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Hokusai, The Underwave off Kanagawa, depicting various waves. A ship can be seen upon the waters.
Katsushika Hokusai The Underwave off Kanagawa, 1829/1833, color woodcut, Rijksmuseum Collection

Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed technique, rather than a photographic reproduction of a visual artwork which would be printed using an electronic machine (a printer); however, there is some cross-over between traditional and digital printmaking, including risograph. Except in the case of monotyping, all printmaking processes have the capacity to produce identical multiples of the same artwork, which is called a print. Each print produced is considered an "original" work of art, and is correctly referred to as an "impression", not a "copy" (that means a different print copying the first, common in early printmaking). However, impressions can vary considerably, whether intentionally or not. Master printmakers are technicians who are capable of printing identical "impressions" by hand. Historically, many printed images were created as a preparatory study, such as a drawing. A print that copies another work of art, especially a painting, is known as a "reproductive print".

Prints are created by transferring ink from a matrix to a sheet of paper or other material, by a variety of techniques. Common types of matrices include: metal etching plates, usually copper or zinc, or polymer plates and other thicker plastic sheets for engraving or etching; stone, aluminum, or polymer for lithography; blocks of wood for woodcuts and wood engravings; and linoleum for linocuts. Screens made of silk or synthetic fabrics are used for the screen printing process. Other types of matrix substrates and related processes are discussed below.



External video
video icon Printmaking: Woodcuts and Engravings, Smarthistory


Printmaking techniques are generally divided into the following basic categories:

A type of printmaking outside of this group is viscosity printing. Contemporary printmaking may include digital printing, photographic mediums, or a combination of digital, photographic, and traditional processes.



Artists using this technique include

Albrecht Dürer, Hans Burgkmair, Ugo da Carpi, Hiroshige, Hokusai, Frans Masereel, Gustave Baumann, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Eric Slater Antonio Frasconi


Woodcut, a type of relief print, 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.[citation needed] Woodcuts of images on paper developed around 1400 in Japan, and slightly later in Europe.[citation needed] These are the two areas where woodcut has been most extensively used purely as a process for making images without text.[citation needed]

Woodcuts of Stanislaw Raczynski (1903–1982)

The artist either draws a design directly on a plank of wood, or transfers an drawing done on paper to a plank of wood. Traditionally, the artist then handed the work to a technician, who then uses sharp carving tools to carve away the parts of the block that will not receive ink.[citation needed] In the Western tradition, the surface of the block is then inked with the use of a brayer; however in the Japanese tradition, woodblocks were inked with a brush.[1] Then a sheet of paper, perhaps slightly damp, is placed over the block. The block is then rubbed with a baren or spoon, or is run through a printing press. If the print is in color, separate blocks can be used for each color, or a technique called reduction printing can be used.




Melencolia I, 1514 engraving by Albrecht Dürer, one of the most important printmakers.




In the 20th century, true engraving was revived as a serious art form by artists including Stanley William Hayter whose Atelier 17 in Paris and New York City became the magnet for such artists as Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti, Mauricio Lasansky and Joan Miró.


Artists using this technique include

Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt, Francisco Goya, Wenceslaus Hollar, Whistler, Otto Dix, James Ensor, Edward Hopper, Käthe Kollwitz, Pablo Picasso, Cy Twombly, Lucas van Leyden

Etching is part of the intaglio family. In pure etching, a metal plate (usually copper, zinc, or steel) 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 (e.g. nitric acid or ferric chloride). The etchant "bites" into the exposed metal, leaving behind lines in the plate. The remaining ground is then cleaned off the plate, and the printing process is then just the same as for engraving.

Although the first dated etching is by Albrecht Dürer in 1515, the process is believed to have been invented by Daniel Hopfer (c.1470–1536) of Augsburg, Germany, who decorated armor in this way, and applied the method to printmaking.[2] Etching soon came to challenge engraving as the most popular printmaking medium. Its great advantage was that, unlike engraving which requires special skill in metalworking, etching is relatively easy to learn for an artist trained in drawing.


A non-toxic form of etching that does not involve an acid is Electroetching.


Artists using this technique include

John Martin, Ludwig von Siegen, John Smith, Wallerant Vaillant, Carol Wax





Artists using this technique include

Norman Ackroyd, Jean-Baptiste Le Prince, William Daniell, Francisco Goya, Thomas Rowlandson

The sleep of Reason creates monsters, etching and aquatint by Francisco Goya, c. 1797-98


Contemporary printmakers also sometimes using airbrushed asphaltum or spray paint, as well as other non toxic techniques, to achieve aquatint due to rosin boxes posing a fire hazard.[3]

Goya used aquatint for most of his prints.


Artists using this technique include

Mary Cassatt, Francis Seymour Haden, Master of the Housebook, Richard Spare, William Lionel Wyllie


The technique appears to have been invented by the Housebook Master, a south German fifteenth-century artist, all of whose prints are in drypoint only. Among the most famous artists of the old master print, Albrecht Dürer produced three drypoints before abandoning the technique; Rembrandt used it frequently, but usually in conjunction with etching and engraving.


Artists using this technique include


La Goulue, Lithograph poster by Toulouse-Lautrec (1891)


Variations of Lithography[edit]

Photo-lithography captures an image by photographic processes on metal plates; printing is more or less carried out in the same way as stone lithography.

