(Some definitions used with permission of the Graphic Chemical and Ink Company*)

a la poupee: an inking technique used in intaglio prints where different colors of ink are applied to a single plate with small ink dabbers (felt rolls and matboard pads are often used) and then printed simultaneously.

aquatint: an intaglio process where powdered rosin or asphaltum is melted on a metal etching plate or the plate is covered with a fine but incomplete coating of spray enamel paint.  This creates a dotted resist to the acid.  The plate is then immersed in the acid bath allowing the acid to bite into the plate creating tonal areas when the plate is inked and then printed.

artist’s proof: a set of prints separate from the main edition and made for the artist’s personal use.  Usually comprises a number equal to 10% of the total printed in the edition.  These prints are marked on the print surface with “A.P.”  Also known as epreuve d’artiste.

asphaltum: an acid resistant material, also known as bitumen, used in etching to protect a plate from the action of the acid.  Can also be used as a substitute for tusche in lithography.

bite: the action of the acid on an etching plate.

bitumen: another term for asphaltum.

blanket: the pressed or woven wool felts that are placed on an etching press that transfer the pressure of the press on to the paper forcing it into the recessed inked grooves and textures to create the print.  There are traditionally two felts: the pusher is a tighter woven felt that comes into direct contact with the etching press’ roller, and the cushion which is a softer woven felt that creates most of the flexibility to push the paper into the recessed areas of the plate.

blockout: a material applied to a printing plate, (wood, stone, metal) or to a silkscreen to prevent ink from coming into contact with the plate or passing through the screen.

bon a tirer proof: the first image pulled in a print edition that is the visual standard for all subsequent prints made in the edition.  The term means “the right to print” or “good to print” proof.

brayer: a hand roller used for applying ink to a surface.  Often made of leather, synthetic or rubber the roller surface is made in a variety of hardnesses for ease in applying the ink.

burin: (graver) engraving tool used on metal or wood with a hardened steel shaft with a cutting end in the shape of a square or lozenge.  Handle on the shaft is usually made of wood and fits into the palm of the hand.

burn: a lithographic term for using too strong of an etch solution resulting in damage to lighter, less greasy areas of an image.

burnisher: in intaglio printing, a smooth, rounded-shaft tool often with a pointed end used for polishing the metal plate and helping remove unwanted marks.  In relief printmaking it is a general term for any device used to press the paper against the inked plate to create the print.

burnt plate oil: raw linseed oil that has been heated and refined creating a heavier oil through the burning off of the lighter oil.  It is used to modify the viscosity of printing ink.

burr: in intaglio printing, the metal thrown up to the side of the line in drypoint or engraving.  The burr is left on the plate in drypoint to create its characteristic soft line, while the burr is removed in engraving to create its precise line.

cancellation proof: in modern print etiquette, the final print that is made after the edition is complete and the printmaker has defaced the plate(s) so that no more images can be made.  This proof tells the print collector that the edition is complete.

carborundum: an abrasive in solid form used to sharpen cutting tools in engraving and relief printmaking.  In a powdered form it is used to grind down the printing surface of lithography stones so the stone can be reused.

catalogue raisonne: a published list of an artist’s prints giving titles, creation date(s), editions and conditions of known prints. Can also be used for painting, sculpture or any work created by an artist.

chalk manner: a print, usually intaglio or lithography, that mimicks the look of chalk/pastel or conte crayon on paper.

chine colle: a printing technique in intaglio and lithography in which a sized piece of Oriental paper is bound to a heavier weight printing paper and both printed in the same process.

chop mark: a small embossed seal impressed into the print by either the printer, the publisher, or the dealer/gallery.  These embossings indicate who printed the image (printer’s chop mark), who commissioned the edition of prints (publisher’s chop mark), or who sold the print (printer’s or gallery’s chop mark).

chromolithography: a 19^th century term for color lithographs that were usually mass printed to reproduce paintings.

collagraph: print created from a plate that was made by adding glues, textured materials and anything that would hold ink and withstand the pressures of printing of an etching press.

collector’s mark: a personal mark made in the margins of a print by the print owner/collector.  Can be printed on or embossed into the paper.

color lithography: any lithographic print that includes more than one color in the printed imagery.

