Relief printing is a family of
printing
Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...
methods where a printing block, plate or
matrix
Matrix (: matrices or matrixes) or MATRIX may refer to:
Science and mathematics
* Matrix (mathematics), a rectangular array of numbers, symbols or expressions
* Matrix (logic), part of a formula in prenex normal form
* Matrix (biology), the m ...
, which has had ink applied to its non-recessed surface, is brought into contact with paper. The non-recessed surface will leave ink on the paper, whereas the recessed areas will not. A
printing press
A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in whi ...
may not be needed, as the back of the paper can be rubbed or pressed by hand with a simple tool such as a
brayer or roller. In contrast, in
intaglio printing, the ''recessed'' areas are printed.
Relief printing is one of the traditional families of printmaking techniques, along with the
intaglio and
planographic families, though modern developments have created others.
The relief family of techniques
In the relief family of printing, the matrix was historically made
subtractively, by removing material from the surface of areas not intended to be printed. The remaining surface would then receive ink. The relief family of techniques includes
woodcut,
metalcut,
wood engraving,
relief etching,
linocut,
rubber stamp, foam printing, potato printing, and some types of
collagraph
Collagraphy (sometimes spelled collography) is a printmaking process in which materials are glued or sealed to a rigid substrate (such as paperboard or wood) to create a plate. Once inked, the plate becomes a tool for imprinting the design onto p ...
.
By contrast, in the intaglio family of printing, the recessed areas are printed by inking the whole matrix, then wiping the surface so that only ink in the recessed areas remain. Much greater pressure is then needed to force the paper into the channels containing the ink, so a high-pressure press is normally needed. Intaglio techniques include
engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ar ...
,
etching
Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...
, and
drypoint.
In the
planographic family of printing, the entire surface of the matrix is flat, and some areas are treated to create the print image. Planographic techniques include
lithography
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...
and
offset lithography.
Mix relief and intaglio techniques
Normally, relief and intaglio techniques can only be mixed with others of the same family in the same printed page, unless the page is printed twice.
Movable type: traditional relief printing for text
Traditional text printing with
movable type
Movable type (US English; moveable type in British English) is the system and technology of printing and typography that uses movable Sort (typesetting), components to reproduce the elements of a document (usually individual alphanumeric charac ...
is also a relief technique. This meant that woodcuts were much easier to use as book illustrations, as they could be printed together with the text. Intaglio illustrations, such as engravings, had to be printed separately.
The first relief-printed publication in the US, the multi-page newspaper ''
Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick'', was published on September 25, 1690.
See also
*
List of art media
*
List of art techniques
*
Viscosity printing
References
External links
Prints & People: A Social History of Printed Pictures an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on relief printing
Types of Relief PrintingDescriptions of woodcuts, engravings, linoleum cuts, and monotype relief printing.
*See als
Relief printing techniquesas used and described by French printmaker Dominique Lecomte
{{Authority control
Printing processes
Printing technology
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