Graphics glossary

Etching is a method of making prints from a metal plate, usually copper or zinc, which has been bitten with acid. The
plate is first coated with an acid-resistant substance, through which the design is drawn with a sharp tool. The acid eats the plate through the exposed lines; the more time the plate is left in the acid, the coarser the lines. When the plate is inked and its surface rubbed clean, and it is covered with paper and passed under a cylindrical press, the ink captured   in the lines is transferred to the paper.

Drypoint is an engraving method in which the design is scratched directly onto the (usually copper) plate with a sharp pointed instrument. Lines in a drypoint print are characterized by a soft fuzziness caused by ink printed from the burr, or rough metal edge lifted up on each side of the furrow made by the etching tool. Drypoint is most often used in combination with other etching techniques,
frequently to insert dark areas in an almost-finished print. The template form
being rather fragile (used burr), high quality edition will be limited.

For each edition, the number of prints can vary. In this domain, it is important to refer to the artist's catalogue raisonné (Complete work) which will give all details about the print. Number will be given (Arabic or Roman numeral), number of artist's proofs (E.A) and possibly Hors Commerce proofs. Sometimes trial or state proofs are also added (edition realized when work is still being processed). Most of the time the copy number or the type of proof is indicated in pencil together with the signature by the artist (however this number can also be indicated by the editor or the printer).

The artist etches his own composition directly on a metal plate using a steel tool called burin, pushing it with his/her palm and rotating the stand (steel, copper or zinc plate) on a cushion or a small wooden board. Both movements pull out metal shavings. Scooped out furrows are then filled with printing ink. Most of the time, burin technique is realized on copper plate which is a real ink lover. Before inking the plate it is necessary to moisturize and soften the paper to allow it to enter the most thinnest lines. The plate is inked, cleaned then passed under a press.

The linocut (invented around 1900) is a printmaking technique similar to that of the woodcut, the difference being that the image is engraved on linoleum instead of wood. Since linoleum offers an easier surface for working, linocuts offer more precision and a greater variety of effects than woodcuts. Common engraving tools are used for this technique, gouges being perfect. This technique presents the advantage of being easy and rapid to use.

This technique was invented by Aloys Senefelder in 1796 in Germany. This process takes advantage of the fact that water and fatty subtances are incompatible on flat limestones. With this mount, drawing directly is made possible with great fluidity. The artist carries out his drawing on the stone by
using pencils and lithographic inks. The chemical concoction, made out of nitric acid and gum arabic, fixes the drawing on the stone. The latest is moisturized and finally inked with a roll. The ink will only stick on drawn surfaces. For convenience reasons, zinc and aluminum plates can replace stones.

Mezzotint is the technique, which, contrary to the other methods in use, works from black to white rather than white to black. This is achieved by laying down a texture on a plate by means of a pointed roulette wheel or a sharp rocker. The
burrs thus created trap a large quantity of ink and give a rich black. The mezzotint artist then scrapes away the burr in areas he wants to be grey or white. The process produces soft, subtle gradations and is usually combined with etching or engraving which lend clean-lined definition. Preparing the plate being quite fastidious and printing delicate, this technique has been neglected over the years.

In opposition to an interpreted print (realized by someone else: etcher or lithographer), here the artist conceives and realizes himself his creation onto a matrix (stone, copper, steel, silk, wood or zinc). Needless to say that original
prints cover all the possible printing techniques available (lithographs, etchings, serigraphs, etc.). If most graphic works are represented by original prints, it is interesting to point out that some are original works and some are
interpreted works. Few artists from whom prints exist have never drawn on astone or etched on a plate.

Among today's papers - mainly machine-made - different types of papers exist. Each paper is more or less fitted to the diverse printing techniques. For instance, a lithograph is often printed on an Arches Vellum, a BFK Rives or a pearly Japanese paper. A Richard de Bas (hand-made paper) or a Lana Vellum enhances a woodcut or an etching. Some papers present a watermark that can be seen through the paper. Watermark allows paper identification and sometimes age paper fabrication.

It's a stencil process based on the porosity of silk (nylon or other fabric), which allows ink to pass through the areas that are not "stopped" with glue or varnish. One or more layers of ink are applied with a squegee, each one covering the open areas of succeeding screens until the final composite image is achieved. Photographic transfers, both in line and halftone, can also be fixed to the screen with a light-sensitive emulsion. Beyond paper, other templates can be used to receive the serigraphic printing and not necessary plane such as cardboard, fabric, metal, glass, wood, etc.

In today's modern prints domain, after the edition is completed, the artist signs in pencil each of his proofs. In doing so, he is able to control the edition and put away prints that are not entirely satisfactory. In addition, certain prints have a printed signature which means that the artist has signed the stone itself for a lithograph or the copper plate for an etching. But, the artist might also add an original signature to this composition. One can also find prints that are unsigned or prints that should not be.

This technique has always been used in Occident since the XVth century. The woodcut is the art of engraving on wood by hollowing out with chisels, burin, penknife or a gouge areas of a plank of wood, leaving a design on the surface. Whatever is etched will appear white when printed. The transfer of this design onto paper is achieved by inking the surface with typographic ink and applying pressure with a press.

Dibond is the brand name of brushed Aluminium composite sheeting. Lightweight and rigid, this cut plastic material consists of a flexible polyethylene core covered with a thin aluminium sheet on each side, and is finished with a high quality lacquer that guarantees perfect printing.

Giclée  is a neologism coined in 1991 by printmaker Jack Duganne for fine art digital prints made on inkjet printers.The name originally applied to fine art prints created on a modified Iris printer in a process invented in the late  1980s. It has since been used loosely to mean any fine-art, most of the times archival, inkjet print. It is often used by artists, galleries and it is the highest quality of printing with guaranteed true colours for 100 years .