composite print: a print created by different techniques using any number of plates, stencils, litho stones, etc.

counteretch: (resensitizing) a lithographic technique where the etch solution is removed from the stone or plate so additional imagery can be added.

crayon manner: late 16^th century intaglio technique in which either roulettes or etches are used to mimick a chalk/pastel or conte crayon drawing.  This is also accomplished by drawing on a paper placed over a soft-grounded plate.

creeping bite: an intaglio/etching technique by which the plate is placed into the acid in stages creating a transition of tone/value in the final printed image.

crible: (dotting) a relief technique where punches are used to hammer indentations into the plate surface. 

cut block print: a relief technique in which a block is cut into pieces that are separately inked, reassembled and printed to create the final print image.

documentation sheet: the sheet provided by a gallery that accompanies a print typically listing all vital information concerning the print and the edition, e.g., the paper, type of ink, number in the edition, etc.

dotting: (crible) a relief technique in which metal punches are used to hammer indentations into the plate surface.

drypoint: an intaglio line technique in which the incised line is directly drawn into the surface of the metal plate.  A burr next to the line is created by the metal that is pushed to the side.  This burr with the line holds ink and creates a soft line.  Drypoint intaglio plates are delicate and without steel plating will produce few quality images before the burr is flatted by the pressure of the printing press. 

dust bag: the bag made of silk or nylon that holds powdered rosin which, when shaken over a plate, releases a fine coating of rosin on an intaglio plate to create an aquatint.

dust box: a box used in the intaglio aquatint technique.  A cleaned intaglio plate is placed in the box and through a forced air or shaken method, either powdered rosin or asphaltum is made to fall in a even manner on the plate which is subsequently heated or exposed to the fumes of a solvent in order to attach the small acid-resistant particles to the plate.

Dutch Mordant: an intaglio acid mixture (acid bath) comprised of water, hydrochloric acid, and potassium chlorate.

echoppe: an etching tool designed to create the appearance of an engraved line.  Developed by the 17^th century artist Jacques Callot.

edition: a set of prints with similar or identical qualities that have been made from the same plate(s), on the same paper with the same ink.  The prints in an edition are approved by the artist, printer or owner of the plate(s).  There can be more than one edition of an image.

embossed print: a print on which the surface of the paper rises toward the viewer.  Created by placing the paper over a textured surface under pressure, usually supplied by an intaglio press. 

end grain: The surface of a piece of wood where the growth rings are visible.  End grain boxwood or hard maple are used in wood engraving.

engraving: an intaglio technique dating to the 15^th century in which lines without burrs are created in the metal plate using a sharp cutting tool.  These lines are subsequently inked and under the pressure of the intaglio press the image is transferred to the paper.

etching: an intaglio method by which the incised line is created in the metal plate using a caustic substance such as an acid.  The metal plate is covered with an acid resistant material

etching press: an intaglio printing press comprised of a flat moving bed covered with multiple layers of felt that passes through two cylinders, one which can be raised and lowered to increased or decrease the pressure.

false bite: (foul bite) an accidentally corroded area on an etching plate which the artist did not intend.

feathering: an intaglio technique in which the plate is lightly wiped with a feather while in the acid bath in order to remove the build up of bubbles given off during the etching process.  Failure to remove the bubbles results in an unevenly etched line.

ferric chloride: (iron perchloride) an etch used with water for copper intaglio plates.*

flat-bed press: printing press that uses a cylinder or other device creating pressure on to the inked plate and paper that are on a flat surface.  Either the bed or the cylinder can move.

foul bite: (false bite) an accidentally corroded area on an etching plate which the artist did not intend.

four plate process: (process printing) color print method that utilizes four different plates, each with a different color.  These plates are the key or black plate, the yellow plate, the red (magenta) plate and the blue (cyan)plate.  The combination of the different colored inks allows for the full range of colors in the final print.

foxing: yellowish-brown stains that discolor paper resulting

from bacteria interacting with iron salts in the paper.

gouge: a cutting tool in relief printmaking used to remove non-image areas.  Gouges can be C, U, or V shaped.

gradated roll: an inking technique where different colors of ink are spread on an ink preparation surface, rolled out until the edges of the colors blend and then applied to the printing plate surface.

