Glossary of Printmaking Terms

Etching is a means of engraving imagery and mark making into various kinds of metal plates with the purpose of printing the plates. In Western Europe, the process of etching began during the fourteenth century as a way of decorating metal (eg: armour or jewellery) and was not initially seen as a means for printing imagery.

The process of etching begins with laying a ‘ground’ or ‘resist’ on the plate, drawing into it and then placing the plate in a bath of corrosive liquid (traditionally nitric acid), which will then incise, or ‘etch’, the drawn image through the resist and on to the metal. Within this discipline, there are a multitude of different techniques, which produce different marks and effects on the surface of the plate.

Etching at Green Door

At Green Door, we teach and facilitate Acrylic Resist Etching, using Copper, Zinc and Aluminium on which to etch our prints. Not only is this process safer, but is also considered more environmentally friendly than other traditional techniques. In order to do this, we have removed all highly toxic chemicals used within traditional etching, which can be considered harmful to both the printmaker and the environment, and would also demand the use of a specially designed studio, with high level extraction filters and special protective clothing to be worn at all times. Green Door does not allow the use of solvents or acid. We depend upon the scientific use of acrylics in our grounds and we mix our own recipes to ensure that our materials remain safer than those used in traditional etching. Chemical salts are instead used to etch with, and rather than the traditional oil-based option we employ water-based inks, which can be cleaned with vegetable oil.

We have planned and adapted the studio around the use of Acrylic Resist Etching in mind, so as to comply with our ethos of being part of a safer and more environmentally sound setting in which to work. Using our processes, we have the facilities to produce etchings of the same quality as those of traditional processes, without the hazards to health or the environment associated with etching, whilst maintaining all the visual outcomes and effects that can be achieved with traditional etching.

Blind embossing is a relief method wherein a print is created without the use of any ink (ie: is printed ‘blind’).

Embossing is the process of creating a recessed relief surface using a block made from card and various objects with varying degrees of texture. Using handmade, heavyweight cotton-rag based papers, the surface of this block is then pressed into the paper using a Nipping press to create an embossed surface. Sometimes also referred to as 'debossing' (where the print is pressed into the paper surface).

Using imagery, textures, mark-making or text, blind embossing is the perfect way to create a unique and delicate relief print.

Take a look at an antique book and you will soon realise, that despite years of wear and tear, it has survived remarkably well in comparison to today’s books. This is thanks to the skills of the bookbinders craft. Making endpapers, stitching by hand on a sewing frame, and spine lining techniques are all important processes to achieve a good binding.

There are a variety of styles of bookbinding and while learning from historical methods you can develop new ideas and create your own unique books.

Book Making at Green Door

Book Making at Green Door is tutored by Conservation/Restoration and Artists Book Maker Matt Edwards. Matt is the curator of visual art at the Joseph Wright Study Centre (at the Derby Museum).

Examples of Matt’s work can be seen on his blog.

Matt can also be found on Twitter @MattBookbinding

Collography (also spelt Collagraphy) is both an intaglio and relief printmaking technique. The term ‘Collography’ is derived from the Greek words ‘collo’ (meaning glue) and ‘graph’ (meaning the activity of drawing).

Collographs can be produced without a high amount of technical knowledge, making it the ideal starting point for beginners in printmaking. The creation of a Collograph plate is more akin to a sculpting process than anything else, whilst adding elements of mark-making and texture to help develop the plate. This method, both unpredictable and spontaneous, is a process where experimentation and curiosity awards the artist.

Collography at Green Door

At Green Door we promote collography as a sustainable printmaking process for beginners and those interested in experimenting with mark-making and texture. The materials we use in collography are often recycled or found objects, making it a very simple and unrestrained process that is perfect for those looking to create small editions or unique prints (when combined with our colour techniques).

From the collage artist, who enjoys working with textures, to figurative artists, who would like to reproduce drawings with tones and marks. This technique offers the perfect introduction for those who wish to produce multiple prints.

The Cyanotype process dates back over 160 years and was discovered by Sir John Herschell in 1842. It was the first successful non-silver photographic printing process.

In 1843 scientist Anna Atkins used the cyanotype process to produce illustrations for her book “Photographs of British Algae” which is regarded as the first book to be illustrated by photographic means. Anna Atkins is also regarded as the first female photographer.

Cyanotype is an old photographic process that makes beautiful, one-off cyan-blue print images. This process can be used with either paper or fabric and the exposure of an image either by using a contact acetate negative or by the making of a photogram.

Drypoint is a printmaking technique that creates a line-based image by using sharp tools to scratch into the surface of a copper plate. The style of this method lends itself well to loose drawing and expressive, fluid mark making.

