Printmaking Terms
Original Prints:
Hand printed from plates created by the Artist. Colors are then printed one at a time by or under the direction of the artist. The prints are signed by the artist and numbered. The plates are then destroyed or defaced.
Signed and Numbered (S.N.):
Authenticated with the artist’s signature, the total number of impressions in the edition, and the order in which the impressions are signed; “5/75” indicates that the print is the fifth signed of an edition of 75 impressions.
Artist Proof (A.P.):
A print outside of the numbered series, usually 1/10 of the edition.
Hor De Commerce (H.C.):
(pron. OR de com-AIRCE) A designation for prints not in the numbered series pulled for the use of the publisher, normally limited to five or six.
Reproduction Print:
Printed from plates produced by the process of offset lithography.
Photomechanical Offset Printing:
A process in which an image is transferred to a printing plate photographically and then onto a roller which prints on paper. An offset print is not a graphic.
Relief:
A technique in which the portions of a plate intended to print are raised above the surface, as woodcut, linocut, etc.
Intaglio:
(pron. in-TAHL-yo) Any technique in which an image is incised below the surface of the plate, including dry point, etching, aquatint, engraving, and mezzotint.
Serigraph:
(screenprinting, silkscreen) A stenciling method in which the image is transferred to paper by forcing ink or paint through a fine mesh in which the background has been blocked.
Planography:
Any process of printing from a surface level with the plate, as lithography.
Aquatint:
An intaglio method in which areas of color are made by dusting powdered resin on a metal plate and then letting acid eat the plate surface away from around it.
Bon-a-tirer:
(pron. bone-ah-ti-RAY) - The first impression of a print run acceptable to the artist and used as the standard with which each subsequent impression is compared.
Dry Point:
An intaglio technique like engraving in which the image is drawn on a metal plate with a needle, raising a ridge which prints a soft line.
Engraving:
An intaglio process in which lines are cut into a metal plate and then filled with ink to transfer the image onto paper.
Embossed Print:
Uninked relief print in which dampened paper is pressed into recessed areas of a plate, producing a three-dimensional impression.
Embossed Print:
Uninked relief print in which dampened paper is pressed into recessed areas of a plate, producing a three-dimensional impression.
Etching:
An intaglio process in which an image is scratched through an acid-resistant coating on a metal plate. The plate is then dipped in acid which eats into the exposed surface.
Linocut:
A process in which an image is cut in relief on a linoleum block.
Lithograph:
A planographic process in which images are drawn with crayon or a greasy ink on stone or metal and then transferred to paper.
Mezzotint:
An intaglio process in which the plate surface is roughened and then an image is created by smoothing the areas to be printed.
Monotype:
A unique print made from an inked, painted glass or metal plate.
Giclee:
(pron. zhee-clay) An invented term for the process of making fine art prints from a digital source using ink-jet printing. The word giclée, from the French language word "gicleur" meaning "nozzle", represents any inkjet based digital print used as fine art.
General Art Terms
Acrylic:
A plastic used as a medium for pigments in painting or as a casting material in sculpture.
Applique:
(pron. ap-li-KAY) A cut-out attached to a background.
Aquarelle:
(pron. ak-we-RELL) Transparent watercolor.
Assemblage:
Sculpture formed by joining individual pieces, sometimes “found objects.”
Bas-relief:
(pron. BAH relief) Sculpture in which the figure projects only slightly from the background.
Diptych:
(pron. DIP-tick) A two-part painting, often of attached panels. A triptych is composed of three parts, a tetraptych four, etc.
Gouache:
(pron. gwash) Watercolor to which an opaque white has been added.
Graphic:
Graphic - Any work printed directly on paper from a plate or block.
Haute Relief:
(pron. O relief) High sculptural relief in which figures project from a background at least half their real depth.
Impasto:
(pron. im-PAHS-to) Thick application of paint creating a textured surface.
Mixed Media:
The use of different materials in the same work.
Pastel:
A soft chalk made of pigments, water and a binder, blended into a stiff paste and dried.