graver: (burin) engraving tool used on metal or wood which has a hardened steel shaft with a cutting end in the shape of a square or lozenge.  Handle on the shaft is usually made of wood and fits into the palm of the hand.

ground: in intaglio print making it is the acid-resistant material

often made of a waxy and/or asphalt based material that is applied to the plate and protects the non-image areas of the plate from the acid.  Grounds can be hard containing more asphaltum or soft containing hard ground mixed with grease or Vaseline.  Soft grounds are used to create textures in the ground with foreign materials such as fabric to be etched by the acid.

gum arabic: (gum acacia) the natural secretion of the acacia tree that is the prime material in a lithographic etch.

hand wiping: the use of the hand to wipe away excess ink from an intaglio plate before printing.  The palm of the hand is most often used to gently remove the ink by skimming it lightly over the surface of the inked plate.

hard ground: a hard but pliable substance developed in the 17^th century to cover an intaglio plate, protecting it from acid while allowing the artist to draw through this substance) exposing the plate to the acid to create bitten lines and the image.  Hard ground formulas consist of a combination of wax, asphaltum, pigment (pitch) and sometimes rosin.  The pigment in a hard ground can be dark or light depending upon the needs of the printmaker.

impression: (print) the image created when a plate or stone (intaglio, relief, lithography) is inked and pressure is applied (often with a printing press) to transfer the image  to a piece of paper or other substance.   An impression may also be created by forcing ink through a stencil or stencils onto a piece of paper or other substance in serigraphy.

impression number: the number of the impression/print in an edition.  This is often designated by the top number in a fraction seen in the margin below the print image.  The fraction 1/10 would indicate that this was the first print of an edition of ten.  5/10 would indicate this was the fifth print in an edition of ten.

ink: pigmented substance that consists of a coloring agent, a substance that adheres the pigment to the print surface (paper), and the viscous material that allows the pigment to be applied to the printing surface and then transferred to the printing paper.

intaglio: method of printing in which ink is forced into incised lines or recessions on a plate, the surface wiped clean, dampened paper placed on top, and paper and plate run through an etching press to transfer the ink to the paper.  Encompasses: etching, engraving, aquatint, collagaph, mezzotint and other techniques.*

iron perchloride: (ferric chloride) etch used with water for copper intaglio plates.*

key block: the block that carries the complete image except for color.  Also called the black plate in the four-plate process.  Used to register the other color plates that comprise the final print.

letterpress: relief printing press used commercially to print moveable type and type-high wood engravings (.918 inches).

levigator: heavy metal disc with an off-center handle for gaining lithography stones.*

lift ground: (sugar-lift aquatint) etching process in which an image is drawn on the plate with a water-soluble liquid paint, the plate covered with hard ground, then submerged in water.  The water swells the paint, thus breaking through the hard ground.*

line engraving: the oldest intaglio technique by which incised lines made with a graver in the metal plate are filled with ink, excess surface ink removed, the plate and dampened paper placed in a press and the image created by transferring the ink from the incised lines onto the paper.

linoleum print: (linocut) a relief print created by cutting away sections of a piece of linoleum, inking the areas that remain and printing.

lithoaquatint: a technique for creating tonal areas and washes in lithography.

lithographic crayon: a drawing implement composed of pigment, grease and wax used for making marks on lithographic stones and plates.

lithography: printing process based on the unmixability of water and grease; usually done on limestone or grained metal plates.*

lithography press: a printing press that applies pressure to the paper and lithographic stone/plate by means of a scraper bar.

lithotine: degreasing substance used in lithography as a substitute for turpentine.

litho stone:  smoothly surfaced and even grained limestone, usually from Bavaria, that receives the greasy ink that makes up a lithographic image.*

lithotint: a technique developed in the 19^th century for imitating a wash drawing in lithography.  Method uses tusche washes.

metal relief print: the use of metal plates as the vehicle by which to do relief prints.  This is accomplished by making the indentations in the plate by such methods as: etching, the crible method, or engraving.  The raised area of the plate is then inked like a woodcut or other relief methods and printed.

mezzotint: the 17^th century intaglio technique developed by Prince Rupert of the Rhine by which a copper plate is textured with pits and burrs created by a serrated tool rocked over the plate surface.  When inked and printed a mezzotint produces deep black tones.  Gradations in the black are created with scrapers and burnishers.

