Original Print Terminology

An original print is an artwork that has been conceived in the mind of the artist and then first fully realised as a print. Unlike paintings or drawings, prints usually exist in multiple impressions; the total number of these impressions is called an edition.

Prints are produced in a variety of ways but always falling within one of the 3 main methods below:

Relief Printing

The artist creates an image (usually drawn) onto a hard, flat surface such as wood or lino, and pieces of the surface are carved away leaving the desired image in relief. Using a roller, ink or another other suitable medium is then applied to the surface of the relief. Paper is overlaid onto the surface and then pressure is applied (using a press or hand-burnishing/rubbing) resulting in the image being transferred onto the paper. Because the cut-away parts of the block are not covered with the ink, only the relief image is transferred, albeit as a mirror image of was left as the relief. Examples of specific relief techniques are woodcut, linocut and wood-engraving.

Intaglio Printing

The artist uses a pointed tool (or free-flowing acid) to incise their image into a metal plate. The plate is subsequently covered with ink and then wiped down, leaving only the incised areas containing ink. A slightly damp sheet of paper is overlaid onto the surface of the plate, and heavy pressure is then applied as both plate and sheet are run through a press. This pressure forces the damp paper into the incisions, resulting in raised and inked areas on the sheet. As a result of this, the edges of the plate can usually be seen within the confines of the sheet too - this is called a platemark. Examples of specific intaglio techniques are etching, aquatint, mezzotint, drypoint and engraving.

Planographic Printing

This involves printing from a flat surface, as opposed to a raised surface (as with relief printing) or incised surface (as with intaglio printing). Ink is neither pressed down into the paper nor raised above the surface of the paper, instead lying in a flat plane on the surface. Examples of specific planographic techniques are serigraph (screenprint), pochoir, lithograph and digital print. Lithography and offset lithography are planographic techniques that utilize the property that water will not mix with oil.

We’ve collated an A-Z of some further pertinent terms for you below, in order to help explain some of the finer details that may be attached to our artwork records:

After, Estate or Posthumous Editions

An edition printed from a plate or matrix, usually after the death of the artist and without their direct permission/approval. These works have usually been authorized by the artist's heirs or is the product of a publisher who previously purchased the plate/matrix from the artist. The term ‘After’ can also apply to a print that was created after a painting or drawing.

Aquatint

An intaglio process using a waxy, granular ground (rather than solid ground like an etching) in which tone and shadow is created rather than lines - Aquatint is often combined with etching.

Arches Paper

A high-quality brand of air-dried paper made in the village of Arches in France, which is used by printers and watercolour artists predominantly.

Artist's Proof (AP or EA)

Artist's Proofs (Épreuve d'Artiste) are prints created outside of the numbered edition of prints - these are created at the same time of printing the numbered edition and are exactly the same. They are usually hand-marked in pencil with ‘A.P.’, ‘E.A.’ or ‘Artist’s Proof’ on the impression, as well as usually being dated and hand-signed. Artist’s Proofs are usually printed in much smaller numbers than the numbered edition and are sometimes numbered themselves! Despite this, the value of an Artist’s Proof and a numbered edition in the same condition remains the same. The artist or publisher often retains them for reference, historical or gifting purposes.

(See also Printer’s Proof)

Assemblage

‘Found’ objects and other everyday materials are combined to create a sculptural form, resulting in a raised 2D, or 3D work.

Attributed To

Works that appear to be by the hand of the attributed artist but that cannot or have not been confirmed as such.

BFK Rives Paper

Rives is perfectly suited for all types of prints and as such is amongst the most popular printmaking papers. Made of 100% cotton, it is acid free.

Blind-Embossed Stamp

This is embossed (without ink) onto a print to identify the artist, workshop, printer or publisher. Also known as a Chop. A blind stamp serves the same purpose but is stamped with ink on the verso of the sheet.

Bon à Tirer

The first print produced for an edition (but not included in the edition) that the Artist is happy with thus setting the standard for the subsequent edition run - Translated to English from the French, this means ‘good to pull’. This print is traditionally kept by the printer.