A gradient lithograph print of the Woolworth Building in New York in blue tones
Rachel Robinson Elmer, halftone offset lithograph, Woolworth Building June Night, 1916, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Halftone lithography produces an image that illustrates a gradient-like quality.

Mokulito is a form of lithography on wood instead of limestone. It was invented by Seishi Ozaku in the 1970s in Japan and was originally called Mokurito.[4]


Artists using this technique include







Watercolor monotype showing two women, one with her back to the viewer
Paul Gauguin, Arearea no Varua Ino (Words of the Devil), watercolor monotype on Japan paper mounted on cardboard, 1894, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.





Mixed-media prints[edit]

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 chine colle, collage, or painted areas, and may be unique, i.e. one-off, non-editioned, prints. Mixed-media prints are often experimental prints and may be printed on unusual, non-traditional surfaces.

Digital prints[edit]

Artists using this technique include

Istvan Horkay, Ralph Goings, Enrique Chagoya

Digital prints refers 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.

Dye-based inks[edit]


Pigment-based inks[edit]

Pigment is a finely ground, particulate substance which, when mixed or ground into a liquid to make ink or paint, does not dissolve, but remains dispersed or suspended in the liquid. Pigments are categorized as either inorganic (mineral) or organic (synthetic).[7] Pigment-based inks have a much longer permanence than dye-based inks.[8]


Giclée (pron.: /ʒiːˈkleɪ/ zhee-KLAY or /dʒiːˈkleɪ/), is a neologism coined in 1991 by printmaker Jack Duganne [9] for digital prints made on inkjet printers. Originally associated with early dye-based printers it is now more often refers to pigment-based prints.[10] The word is based on the French word gicleur, which means "nozzle". Today fine art prints produced on large format ink-jet machines using the CcMmYK color model are generally called "Giclée".

Foil imaging[edit]



Hiroshige, Morning Mist







Protective printmaking equipment[edit]

Protective clothing is very important for printmakers who engage in etching and lithography (closed toed shoes and long pants). Whereas in the past printmakers put their plates in and out of acid baths with their bare hands, today printmakers use rubber gloves. They also wear industrial respirators for protection from caustic vapors. Most acid baths are built with ventilation hoods above them.


Print preservation[edit]

Preservation of this 140+ year-old print protected under glass required removal of the old matting, deacidification of the print, and conservation grade new matting.

Modern prints onto paper protected from the sun and moisture will last an incredible long time. Prints made using newer alkaline and acid-free paper have a life expectancy of over 1,000 years for the best paper and 500 years for average grades. When it comes to older prints, the condition of a print largely depends on the technique used to make the paper. Prints that are several hundred years old may be in better condition than prints that are less than 50 years old .[14] Many older prints will yellow or brown over time owing to acids in the paper and any matting or backing papers. To preserve/restore older prints, washing, deacidification and treatment with stain reducing agents may be in order.[15] Further, if the print is framed, archival or conservation grade picture mats are essential since acids within older or inexpensive matting will attack a print even if the print was produced using acid-free paper. Color prints can be susceptible to fading depending on the type of inks used. Lighting of sensitive prints should be limited to 50 lux (5 foot-candles) or less and artificial lights can be equipped with UV-filtering sleeves or tubes.[16]

Prints onto animal skins (vellum) should also be maintained at a humidity level between 25% and 40%.[17] Prints onto silk are particularly sensitive to any light including camera flashes.[18]

Rembrandt, Christ Preaching, (The Hundred Guilder print); etching c.1648
Albrecht Dürer, Saint Jerome in his Study, 1514.

See also[edit]

Printmakers by nationality[edit]


  1. ^ Watton, Jill (2019-04-26). "Japanese Woodblock Printmaking Explained". Jackson's Art Blog. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  3. ^ "Exploding Rosin Box". Straight Dope Message Board. 2010-01-28. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  4. ^ "mokulito - Danielle Creenaune". Retrieved 2021-07-24.
  5. ^ "Screen Fabric". A.W.T. World Trade Inc.
  6. ^ Washington printmakers' gallery Archived 2010-12-28 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Printmaking FAQ at Magnolia Editions Archived 2009-04-13 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Susan Carden, Digital Textile Printing, Bloomsbury Publishing - 2015, page 27
  9. ^ Johnson, Harald. Mastering Digital Printing, p.11 at Google Books
  11. ^
  12. ^
  13. ^ Smidgeon (2014-09-09). "Printmaking 101: Applying Rosin for Aquatint (Using a Rosin Box)". SMIDGEON PRESS. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
  14. ^ "The Deterioration and Preservation of Paper: Some Essential Facts - Collections Care - Resources (Preservation, Library of Congress)". Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  15. ^ Marianne (2017-12-16). "Cleaning Stained and Yellowed Works of Art On Paper". Marianne Kelsey Book and Paper Conservator Professional. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
  16. ^ "Philadelphia Museum of Art - Research : Conservation". Retrieved 2021-01-04.
  17. ^ Marianne (2020-01-10). "How to Care For Vellum and Parchment Documents". Marianne Kelsey Book and Paper Conservator Professional. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  18. ^ "How do you preserve a 100-year-old piece of silk and woman suffrage history?". National Museum of American History. 2013-08-19. Retrieved 2021-01-06.


Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

History of printmaking; glossaries

Printmaking organizations[edit]