Techniques And Technology

HAND

Etching
Linocutting
Woodcutting

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 types of material. As a method of printmaking, it is, along with engraving, the most important
technique for old master prints, and remains in wide use today. In a number of modern variants such as microfabrication etching and photochemical milling it is a crucial technique in much modern technology, including
In traditional pure etching, a metal (usually copper, zinc or steel) plate is covered with a waxy ground which
is resistant to acid. The artist then scratches off the ground with a pointed etching needle where he or she
wants a line to appear in the finished piece, so exposing the bare metal.

The choppe, a tool with a slanted oval section, is also used for "swelling" lines. The plate is
then dipped in a bath of acid, technically called the mordant (French for "biting") or etchant, or
has acid washed over it. The acid "bites" into the metal (it dissolves part of the metal) where it
is exposed, leaving behind lines sunk into the plate. The remaining ground is then cleaned off
the plate. The plate is inked all over, and then the ink wiped off the surface, leaving only the ink
in the etched lines.
The plate is then put through a high-pressure printing press together with a sheet of paper (often moistened to
soften it). The paper picks up the ink from the etched lines, making a print. The process can be repeated many
times; typically several hundred impressions (copies) could be printed before the plate shows much sign of
wear. The work on the plate can also be added to by repeating the whole process; this creates an etching
which exists in more than one state. Etching has often been combined with other intaglio techniques such as
engraving.
Etching by goldsmiths and other metal-workers in order to decorate metal items
such as guns, armor, cups and plates has been known in Europe since the middle
ages at least, and may go back to antiquity. The elaborate decoration of armor, in
Germany at least, was an art probably imported from Italy around the end of
the 15th centurylittle earlier than the birth of etching as a printmaking
technique.

Advantages
Eliminates handling of dangerous acids and
solvents.
Uses small amounts of chemicals.
Isotropic or anisotropic etch profiles.
Less undercutting.
No unintentional prolongation of etching.
Better process control.
Ease of automation.

Disadvatanges

Some gases are quite toxic and corrosive.

Re-deposition of non-volatile compounds.
Need for specialized (expensive) equipment.

Woodcutting

Linocutting

Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface
of a block of woodtypically with gougesleaving the printing parts level with the surface
while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that the artist cuts away carry no ink, while characters or images at surface level carry the ink to produce the print. The block is cut along the grain
of the wood (unlike wood engraving where the block is cut in the end-grain). The surface is covered with ink by rolling over the surface with an ink-covered roller (brayer), leaving ink upon
the flat surface but not in the non-printing areas.

Linocut is a printmaking technique, a variant of woodcut in which a

sheet of linoleum (sometimes mounted on a wooden block) is used for
the relief surface. A design is cut into the linoleum surface with a
sharp knife, V-shaped chisel or gouge, with the raised (uncarved) areas representing a reversal (mirror image) of the parts to show printed.
The linoleum sheet is inked with a roller (called a brayer), and then
impressed onto paper or fabric. The actual printing can be done by
hand or with a press.

Multiple colors can be printed by keying the paper to a frame around the woodblocks (using a
different block for each color). The art of carving the woodcut can be called "xylography", but
this is rarely used in English for images alone, although that and "xylographic" are used in connection with block books, which are small books containing text and images in the same block.

Although linoleum as a floor covering dates to the 1860s, the linocut

printing technique was used first by the artists of Die Brcke in Germany between 1905 and 1913 where it had been similarly used for
wallpaper printing. They initially described these prints as woodcuts,
which sounded more respectable.

Woodcut or woodblock printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns that was used
widely throughout East Asia. It originated in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later on paper. The earliest woodblock printed fragments to survive are from China and
are of silk printed with flowers in three colours from the Han Dynasty (before AD 220). "In the
13th century the Chinese technique of block printing was transmitted to Europe.

Since the material being carved has no directional grain and does not
tend to split, it is easier to obtain certain artistic effects with lino than
with most woods, although the resultant prints lack the often angular
grainy character of woodcuts and engravings. Lino is generally diced,
much easier to cut than wood, especially when heated, but the pressure
of the printing process degrades the plate faster and it
is difficult to create larger works due to the material's

There are three methods of printing to consider:

Disadvatanges

Advantages

Carving is enabled

Mistakes are un-reversible

Printing is possible

You have to work hard to get texture

Embossing is enabled

Hard to cut

Tough and sturdy

Limited colour application

Different surfaces

Hard to clean

Easy for simple designs

Hard to get off hands

Long time to dry

Time consuming

Stamping: Used for many fabr ics and most ear ly Eur opean woodcuts (140040). These
were printed by putting the paper/fabric on a table or other flat surface with the block on top,
and pressing or hammering the back of the block.
Rubbing: Appar ently the most common method for Far Easter n pr inting on paper at all
times. Used for European woodcuts and block-books later in the fifteenth century, and very
widely for cloth. Also used for many Western woodcuts from about 1910 to the present. The
block goes face up on a table, with the paper or fabric on top. The back is
rubbed with a "hard pad, a flat piece of wood, a burnished, or a leather
frotton".
Printing in a press: pr esses only seem to have been used in Asia in
relatively recent times. Printing-presses were used from about 1480 for
European prints and block-books, and before that for woodcut book illustrations. Simple weighted presses may have been used in Europe before
the print-press, but firm evidence is lacking.