Burr

The fine hair-like marks caused by very small fragments of metal that have been raised and positioned alongside lines on the surface of a plate when engraving. The burr holds some ink when printing and creates a fine fuzzy accompaniment to the line on the sheet. This is progressively worn away as the printing run ensues, resulting in earlier impressions/pulls containing a richer burr.

Carborundum

Initially used in lithographic printmaking as an effacing tool, Carborundum (silicon carbide) helps to create texture by holding space for the ink to sit in between its particles. It is typically mixed with glue to achieve this effect.

Catalogue Raisonné

This is the definitive listing of all the known works by a specific artist. Painstakingly curated by the foremost authority on that particular artist and subsequently referred to by world-renowned museums, galleries, collectors and auction houses. The catalogue contains all the definitive information by which works are identified.

Chine-collé

From the French meaning ‘Chinese Glue’, this is a technique that uses water-soluble glues and heavy pressure from a press to transfer an image from one sheet of lightweight paper (such as rice paper) to another heavier dampened printmaking paper.

Chop

(See blind-embossed stamp)

Chromogenic Colour Print (C-Print or C-Type)

A colour photographic print that is also known as a silver-halide print or a dye coupler print, this is the most common colour photographic print made from a colour negative, transparency, or digital image, and developed using a chromogenic process.

Collagraph/Collograph

A combination of relief and print made on any flat surface using different textures - The plate can be intaglio-inked, inked with a roller or paintbrush or some combination thereof. Ink or pigment is applied to the resulting collage and the board is used to print onto paper or another material using either a printing press or various hand tools.

Collotype

Also called Photocollography, this is a printing process that gives an accurate reproduction because no halftone screen is employed to break the images into dots. In the process, a plate (aluminum, glass, cellophane, etc.) is coated with a light-sensitive gelatin solution and exposed to light through a photographic negative.

Colour Separations

Separate colour proofs of a print containing more than one colour.

(See also Progressive Proofs)

Counterproofs

A counterproof is a print taken off from another just printed, which, by being passed through the press, gives a copy in reverse, and of course in the same position as that of the plate from which the first was printed, the object being to enable the printmaker to inspect the state of the plate. Placing a dampened sheet of paper on top of a pastel artwork can also produce an original counterproof rather than a ‘conditional’ proof. Pressure is applied to transfer the pastel image to the dampened sheet on top.

Coventry Rag Paper

Machine made in the USA using 100% cotton, this is an incredibly versatile paper and can be used for most fine art techniques.

Deckle Edge

The uneven edge on handmade paper.

Die-Cut

A clean cut made using a metal (sheet) die that’s been custom made to create a specific pattern or shape cut into the paper.

Digital Prints

A print created using ink-jet printers, often as the result of an artist creating an artwork from scratch digitally, or manipulating/enhancing an existing work that has been photographed or scanned into a computer. The ink is sprayed meticulously onto the paper to deliver a continuous tone image. A digital print can still be determined to be an ‘original’ print if the artist intended the final artwork to exist solely as a print, with the print being the first fully-realised version of the artist’s ‘vision’. A digital print of a work that originated as a painting or drawing is a reproduction print.

(See also Giclée Print)

Diptych

An artwork consisting of two worked surfaces, created with the intention of only being viewed together; the two works form one whole piece.

(See also Triptych)

Drypoint

These prints are created by scratching or drawing into a metal plate with a needle or sharp tool. This intaglio technique gives the artist a huge variety (and freedom) of applicable line-making.

Edition

This is the total number of prints pulled from one image. The prints are numbered consecutively to show that the edition is limited by the publisher or artist, meaning that no two prints will have the same edition number.

Embossing

A process used to create a raised surface or raised element, but printed without ink. Debossing is the opposite of this process, leaving an indented mark on the surface.