Often confused with the process of etching, Drypoint is in itself an individual, standalone technique. It consists of drawing, or ‘engraving’, fairly deeply into the copper plate using specialist tools in order to create an image. Unlike etching there is no use of resists or mordants to bite the metal plate, making drypoint a fairly simple way to create a plate for printing multiple prints.

Drypoint at Green Door

At Green Door, we use copper plates in order to create our drypoint prints. We feel this metal gives the drypoint print a certain image quality which distinguishes it from etchings. By using copper, there is a soft ‘burr’ in the ink quality, which is created by the curl of the metal produced when drawing with the etching needle. This ‘burr’ is something which printers like to maintain by printing and wiping carefully.

Drypoint technique has historically often been used by artists to correct plates when they are being etched, but as a stand-alone process it can be a very versatile and precise medium.

Electro etching is arguably one of the most environmentally safer ways to etch. It is by no means a new invention. Its roots date back to the early 19th century.

Etching is a means of engraving imagery and mark making into various kinds of metal plates with the purpose of printing the plates. In Western Europe, the process of etching began during the fourteenth century as a way of decorating metal (eg: armour or jewellery) and was not initially seen as a means for printing imagery.

Etching at Green Door

At Green Door, we teach and facilitate Acrylic Resist Etching, using Copper, Zinc and Aluminium on which to etch our prints. Not only is this process safer, but is also considered more environmentally friendly than other traditional techniques. In order to do this, we have removed all highly toxic chemicals used within traditional etching, which can be considered harmful to both the printmaker and the environment, and would also demand the use of a specially designed studio, with high level extraction filters and special protective clothing to be worn at all times. Green Door does not allow the use of solvents or acid. We depend upon the scientific use of acrylics in our grounds and we mix our own recipes to ensure that our materials remain safer than those used in traditional etching. Chemical salts are instead used to etch with, and rather than the traditional oil-based option we employ water-based inks, which can be cleaned with vegetable oil.

We have planned and adapted the studio around the use of Acrylic Resist Etching in mind, so as to comply with our ethos of being part of a safer and more environmentally sound setting in which to work. Using our processes, we have the facilities to produce etchings of the same quality as those of traditional processes, without the hazards to health or the environment associated with etching, whilst maintaining all the visual outcomes and effects that can be achieved with traditional etching.

Engraving is a process wherein the design is incised into a hard surface (usually copper), by cutting grooves into it. Historically engraving is one of the first printmaking methods, used for the reproduction of paintings, but also as a printmaking process in its own right.

Often confused with the process of Drypoint or Etching, traditional engraving is different from these other intaglio printmaking methods in both the tools used and the method of creating the line.

Burins or gravers of various thickness are used to incise precise lines, giving the engraving a quality of line that is characterised by a steady and deliberate drawing method. Tone in an engraving is achieved by building up lines (cross-hatching) and varying degrees of the angle that the graver is manipulated.

Though an engraving can stand alone as a decorated object, in printmaking the engraved plate is inked up using the intaglio method (much like an etching) and printed using a press.

The technique of using movable type was first introduced in the west in the 15th century by Johannes Gutenberg. The process developed over the centuries, notably in the industrial revolution, and creating a revolution itself in mass distribution of the printed word.

Letterpress is an enjoyable and rewarding print technique with an incredible 500 years of history behind it.

With the advent of modern offset lithography, the art of letterpress was almost consigned to the history books, until a relatively recent revival found artists and designers craving the tactile and hands-on characteristics of the process, which we enjoy today.

Did you know that the impression desired by letterpress enthusiasts today was frowned upon in the heyday of letterpress? The true printer spent years seeking to achieve a smooth, kiss impression!

Letterpress at The Smallprint Company

The Smallprint Company are a Derby-based husband and wife team who have combined their love of typography and design to create beautiful bespoke and commissionable services using Letterpress. As well as being available for commissions, they also frequently run a number of interesting workshops where you can learn these skills for yourself.

You’ll find them a 5-minute walk from Banks Mill, on Friary Street in Derby. Visit their website for more details and pricing!

www.smallprintcompany.co.uk

Linocut is a relief printing technique, a variant of woodcut in which a sheet of linoleum (sometimes mounted on a wooden block) is used as the relief surface. The design is then cut into the linoleum surface with a selection of specialist tools, with the raised (or uncarved) areas representing a reversal (mirror image) of the parts to show printed.

The linoleum sheet is then inked with a roller (called a brayer) and impressed onto paper or fabric. The actual printing can be done by hand or with a press.

Linocut at Green Door

Traditionally, oil-based inks would have been used in the printing process, but as part Green Door’s ethos, the use of water based inks are used in order to lower environmental impact, whilst also maintaining the same outcome as that of traditional oil based inks.

The use of colour can also play a major part in relief printing and can be easily achieved if needs be. By using various techniques and methods, those who wish to add colour can do so with both guidance and support from Green Door.