Disadvatanges

Advantages

Preparing a woodcut also requires far less skill, as wood is a

Once the artist moves on to the next

layer, no more prints - can be made.

forgiving medium.

Linoleum, although very easy to

carve, is a fragile material especially when heated, and mistakes must be carefully avoided
to preserve the design.

M EC H A N I C A L

Letterpress

Gravure

Gravure
Letterpress
Screen printing

Letterpress printing 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 worker composes 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.
The process of letterpress printing consists of several stages: composition, imposition and lock-up, and
printing. In a small shop, all would occur in a single room, whereas in larger printing plants, such as with
urban newspapers and magazines, each might form a distinct department with its own room, or even floor.

Gravure is a type of intaglio printing process, which involves engraving the image onto an image
carrier. In gravure printing, the image is engraved onto a cylinder because, like offset printing and
flexography, it uses a rotary printing press. Once a staple of newspaper photo features, the rotogravure process is still used for commercial printing of magazines, postcards, and corrugated
In the 19th century, a number of developments in photography allowed the production of photomechanical printing plates. W H fox Talbot mentions in 1852 the use of a textile in the photographic process to create half-tones in the printing plate. A French patent in 1860 describes a reelfed gravure press. A collaboration between Klic and Fawcett in Lancaster resulted in the founding
of the Rembrandt Intaglio Printing Company in 1895, which company produced art prints. In
While the press is in operation, the engraved cylinder is partially immersed in the ink tray, filling
the recessed cells. As the cylinder rotates, it draws excess ink onto its surface and into the cells.
Acting as a squeegee, the doctor blade scrapes the cylinder before it makes contact with the paper, removing the excess ink from the non-printing (non-recessed) areas and leaving in the cells
the right amount of ink required. The position of the blade relative to the nip is normally variable.
Next, the substrate gets sandwiched between the impression roller and the gravure cylinder: this
is where the ink gets transferred from the recessed cells to the web. The purpose of the impression roller is to apply force, ensuring that the entire substrate is brought into contact with the gravure cylinder, ensuring even and maximum coverage of the ink. Once in contact with the substrate, the ink's surface tension pulls (part of) the ink out of the
cell and transfers it to the substrate. Then the inked substrate
goes through a dryer because it must be completely dry before
going through the next color unit and accepting another coat of
ink. A rotogravure printing press has one printing unit for
each color, typically CMYK or cyan, magenta, yellow and key
(printing terminology for
Disadvatanges
Advantages
black), but the
number of units printing cylinders that can last through
high start-up costs: hundreds of thousands
varies dependlarge-volume runs without the image
of copies needed to make it profitable
ing on what colors are required
degrading
rasterized lines and texts
to produce the
final image.
good quality image reproduction
long lead time for cylinder preparation,

Composition, or typesetting, is the stage where pieces of movable type are assembled to form the desired
text. The person charged with composition is called a "compositor"[or typesetter], setting letter by letter and
line by line.

Broadly, imposition or imposing is the process by which the tied assemblages of type are converted into a
"form" ready to use on the press. A person charged with imposition is a stone hand, doing their work on a
large, flat imposition stone (though some later ones were also of iron).

The working of the printing process depends on the type of press used, as well as any of its associated technologies (which varied by time period).
Johannes Gutenberg is credited with the development in the western hemisphere, in about 1440, of modern
movable type printing from individually cast, reusable letters set together in a form (frame or chase). Movable type was first invented in China using ceramic type in 1040 AD. Gutenberg also invented a wooden
printing press, based on the extant wine press, where the type surface was inked with leather covered ink
balls and paper laid carefully on top by hand, then slid under a padded surface and pressure applied from
above by a large threaded screw. It was Gutenburg's "screw press" or hand press that was used to print 180
copies of the Bible. At 1,282 pages, it took him and his staff of 20 almost 3 years to complete. 48 copies
remain intact today.
This form of presswork gradually replaced the hand
copied manuscripts of scribes and illuminators as the
most prevalent form of printing. Printers workshops,
previously unknown in Europe before the mid-15th
century, were found in

Skills are required

Straightforward process; you create a

Photographs and drawings must be

raised image, often using a photopolymer

converted to photo engravings, a slow and

plate, roll the image in ink, and then press

expensive process of turning images into

raised metal dots and lines.

low per-unit costs running high volume

which is offsite as the techniques used are

the inked image to the paper with the

production

so specialized.

printer

hi-speed performance

ink consumption low

Disa

Advantages

Letterpress is the printing of images.