Engraving

An intaglio technique in which the metal plate is marked or incised with a tool called a burin (or graver). The plate is then covered in ink and then wiped so that only the engraved lines contain the ink - these lines can be very fine or deep, usually demonstrating a clean and sharp appearance, tapering at the ends.

Etching

Similar to an engraving but with the added step of initially coating the plate with a ‘ground’ (waxy coating). The artist draws through the ground with a stylus to expose the metal plate in the desired areas. The plate is then immersed in an acid bath - this dissolves or ‘bites’ the exposed metal areas. The ground is then removed before the plate is inked and printed. Unlike an engraved image, the lines in an etching usually have blunt rather than tapering ends.

Fillet

In the picture framing industry, a fillet (sometimes referred to as a slip) is a small piece of flat band or moulding which fits inside a frame, separating two surfaces - this is usually between the glazing and the frame, thus creating a sense of depth and ensuring the artwork isn’t pressed flush against the glazed area.

Floated

Another framing term, this describes the use of hinging tape to mount the artwork to a backing board. This creates the appearance of the artwork floating within the frame, ensuring the full edges of a sheet or painting are visible instead of framing the work under a mat/overmount.

Gelatin Silver Print

Most twentieth-century black-and-white photographs are gelatin silver prints, in which the image consists of silver metal particles suspended in a gelatin layer. They are developed using the three-bath chemistry of developer, stop, and fixer, and can be chemically toned to alter the finished look of the print.

Gesso

Gesso is a white paint mixture used in painting as a preparation for any number of substrates such as wood panels, canvas and sculpture, primarily used as a base for paint and other materials that are applied over it.

Giclée Print

Giclée is a neologism coined in 1991 by printmaker Jack Duganne for fine art digital prints made on inkjet printers. It has since been widely used and accepted to mean any fine-art digital printing (of archival quality and fade resistant), printed by inkjet.

Gouache

The term gouache was first used in France in the eighteenth century to describe a type of paint made from pigments bound in water-soluble gum, like watercolour, but with the addition of a white pigment in order to make it opaque.

Handmade Paper

Handmade paper is typically made using a frame with a flexible screen. The frame is dipped into a vat of wet pulp and then shaken to distribute the fibers evenly over the surface, draining off excess water in the process. What’s left is a flat mat of paper that is then dried and either pressed (hot or cold) or air-dried.

Héliogravure/Photogravure

In a complex photochemical procedure that creates an intaglio surface, a photographic image is fixed and etched upon a specially prepared copper plate. The finished plate is then placed on a hand-turned press, and the image is printed onto dampened etching paper using special inks. This is the oldest method of reproducing photographic artwork.

Hors Commerce Proof (HC)

Literally translated from the French for ‘Not for sale’, impressions with the designation of H.C. were sometimes used for exhibiting purposes, preserving or protecting the numbered editions from handling creases and other potential damage. At other times, a print may have been designated H.C. by the publisher, gifting the print directly to the artist as thanks for being given permission to print the artist’s work. In either case, the H.C. remained the property of the artist until its availability becomes apparent in the secondary art market.

Impression

A single printed artwork (usually on paper) created from a printing surface. Multiple impressions may be printed from the same etching plate, woodblock, lithographic stone, or other surface.

In the Style/Manner/Circle/Studio of

Works bearing the hallmarks of an artist, but not executed directly by them may be assigned a description containing one of these statements:

• Style of - A deliberate attempt to imitate a famous artist’s style but there is no certainty it was approved or came from the artist’s studio, or even from their period.

• Manner of - (see Style of)

• Circle of - A work from the period of the artist, clearly showing their influence, closely associated with the artist but not necessarily their assistant/pupil.

• Studio of - A work executed in the studio or workshop of the artist, most likely by an assistant/pupil and possibly under the artist’s supervision.

Initialled

Many artists sign their finished works with their full signature, but sometimes they may choose to initial their work instead.

Ink

Ink is a liquid or paste that contains pigments or dyes and is used to colour a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, or quill. Thicker inks, in paste form, are used extensively in letterpress and lithographic printing.