monoprint: a unique print pulled from a plate that already has an image incised into it, in contrast to a monotype where the surface is unworked.*

monotype: a unique print pulled from an unworked glass or metal plate that has been painted upon using inks and solvents.  This method was a favorite of Edgar Degas.

mordant: an acid used for etching.*

nitric acid: mordant used in varying dilutions as the etching agent for copper or zinc plates.*

offset lithography: printing that uses an intermediary transfer such as a rubber blanket before the paper is printed.  There is no reversal of the image in this process.*  Used extensively in commercial printing operations.

oil of cloves: pale yellow oil made by pressing cloves; added to etching inks to slow drying and counter the oxidation of inks caused by zinc plates.*

open biting: etching technique where large unprotected areas of the metal plate are exposed to the caustic affects of the mordant.

overprint varnish: varnish either added to serigraphic inks or applied over the top of inks to protect the silkscreen when used out doors or to create a high gloss finish on the image.

papier a rapport-pelure: thin paper used to transfer a drawing onto a lithographic stone or plate.

pH scale: Chemical table of alkalinity and acidity ranging  from 0 to 14.  Less than 7 indicates acidity; 7 is neutral; more than 7 is alkaline.*

photogravure: an intaglio process in which the image has been photographically created and placed on the plate by using carbon tissue.

photolithography: the method of chemically transferring a photographic image to a lithographic plate or stone and subsequently printing that image through the lithographic process.

photosilkscreen: the method of transferring a photographic image to a stencil and subsequently printing that image through the silkscreen process.

plank side: the side of a piece of wood where the grain runs parallel.  This side is used in the relief medium of woodcut.

planographic: (lithography) the term sometimes used in place of lithography, it refers to printing an image from a flat surface.

plate mark: line or residue ink mark that is sometimes left on the edge of the intaglio print created when the ink remaining on the beveled edge of the intaglio plate is put under the pressure of the printing process.

plate oil: linseed oil thickened by evaporation to produce a more viscous oil; used in mixing etching ink to the proper consistency.*

plate tone: light ink tone over the non-image area of an intaglio print created when a very thin layer of ink is left on the plate in the wiping process.

platen press: relief printing press often associated with a letterpress when a metal plate (platen) presses the paper against the printing surface.

presentation proofs: prints that are not part of the numbered edition that are often presented as gifts or disposed of at the artist’s discretion.

print: (impression) the image created when a plate or stone (intaglio, relief, lithography) is inked and pressure is applied (often with a printing press) transferring an image to a piece of paper or other substance, or the image is created by forcing ink through a stencil or stencils onto a piece of paper or other substance in serigraphy.

printer’s proof(s): the proofs outside of the edition which are given to the edition’s master printer for his own use.  When a master printer is used in the making of an edition a number of prints are given to the printer outside of the edition.

process color: considered to be the “pure” pigment colors which can be mixed to achieve any color of the rainbow.  Usually called Process Black, Blue (Cyan), Magenta, and Yellow.*

progressive proofs: the series of proofs of a color print that show each color separately and in conjunction with the other colors.

proof: a print that shows the progress an artist is making in the development of the final image.

reduction block print: relief color technique in which one block is used for all colors.  The lightest color is printed first and the print area to remain that color is physically removed from the block.  Subsequent colors from lightest to darkest are printed and the relevant areas removed after each color.

register marks: the marks that are placed on paper, press bed and even the print plate to aid in lining up the paper in the printing process.

registration: the alignment of the components of printing—paper, plate(s), screens, etc.,--to create a color print in which the multiple colors are in the correct position.

relief: printmaking method in which the inked surface of the plate or block print areas or lines are gouged out do not print.  Examples include woodcut, linoleum cut, relief etching, wood engraving, and relief collagraph.*

relief etching: a relief print created using acids to eat away the non-printing areas of the metal plate.

relief press: a variety of printing presses that apply downward pressure onto the relief plate and paper.  Can use flat surface pressure like a platen press or a moving cylinder such as a Vandercook Press. 

resist: any substance applied to plate or screen that stops ink from adhering to the plate or passing through the screen.

