'I like that with prints you have an idea but you are not quite sure how it is going to fall out'

- Cornelia Parker

 

Photomechancial processes are those in which plates are prepared for printing by means of photography. The most widely used method is photogravure, also called heliogravure. A photogravure is made by exposing a sheet of carbon tissue, coated with light-sensitive gelatin, to a film positive, creating a negative image in the gelatin. When the sheet is exposed to light, the gelatin hardens. The soft gelatin is washed away leaving an image which can be etched onto a copper plate with acid. 

 

Digital printmaking uses digital data, as opposed to a material surface, to record information about the image to be printed. The range of possibilities offered by digital processes is constantly expanding, drawing many more artists to incorporate printmaking into their work in some way.