Letterpress

Is a technique of relief printing using a printing press, a process by which many copies are produced by repeated direct impression of an inked, raised surface against sheets or a continuous roll of paper. A typesetter/composer assembles and locks movable type into the ‘bed’ or ‘chase’ of a press, inks it, and presses paper against it to transfer the ink from the type, which creates an impression on the paper.

Linocut

A form of relief printing and a simple variation of woodcut techniques, here a design is cut into a backed linoleum surface with a knife or U-shape/V-shape lino cutting tools. Areas that are not to receive ink are carved away and separate blocks must be carved for each colour (alternatively, the same lino surface is reworked, carved into and printed from again). Since lino possesses a smooth surface rather than woodgrain, linocut prints can result in very flat, smooth textures in the printed areas.

Lithograph

A planographic technique of printing, an artist creates a lithograph by drawing or painting an image directly onto the flat surface of a stone or metal plate using greasy lithograph crayons/pencil or paint. This image is then fixed to the surface with a weak solution of acid and gum. The surface is then firstly covered with water which is absorbed everywhere but the greasy areas, and then oil-based inks are applied which adhere only to the image and not the water covered areas. The surface is covered with paper then run through a press under light pressure, the resulting print lying on the surface of the paper. The desired image is usually divided between multiple stone/metal surfaces (all suitably aligned) to produce through multiple printings, a lithograph in more than one colour. Another method of creating a lithograph is to use specially prepared transfer paper, utilizing a lithographic crayon. The image created on the paper is then mechanically transferred to the stone/metal surface - this is called a transfer lithograph.

Mat

A thin but sturdy, flat piece of paper-based material included within a picture frame, which serves as additional decoration and to perform several other, more practical functions, such as separating the art from the glass. Mat board and mount board are distinguished from one another by location, the mount board sitting behind the artwork and the mat on top (sometimes referred to as ‘overmount’).

Matrix

From the Latin word ‘mater’ meaning ‘mother’, the matrix is a term for the surface or form from which any print is made. Examples of this include a lithographic stone, stencil, metal plate and silkscreen mesh.

Mezzotint

An intaglio technique used to create areas of monochrome tone rather than line. The whole surface of the plate is abraded by a spiked tool called a ‘rocker’, which if printed at that point, would result in a solid black print. The artist then works ‘up’ to white, by scraping and burnishing areas of the plate so that it holds less or no ink. Mezzotint is known for the luxurious quality of its tones: firstly, because an evenly, finely roughened surface holds a lot of ink, allowing deep solid colours to be printed; secondly because the process of smoothing the plate with burin, burnisher and scraper allows fine gradations in tone to be developed.

Monogram

Many artists sign their finished works with their full signature, but some use a design called a monogram, made from their initials. In a monogram, letters are combined in a unique way–often overlapping or intertwined–that identifies an artwork’s maker.

Monoprint

A print which due to the nature of its creation and as the name suggests, exist only as an edition of one. A monoprint is made by taking an already etched and inked plate, then adding and manipulating ink on the surface of it before printing, thus producing an impression different in appearance had it been printed without the additions.

Monotype

A monotype is made by drawing an image with ink or paint on a non-absorbent, smooth surface. The image is transferred from the surface to paper by rubbing the back of the paper on the plate with a rubbing tool or by hand or by use of a press. The result is a mirror image of the original drawing. Similar to a monoprint, only one print can be made using this method.

Newsprint

Used to print newspapers and other ephemera, newsprint is a low-cost, low-quality, non-archival paper that can still yield exciting print results. Like layout paper, artists often use newsprint as a starting point for sketches and ideas due to its affordability and translucence.

Offset Lithograph

A planographic process in which the inked impression is taken from the plate onto a rubber covered cylinder, which then transfers the image on to the paper. This is typically used in higher print runs for more commercial processes such as poster printing.

Plate Mark

When intaglio prints are created, pressure forces the damp paper into the incisions of the plate, resulting in raised and inked areas on the sheet. As a result of this, the edges of the plate can usually be seen within the confines of the sheet too - this is called a platemark.

