Intaglio prints (from Italian intagliare - to engrave or incise) are those in which the image is cut into a surface or plate. When the plate is inked, the incised lines hold the ink and the image is transferred to a second surface, usually paper. When an intaglio plate is passed through the printing press it leaves a raised area around the image where it has pressed into the paper, known as the platemark. The presence of a platemark is a good way of telling an intaglio print from a relief or planographic print. Engraving, etching, drypoint, carborundum, aquatint and mezzotint are the most common types of intaglio printmaking. Many printmakers combine different intaglio techniques when they work on their plates and for this reason it is not unusual to see a contemporary print described simply as intaglio.
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Aquatint
Aquatint is an intaglio process in which the plate is covered with grains of rosin called an aquatint ground, which are then fused to the plate, generally by heating. -
Carborundum
Carborundum is an intaglio process similar to aquatint in which carborundum grit (silicum carbide) is applied in thick paste to a metal plate. The ink clings to its granular surface, creating a textural image which has the appearance of embossing. -
Drypoint
Drypoint is an intaglio process in which lines are drawn directly into a metal plate with a sharp-pointed tool called a drypoint needle. -
Engraving
Engraving is the earliest of the intaglio printmaking processes, in which an image is engraved directly onto a metal plate, usually made of copper. -
Etching
Etching is an intaglio process in which a plate is covered with an acid-resistant layer of wax called an etching ground. The image is then drawn into this surface with an etching needle, the softness of the wax allowing the etched lines to be much freer than those in engraving. -
Mezzotint
Literally meaning half-tone, mezzotint is an intaglio process which works from dark to light.
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A Buyer's Guide to Prints