed from a prepared limestone surface, traditionally Bavarian limestone. The artist draws directly on the stone with greasy crayon or ink. Stone lithography is admired for preserving the artist’s hand and line quality.
Offset Lithograph
Offset lithography is a commercial printing process where the image is transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket and then onto paper. Many posters and reproductions are offset lithographs. It is different from an original hand-pulled lithograph created directly by the artist.
Screenprint
A screenprint is made by pushing ink through a prepared mesh screen onto paper, canvas, or another surface. Areas are blocked with stencils so ink passes only where desired. Screenprinting can create bold color, flat shapes, and strong graphic effects.
Serigraph
Serigraph is another term for screenprint, often used in the fine art market. The word helps distinguish artist-made or limited-edition screenprints from commercial screen printing. Many modern and Pop artists used serigraphy for its strong color and clean graphic appearance.
Relief Printing
Woodcut
A woodcut is a relief print made by carving away the non-printing areas of a woodblock. The raised surface is inked and printed onto paper. Woodcuts often have bold lines, strong shapes, and a direct handmade quality.
Woodblock
Woodblock is a general term for a print made from a carved block of wood. It is closely related to woodcut and is especially associated with Japanese printmaking traditions. The raised areas of the block hold ink and create the printed image.
Wood Engraving
Wood engraving is a relief process where the image is cut into the end grain of a wood block using engraving tools. It allows for finer detail than many traditional woodcuts. The printed image often shows delicate white lines against darker printed areas.
Linocut
Linocut is a relief process using a sheet of linoleum instead of wood. The artist cuts away areas that should remain unprinted, leaving the raised surface to hold ink. Linocuts often create bold, graphic images.
Relief Printing
Relief printing is a process where the raised surface of a block or plate carries the ink. Areas cut away do not print. Woodcut, woodblock, linocut, and some letterpress processes are examples.
Specialized Print Processes
Collagraph
A collagraph is made from a plate built up with textures, materials, or collage elements. The plate is inked and printed, often producing rich surfaces and unusual effects. Collagraphs can combine relief and intaglio qualities.
Collotype
Collotype is a high-quality printing process using a light-sensitive gelatin surface. It can reproduce continuous tone without a visible dot pattern. It is less common today but historically important in art publishing.
Carborundum
Carborundum printmaking uses silicon carbide particles mixed with adhesive to create textured areas on a plate. These areas hold ink and print with rich, painterly surfaces. Carborundum can produce bold texture, deep color, and strong physical presence on paper.
Chine-collé
Chine-collé is a technique where a thin sheet of paper is bonded to a heavier backing paper during printing. It allows artists to use delicate papers, subtle color, or special surface qualities. It is often seen in etching and other intaglio prints.
Pochoir
Pochoir is a stencil-based coloring process often done by hand. Color is applied through cut stencils using brushes or other tools. It can produce vivid color and a hand-finished quality.
Heliogravure
.Heliogravure is a photomechanical printmaking process related to photogravure. It uses photographic transfer and etching to create tonal images on a plate. It was historically used for high-quality art and photographic reproductions.
Photogravure
Photogravure is an intaglio process that transfers a photographic image onto a copper plate, which is then etched and printed. It produces deep blacks, soft tonal range, and beautiful surface quality. Photogravure is valued by photographers, print collectors, and fine art publishers.
Letterpress
Letterpress is a relief printing process where raised type or images are inked and pressed into paper. It was traditionally used for books and printed text but can also be used artistically. Letterpress often leaves a slight impression in the paper.
Sugar-Lift
Sugar-lift is an etching technique where the artist draws on a plate with a sugar-based solution. After the plate is covered with ground and placed in water, the sugar dissolves and exposes the drawn areas. It creates brush-like marks in etching.
Soft Ground Etching
Soft ground etching uses a softer, tackier ground on a metal plate. The artist may draw through paper placed over the ground, creating lines that resemble pencil or crayon. Textures from fabric, leaves, or other materials can also be pressed into the surface.
Spit Bite
Spit bite is an aquatint technique where acid is applied directly to the plate with a brush or other tool. The acid bites quickly and creates painterly tonal effects. The term comes from older methods where saliva was sometimes mixed with the acid solution.
Stencil Print
A stencil print is made by applying ink or color through a cut or blocked-out shape. The stencil controls where pigment reaches the surface. Stencil methods appear in pochoir, screenprinting, and other print processes.
Terragraph
Terragraph is a textured printmaking process that uses sand and binders to build raised surfaces. It creates strong physical texture and dimensional effects. The result can feel closer to relief or mixed-media artwork than a flat print.
Waxtype
Waxtype is a printmaking process similar to screenprinting, but it uses pigmented beeswax instead of traditional printer’s ink. The wax creates a particular surface quality and texture. It is less common but may appear in specialized print descriptions.