Plate Signed

A print containing a signature that was present in the image matrix. The artwork is not hand-signed by the artist unless noted additionally.

Plexiglass

A transparent thermoplastic often-used as glazing as a lightweight or shatter-resistant alternative to glass.

Pochoir

The hand application of colour through a paper or metal stencil onto a printed picture.

Portfolio

A collection of artworks (typically prints) put together by an artist, a group of artists, a studio or a publisher, and often centred on a theme, printed as a limited edition. A portfolio (or ‘portfolio suite’) is usually comprised of unbound sheets but can also sometimes be bound as a book.

Poster

A poster is effectively a promotional/advertising print to be put on display or handed out in a public space for mass consumption. Although these are printed in much larger runs than a limited edition ‘fine art’ print, posters are often still printed in limited runs and as a result, original posters (those from the first printing run) can be incredibly sought after depending on the artist, designer or exhibition. As a result of their ephemeral nature and fragile cheap/thin paper stock, many posters are neglected and uncared for, leaving many in a poor state (although as long as it’s original long as we like this doesn’t always bother us!). The advantage of this for a collector is that original posters can sometimes be purchased for far less than a limited edition original art print, and sought after posters in fine condition are fetching increasingly higher prices in the secondary art market. Posters are most typically printed using an offset lithographic process, but less modern posters were often printed using a traditional lithographic technique, or a screenprinting process.

 Master Printer/Printmaker

Master printmakers or master printers are specialised technicians who handprint editions of works of an artist, often working directly with or under the supervision of the artist themselves. Master printmakers often own and/or operate their own printmaking studio or print shop.

Printer's Proof (PP)

A print (or small number of prints) from outside of the numbered run that is gifted by the artist to the printer. Printer’s Proofs are prints created outside of the numbered edition of prints - these are created at the same time of printing the numbered edition and the Artist’s Proofs and are exactly the same. They are sometimes hand-marked in pencil with ‘P.P.’, or ‘Printer’s Proof’ on the impression, as well as sometimes being dated and hand-signed. However, unlike Artist’s Proofs, Printer’s Proofs sometimes have no hand-written designations on the sheet at all.

(See also Artist’s Proof)

Progressive Proofs

Series of proofs taken to show each individual color plate and each combination of them culminating in the final complete version.

(See also Colour Separations)

Publisher

A publisher provides the subsidy or financial support to produce and market an artist’s prints. A publisher also brings the artist and printer together understanding how their unison might work symbiotically. The publisher may also themselves be a printer or printing studio.

Pull

To transfer the ink to paper.

Recto

The front of an artwork, originating from the Latin for ‘right’ or ‘correct’.

Registration Marks

Marks used by the printer to line up the paper with area to be printed.

Remarque

Drawings or experimental marks usually in the margins of the print, to be removed before the work is editioned. The prints with these marks are called remarque proofs.

Restrike

Later impressions that have not been authorized by an artist or their estate. These can be a single print or a whole edition pulled from formerly printed plates, blocks, stones, or stencils after the original edition has been printed or cancelled. These prints should show a defacing mark to note that original edition has been cancelled - sometimes however this is not the case: Cancelled etching plates that been worn down but not struck through have been known to have been reworked by someone other than the original artist, so even though the subsequent print can be said to have come from the original plate, not a lot of the original work on the plate actually exists.

Screenprint/ Serigraph

A stencil process employing a separate frame for each printing colour layer, on which silk or synthetic fabric is stretched. Stencils are hand-drawn, hand-cut and placed onto the fabric or ‘burned’ onto the screen using a photosensitive emulsion. This image acts as a block out when the ink passes through the screen by means of a squeegee onto the paper; the non-stencil areas creating the image.