restrike: the re-edition of a plate(s) after an initial edition is printed.  A restrike may or may not be signed or numbered and may even be printed after the death of the artist.  In some cases restrikes are made from plates that have been reworked to strengthen the image.

retroussage: process of lightly rubbing an intaglio plate, after it has been inked in the normal way, with a  soft rag to produce a blurred, fuzzy effect.*

rocker: hardened steel tool with a curved, serrated edge; used to roughen a metal plate for mezzotints.*

roll up: using a charged ink roller to apply ink to the surface of a plate or stone.

roller: tool with a rolling cylinder, usually made of plastic soft enough to deposit a film of ink onto a metal or collage plate.  Rollers are made from many other materials including rubber.*

rosin: resin from pine trees that has multiple uses in printmaking.  When powedered, spread evenly and melted onto intaglio plates it is used in aquatint.  Rosin is also used in intaglio varnishes and grounds.  In lithography it can be added to strengthen the inked image in the etching process.

roulette: engraving tool with a revolving head of hardened steel on which a dotted, lined or irregular pattern is incised; used in intaglio processes.

rub up: the lithography technique by which a greasy substance is rolled into an image area in order to strengthen the area to receive more ink.

rubbing: a type of print made by placing a piece of paper over a raised surface and either rubbing ink or graphite onto the paper, thus transferring the image from the raised surface.

rubbing ink: a lithographic ink that is applied to the print surface  as a drawing medium often using the fingers or a cloth rag.  This creates a softer line and image quality.

sandpaper aquatint: an intaglio technique in which an aquatint (tonal quality) is created on the plate by pressing a piece of sandpaper, face down, into the plate surface in the printing press.  A variation on this process uses grit forced through an sandblaster onto the plate creating the texture.

scoop coater: in screen printing, a trough for coating light-sensitive emulsions onto the screen.*

scorper: a wood engraving tool that is used to remove large areas or make wide lines.

scotch stone: abrasive stick used in lithography to delete or lighten tones.*

scraper: in intaglio printmaking a pointed three-sided sharpened steel tool used to remove sections of the metal plate.  When used with a burnisher it is a mean of removing unwanted marks and lines.

scraper bar: the bar on the lithographic press that applies pressure to the paper and stone/plate through the typan sheet.  Usually made of wood that comes to an edge with a leather strap stretched over the length of the bar and over the edge.

screen: in serigraphy or silkscreen printing it is the mesh that is stretched over a frame; in halftones, the dot pattern used to translate tonalities.*

screenprint: general term for a print made by forcing ink through a mesh material that is stretched over a frame.  The image is created by blocking out areas of the screen using a variety of methods transmit color to the print.

scum: the unwanted inked areas that form in the inking process on a lithographic stone or plate.

serigraphy: (silkscreen) an ancient technique that forces ink or pigment onto a surface by blocking out areas with a stencil.  Technically the hand prints placed on cave walls were an early form of serigraphy.  Today it is most often created by forcing ink with a squeegee through a loose meshed material that is tautly stretched over a frame.  The image is created by stencils placed on the material, that block ink from reaching some areas of the paper.

silkscreen: (serigraphy) see above

sizing: glutinous substance that is either applied to the surface of paper or added in the papermaking process to decrease the absorbency of the paper.  Sizing can be made of natural pastes, glues, resin or varnish.

sizing catchers: thin sheet of felt placed between the dampened paper and the woven felts of an intaglio press to collect the glutinous sizing that is forced out of the paper in the printing process.

slipsheet: a thin sheet of paper that is placed between the impressions of a print edition to keep ink from offsetting from the image onto the other print paper.  Often the slipsheet is glassine, newsprint or a thin bonded paper.

snakeslip: in lithography, compressed pumice used to clean areas of a stone.*

snakestone: an abrasive stone used in lithography to erase and polish areas of a lithographic stone.

soft ground: in etching, an acid-resistant coating containing petroleum jelly or tallow to prevent it from hardening when dry, so that textures can be impressed into it.*

spit biting: an aquatint technique in which the acid is applied to the plate using a brush that also contains saliva and/or water.  This creates subtle tonal qualities and variations within the image.

