HOW PRINTS ARE MADE

A definition of "printmaking" according to the Encyclopedia Britannica:
"...broadly, the production of images normally on paper and exceptionally on fabric, parchment, plastic or other support by various processes of multiplication; more narrowly, the making and printing of graphic works by hand or under the supervision of the artist."

There are generally five types of prints; relief, intaglio or engraving, planographic, stencil and digital. A combination of processes may be used to produce an image; such as relief and intaglio
The identification of each process can usually be seen through a good magnifying glass, so start looking to see if you can see the differences.

Relief printing process
This involves cutting away everything which is the non-printing part for the image, for instance the white parts of the image, so that the printing surface is raised above the main body of the wood, metal or linoleum of the block. Multiple colours can be used in which the block is cut for one colour, then more is cut away for the next colour, and so on until the complete picture is built up.
The introduction of copper and later steelplate engravings generally sounded the end of wood engravings. Text could be combined with these by using Letterpress metal type.
Though towards the end of the Victorian period, and the start of the Arts and Crafts revival the process of block printing was re-used for childrens' illustrated books and by artists, at the turn of the century who also revived this process. Today the Art is continued by private presses and typographers producing beautiful limited edition pieces.

Flexographic: More modern process producing a raised printing surface out of strengthened rubber.Generally used for packaging, especially unusual substates such as plastic or metal.

Woodcut: or Woodblock - One of the oldest forms of printing first used in China in the 12th century and then by Europe at the end of the 14th century. The image background is gouged out leaving the image in relief. The transfer of the design onto paper is achieved by inking the surface with typographic ink and applying pressure with a press. Softwood block is more common but seasoned hardwood like apple or beech is used for wood engraving. The difference can be seen in the grain and fine details of an image.

The Heliorelief is a photomechanical process which has been developed by master printer, Deli Sacilotto, of Graphicstudio, The University of South Florida, for use in creating a wood block print. Many of the Dine prints in this exhibition came from the printer's personal collection. The Heliorelief involves first adhering to wood a light-sensitive water-soluble film emulsion of the type used for screen printing. A high contrast photo negative or image drawn on mylar is then transferred to the film emulsion by placing it in close contact with the sensitized block and exposing them to light. The block is then washed and the emulsion dissolved in the places protected in the dark areas of the negative or mylar (areas to be cut away), leaving the film emulsion where it was hardened by exposure to light in the open areas of the negative or mylar (areas to be printed). The remaining emulsion acts as a stencil of the image. After the block has dried fully, the uncovered areas are cut away by a sandblasting process that leaves the emulsion covered printing areas in relief The amount of pressure required by the sandblasting varies with the type of wood. When the sandblasting is completed, the film emulsion stencil is removed with water and the block allowed to dry again. It is then ready for printing by the same methods used for traditional woodcuts.

Intaglio printing process
This is the reverse of relief in that here recesses are created in the metal block into which the ink is spread for printing, These grooves are either cut away with hand tools or etched with acid; thus these include engravings, etchings, mezzotints, aquatints, etc. These types of prints sometimes have a plate mark impressed into the paper, unless this has been cut away.

Engraving: These were first done on copper plates which produced several hundred copies, before wearing out, and then later after 1822 steel was introduced.This could yield over several thousand prints before signs of wear appeared, even tens of thousands before tthe plates deteriorated completely. Some trials were even done where over a million copies were pulled, mainly by the treasury departments of governments who wanted a cheap and efficient way to print money.
To engrave, a highly polished plate is cut into with a long prism shaped tool called a graver or burin, which ends in a wooden handle that the engraver pushes with his or her palm and directs with forefinger and thumb. Unlike in drypoint etching, where the burr is smaller, and is in any case, taken off the plate with a scraper.

Stipple Engraving: Starts with a copper plate covered with many tiny dots cut into the plate, almost always to convey human flesh and portraits. Instead of using a standard graver, the stipple engraver has a bent head and picks at the plate. A pure stipple engraving will only use dots in the whole print, without a single solid line. Roulettes, small rollers with spikes were also designed, to speed up the process.

Etching: These differ mainly from engravings in that they allow a freer line to be made than engravings. Since the engraver pushes the graver or burin away from herself, there is much less spontaneity in the print, than in an etching, which can be freely moved in any direction.
Etchings are usually made from a copper plate dipped in an acid bath. Before this, however, the plate must be prepared with a ground, (wax and bitumen) that is then made black by being held over candles. This makes the copper lines gleam as they are drawn across the plate with an etching needle. Then the back of the plate is coated with a stopper varnish to prevent it from dissolving away, and the plate is put into the acid. Additional drawings may be made to further complete the print, and other areas already worked over, coated with stopper, as more depth and thickness is achieved with further baths in the acid. Any prints pulled through the press at this point will be the first, second, etc pulls or proofs, and have greater rarity than those pulled when the print is finished.

Monotype Etching: This combines the etching process with an image painted onto a sheet of metal or glass and transferred while wet, onto the etching. Each copy requires the image to be repainted, so each print will be different, and is classed as original.

Drypoint: This uses a sharper needle, which itself cuts the copper plate as does an engraver's burin, and thus is NOT immersed in an acid bath, A burr is produced, that is the metal around the edge off the hole or furrow, is left , this will print a distinctly deeper and thicker line than engravings, or etchings will do with a more rounded needle. However, if the burr is removed, then you will have crisp thin lines. Drypoint can be seen in some etchings to add emphasis to the composition.

Soft-ground etching: Use a pencil on a grained paper laid over the ground on the plate to produce crayon-like lines on the print. In principle any textured material, leaves, etc can be used to obtain these soft lines.

Aquatints: Start with an etched outline, and have the detail filled in with tiny, sand-like, resin particles layed on the particular areas of an image, in either an alchohol bath or as a powder. Then steeped in the acid bath and each colour is stopped out before the next colour is laid. Eight to twelve stages in this process are not uncommon, this achieves tonal variations similar to wash or watercolour paintings.

Mezzotints: First the plate is worked over with a rocker until it is like a file to produce a rich velvety black. The artist then scrapes out the lighter tones of the picture with a scraper and a burnisher, for the very white areas of the print. The result is engraving in tone, as true mezzotints have no lines per se, but only areas of relative tonal difference. Mainly portraits were done in this manner, the exceptions being Turner's Liber Studorium, with a mixed etching and mezzotint process.

Gravure: Small cells are etched into the metal, the depth relating to the depth of tone; a dark shadow being deeper than a light area. Ink fills the cells and a blade cleans away the excess. When the paper contacts the whole surface the the ink is lifted from the recesses. This process can produce many millions of prints and is used extensively to mass produce images and posters.