Mezzotint is a process which falls under the intaglio umbrella of printmaking. Mezzotint achieves tonality by roughening a metal plate with thousands of little dots made by a metal tool with small teeth, called a "rocker".

When printing, the tiny pits cause a sandpaper like effect, and retain the ink when inked up.

The mezzotint printmaking method was invented by the German amateur artist Ludwig von Siegen. This process is often valued most for its ability to recreate tone, in particular that of light on skin in portraiture.

Monoprinting is a method of printmaking that embodies experimentation, spontaneity and impulsive use of mark making. The characteristic of this method is that no two prints are alike; although images can be similar, multiple, identical editions are not possible.

The appeal of monotype lies in the unique textures that create a quality of light, very different when compared to painting on paper or any other type of print. The beauty of this process is in its improvisation of mark-making technique and its combination of printmaking, painting and drawing methods.

Monotype at Green Door

At Green Door, we advocate monoprinting for anyone who is currently ‘stuck’, feels ineffective or sidelined when it comes to their work. This process is also perfect for those who have never tried printmaking and would like to dive straight into using inks, tools and presses, combined with beautiful cotton-rag papers to create a series of unique and individual prints.

Prints produced using this process are always fascinating and, more often than not, inspiring. They can be both beautiful stand-alone prints, as well as a starting point from which to explore and investigate other printmaking techniques.

The first mention of the paper making process is in the records of the Emperor of China in 105 A.D. However recent archaeological investigations, place the actual invention of papermaking some 200 years earlier.

Using simple equipment, this process involves the basics of Mold and Decal paper making, by the recycling method. The use of inclusions such as petals or fibres and colour techniques can be implemented to add texture and interest to your paper.

Photographic Etching is a process in which a positive image is transferred on to a prepared, metal plate and etched into the superstructure, thereby creating a negative composition on the plate, which can then be inked, wiped and printed in the traditional way. After the desired number of prints have been made, the metal plate can then be re-used to create new prints, if needed.

These processes are suitable for those with previous experience of etching or photography, as well as for those who wish to utilise photographs in a creative way. The process is also beneficial for those who wish to experiment with digital manipulation and composition.

Photographic Etching at Green Door

At Green Door, we specialise in three types of photographic etching. Traditionally, photographic etching is a highly toxic procedure, using various amounts of noxious and harmful chemicals.

Due to the ethos employed at Green Door, our techniques are radically different to that of the traditional methods used and more environmentally sound. By using dark room techniques, images are transferred to metal plates and developed as if they were a photograph. Although similar to photography, the methods and materials used can be considered radical and experimental. Photographic elements and hand drawn images can often be used and transferred using this technique.

A screen print (also referred to as a serigraph or silk screen) is a planographic method of printmaking using stencil techniques and is utilised for both fine art reproduction on to paper and surface textile printing.

Screen printing, in its most basic form, utilises block stencils to push ink or dye through a fine woven mesh with a squeegee to achieve the desired image. Layers of colour can then be built up with multiple stencils, allowing the ink to dry on the surface (on either paper or fabric) between layers.

Screen Printing at Green Door

At Green Door, we teach a range of screen printing methods using water based inks on to handmade papers, commercial card stock and even on to fabrics and textiles.

These courses offer a multitude of different inspiring and encouraging outcomes that span the classic world of fine art printmaking to commercial product design.

Lithography is a printing process that, traditionally, uses a flat stone on which the image areas are worked using a greasy substance so that the ink will adhere to them by, while the non-image areas are made ink-repellent.

Lithography was invented in the late eighteenth century, initially using Bavarian limestone as the printing surface. Its invention made it possible to print a much wider range of marks and areas of tone than possible with earlier printmaking relief or intaglio methods.

Waterless Lithography at Green Door

The innovative technique we use at Green Door, called Waterless Lithography, was developed by Professor Nik Semenoff and offers a greater flexibility of expression for a fraction of the cost of materials.

This process is also safer for the artist than traditional stone lithography as it does not involve the use of acids, instead operating on the basis that ordinary silicone rubber acts as an ink rejecting surface.

Woodcut is one of the oldest relief printmaking techniques. A design or drawing is made on a piece of wood and the untouched areas are then cut away with gouges, leaving the raised image which can then be inked and transferred.

Woodcut is one of the simplest and oldest forms of relief printmaking. Its roots date back to ninth century China. Following trade routes in the Islamic world, the technique spread through Asia and Europe. It wasn’t until the development of large-scale papermaking operations in the fifteenth century that relief printing became economically viable as a means of printing for mass distribution of religious and informative imagery of all kinds.

A reverse design or drawing is made on a piece of wood and the untouched areas are then cut away with gouges, leaving the raised image which can then be inked and transferred to paper or fabric.