squeegee: rubber or plastic blade used to force ink through the mesh in screen printing.*

state proof: the series of prints that record the stages of development of a print.

steel facing: electroplating process that adds a thin coating of iron to the surface of an intaglio plate strengthening it and allowing for larger printing editions.

stencil: in screen printing a means for blocking the mesh screen and preventing ink from going onto the paper.  Stencils can be made of cut paper, glues, photo emulsions, tusche, shellac, etc.

stipple: the placing of closely space dots on a relief or intaglio plate for the purpose of creating a textured tonal area.

stone engraving: a lithographic technique where the stone is lightly engraved and ink is forced into the incised lines, and the stone etched and printed.

stop-out: any substance in etching that blocks the acid from the surface of the plate.  Unlike a ground stop-out does not always allow the artist to draw through it and can have brittle qualities like varnish.

sugar-lift aquatint: (lift ground) etching process in which an image is drawn on the plate with a water-soluble liquid paint, the plate covered with hard ground, then submerged in water.  The water swells the paint, thus breaking through the hard ground.*

suite: related prints that share a common theme, technique and/or artist(s).

tack: term used to describe the adhesive or stickiness of an ink.

talc: powdered magnesium silicate that has a variety of uses in printmaking.  In wood engraving it is forced into the incised lines to help the artist better see the image and to repel ink when printing. In lithography it is placed on stones and plates in the etching process.

Tamarind Lithography Workshop: Innovative lithography studio established in conjunction with the University of New Mexico.

tarlatan: a starched cotton fabric in an open and plain weave similar to cheesecloth.  It is used to wipe excess ink from intaglio and collograph plates.

tint tool: a lining tool used in metal and wood engraving for making parallel lines. 

transfer lithograph: a lithographic image that has been made on specially prepared paper and then transferred to a stone or plate to be etched and printed.

transfer paper: a lithographic method in which a drawing created with appropriate grease-based materials is made on specially treated paper with a water-soluble coating on one side.  The paper is dampened and the image surface placed onto the lithographic stone or plate where the drawn image is transferred.

transparent base: in screenprinting, a colorless substance used to extend ink, increase its translucency and improve its consistency.*

trial proof: an impression made of a plate to check the development of the image.

tusche: a lithographic drawing material that is comprised of grease, pigment such as lampblack, wax, tallow, soap, and shellac.  It can come in both liquid and solid form.  It can also be used to create a stencil on the serigraph screen.

tympan: the flat sheet on a lithography press that goes between the scraper bar and the paper/stone or plate.  It is  greased and allows the scraper bar to flow smoothly over the paper while spreading even pressure.

underbiting: in the etching process when the plate is not given sufficient time in the acid to create either a line or aquatint of desired darkness.

undercutting: in the etching process when the acid eats both downward and sideways into the exposed plate areas. 

veiner: a relief cutting tool (gouge) with either a U or V shaped cutting edge.

viscosity: in any material including ink, the ability or quality of being able to flow.

viscosity print: an intaglio process that uses one plate that has a deep etch in areas and works from the principle that inks of different viscosities repel each other much like water repels grease.  Using rollers with different hardnesses and that are charged with different viscous inks, a single plate is made to print multiple colors through normal inking and then multiple applications of rolled ink. 

washout: the step in the lithographic etching process when the greasy image is removed from the plate or stone.

watermark: the papermaker’s logo or insignia that is found in the sheet of paper.  Visible when held up to a light source, the watermark is the lighter area of the paper created by an embossing in the paper mold.  It is slightly thinner than the sheet.

whiting: also known as calcium carbonate, it has multiple uses in the printing processes including polishing intaglio plates and stiffening inks.  It is the main material out of which lithographic stones are comprised.

wood engraving: a relief medium that utilizes the end grain of tight grained hardwoods such as boxwood and maple to beinscribed with engraving tools leaving the image in relief.  Used in the 19^th century as a medium to illustrate books.

woodcut: a relief medium that utilizes the plank side of wood to cut and gouge away the non-image area of the print.  The oldest of the relief print media, it dates to  the late 13^th century in Europe.  Because of the scarcity of quality lumber, many contemporary printmakers utilize veneer quality plywood for large woodcuts.

zincography: an archaic 19^th century term that was used to describe using grained zinc plates in lithography.