Printmaking

Printmaking creates artworks by transferring ink from a prepared surface, such as a plate, block, or screen, onto paper or another material. Its methods can produce one image or multiple impressions.

Relief printing: A printmaking method in which ink transfers from the raised parts of a carved or assembled surface. Woodcuts and linocuts print the uncut surface while recessed areas remain blank.
Printing plate: A prepared surface that carries an image for transfer in processes such as etching or lithography. The plate is the image-bearing matrix in several major printmaking methods.
Woodblock printing: A printing process in which a carved wooden block transfers ink or pigment to a receiving surface. Woodblock printing became a major early method for producing images and texts.
Fine art print: An original artwork produced through a printmaking process, often as one impression in an artist-authorized edition. The category distinguishes artistic prints from merely reproductive copies.
Painting: An art practice that applies pigment to a surface to create an image or composition. Painting usually builds an image directly on its support rather than transferring it from a matrix.
Intaglio: A printmaking method in which ink held in recessed lines or areas transfers under pressure to paper. Engraving and etching make marks below the plate's surface, unlike relief printing.
Matrix (printmaking): The reusable surface or form from which impressions are printed. Printmaking is organized around transferring images from matrices to receiving surfaces.
Diamond Sutra: A Buddhist text printed in China in 868, among the earliest surviving dated examples of a complete printed book. Its illustrated frontispiece shows early woodblock printing used for a sophisticated image.
Book illustration: An image made to accompany or explain text in a book or other publication. Printmaking has allowed images to be reproduced alongside text at scale.
Photography: The production of images through the action of light on a photosensitive surface or sensor. Photography records light directly, while traditional printmaking transfers marks from a prepared matrix.

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