Signature

The earliest prints were not signed at all. By the late 15th century artists were beginning to incorporate their signature or monogram into the matrix, resulting in what we now call ‘plate signed’ or ‘signed in the plate’. The practice of signing a work in pencil (or less typically, ink) didn’t become common until the late 19th century whereas it is now commonplace. When a print is described as ‘signed’, it should mean it is hand-signed in pencil, ink, crayon or suchlike. A plate signature should never be described as ‘signed’, and this also remains the case for a stamped signature.

Signed Edition

The number below the line designates the total size of the edition, the upper number refers to the specific print from the total edition, i.e. 2/100, the second print pulled from the edition of 100. The artist signs the print typically on the right bottom corner in pencil and numbers bottom left corner.

Softground Etching

A method of etching that produces prints characterized by softness of line or a grainy texture. The waxy ground used to coat the plate is softer and stickier than in normal etching, so that it adheres to anything pressed into it. Over this ground is laid a sheet of paper on which the artist draws with a pencil. The ground adheres to the paper wherever the pencil passes, leaving the metal exposed in broad, soft lines. The plate is exposed to acid and, when printed, yields results similar to pencil or chalk drawings.

Spitbite Aquatint

A method in which the acid is applied directly to the aquatint ground of a prepared plate - the artist uses saliva (or ethylene glycol or similar) to dilute/control the strength of the acid applied.

State

An impression taken from the plate at a particular moment or stage of development and thus distinguished from impressions taken at other times during that process. The final state is the state from which editions are generally pulled, although some artists pull several impressions in each state.

Stone (Lithograph)

Limestone is used in the medium of lithography - it is the element that the artist draws on/transfers a drawing onto, to create the print image. Lithographic limestone is hard limestone that is sufficiently fine-grained, homogeneous and defect free - Geologists use the term "lithographic texture" to refer to a grain size under 1/250 mm.

Sugar-Lift/Lift-ground

The image is drawn directly onto the plate with a brush or pen and sugar ink (a mixture of sugar and Indian ink, or gouache and gum). The plate is covered with hard ground and impressed in hot water to dissolve the sugar, lifting the ground with it. The plate is then etched using an aquatint process.

Trial Proof (TP)

An impression pulled before the edition run, printed in order to check/clarify what the current image looks like at that particular stage of the image’s development. The artist will usually then return to the matrix and make additions or adjustments. There can be any number of Trial Proofs but it’s usually a small number, with each TP differing from the next. Also known as an ‘épreuve d’essai’ (EE) in French.

Triptych

An artwork consisting of three worked surfaces, created with the intention of only being viewed together; the three works form one whole piece.

Verso

The back of an artwork, originating from the Latin for ‘turned’ or ‘changed’.

Watermark

The mark that papermakers form in their paper. It is created using a pattern of wire sewn into the mould on which the sheet of pulp is dried – the paper that settles above the wires is thinner, and therefore more translucent.

Waxtype

Pigmented beeswax is used in conjunction with an encaustic screenprinting-type technique resulting in a shinier and seemingly textured print image.

Wood Engraving

A relief process in which the image is cut into the end grain (rather than along the grain) of a block of wood using engraving tools. This process produces a very fine white line.

Woodblock

A style of relief printing famously used throughout Asia in which artists use carved wooden blocks to press and/or print designs onto textiles or paper. The highly influential ‘Ukiyo-e’ genre introduced some of the best-known examples of Japanese woodblock art prints.

Woodcut

A relief process in which the image is cut in a block of wood (along the grain) with tools such as knives, gougers or chisels. The image is inked with a roller, paper is applied to the surface and the back is then rubbed by hand or with a rubbing tool, transferring the image to the paper.

Wove Paper

A paper with a uniform surface, not ribbed or watermarked, wove paper is a type of paper first created centuries ago in Asia, and subsequently introduced to Europe in the mid-eighteenth century. Hand-made wove paper was first produced by using a wooden mould that contained a finely-woven brass vellum (wire cloth), upon which the paper pulp was applied and dried, creating a smooth, uniform surface. With the establishment of the paper machine (1807), the manufacture of paper on a wove wire base would become the predominant standard in the world - today more than 99% of the world's paper is made in this manner.