DIGITAL

Screen printing
Screen printing is a versatile medium that can be used to create fine art or commercial reproductions. Of the
four printmaking methods, screen printing is the only one which can personalise a wide variety of items,
from textiles to ceramics.
Screen printing has only recently become a viable medium for reproductions, despite evidence of its
existence as far back as 500 A.D., according to "Printmaking: History and Process." The process is thought
to have begun in China and Japan during that period, where it was used to transfer decorative images to
fabric. Screen printing would become popular in the United States in the 1960s when Andy Warhol used the
method in his art.
In artistic screen printing, stencils are often made by hand and applied to screens for printing. A squeegee is
pulled across the screen and ink enters the open areas to create an impression of the image on another
surface. In commercial printing, a chemical emulsion is applied to a screen, and then artwork printed on
vellum paper is attached to the emulsion. The screen is then placed under a powerful light, which "burns" the
image from the vellum to the screen. The vellum is then removed, and the screen is sprayed with water,
which reveals the open image area created in the emulsion while under the light.

Laser Printing

Laser Printing
Photocopying
Inkjet Printing

Laser printing is an electrostatic digital printing process. It produces highquality text and graphics (and moderate-quality photographs) by repeatedly
passing a laser beam back and forth over a negatively charged cylindrical drum to define a
differentially-charged image .
In the 1960s, the Xerox Corporation held a dominant position in the photocopier market. In 1969, Gary
Starkweather, who worked in Xerox's product development department, had the idea of using a laser
beam to 'draw' an image of what was to be copied directly onto the copier drum.
After transferring to the recently formed Palo Alto Research Center (Xerox PARC) in 1971,
Starkweather adapted a Xerox 7000 copier to create SLOT (Scanned Laser Output Terminal). In 1972,
Starkweather worked with Butler Lampson and Ronald Rider to add a control system and character
generator, resulting in a printer called EARS (Ethernet, Alto Research character generator, Scanned
laser output terminal) -- which later became the Xerox 9700 laser printer.
A laser beam (typically, an aluminium gallium arsenide (AlGaAs)semiconductor laser) projects an
image of the page to be printed onto an electrically-charged, selenium-coated, rotating, cylindrical
drum (or, more commonly in subsequent versions, organic photoconductors). Photoconductivity allows
the charged electrons to fall away from the areas exposed to light. Powdered ink (toner) particles are
then electrostatically attracted to the charged areas of the drum that have not been laser-beamed. The
drum then transfers the image onto paper (which is passed through the machine) by direct contact.

Disadvatanges

Advantages

The main benefit behind these printers is

probably its efficiency and speed at

printing. Laser printers are also known as

Advantages

Disadvatanges

The screen printing process affords one the

Images for screen printing have to be

opportunity to print images and text on a

simple in design and reduced to definite

variety of promotional items. Unlike other

lines or shapes that will print well. While

printmaking techniques, such as intaglio or

screen frames are durable, and can be

relief, screen printing allows many prints to

reused many times, they can eventually

be created before a reapplication of ink is

become warped and uneven. Most hand-

necessary, which makes screen printing

stencils are very fragile and break down

very useful commercially.

faster than emulsion-based processes.

With the extra benefits in comparison with

other printers, they are a lot more costly.

Laser printers are considerable and utilize

'page printers' as they printdocuments a

complicated technology and perform fast

page at a time, and performs it at a very

output, the result of which is a relatively

fast rate.

large hardware gadget which can take up a

They furnish highest potential production

lot of space.

in comparison with the other types

While the cost is an issue, an initial venture

ofprinters. This is generally due to the

only maybe worth it based on your

technology behind it as laser printersutilize

organization's or personal requirements,

electro-photography for printing which

any way maintenance, servicing and mend

results in potential output.

of this hardware gadget is also very high

thus laser printers aren't very economical.

Inkjet printing

Photocopying
A photocopier is a machine that makes paper copies of documents and other visual images quickly and
cheaply. Most current photocopiers use a technology called xerography, a dry process that uses
electrostatic charges on a light sensitive photoreceptor to first attract and then transfer toner particles onto
paper in the form of an image. Heat, pressure or a combination of both is then used to fuse the toner onto
the paper. How it works:
1. Charging: cylindrical drum is electrostatically charged by a high voltage wire called a corona wire or
a charge roller. The drum has a coating of a photoconductive material. A photoconductor is
a semiconductor that becomes conductive when exposed to light.
2. Exposure: A bright lamp illuminates the original document, and the white areas of the original
document reflect the light onto the surface of the photoconductive drum. The areas of the drum that
are exposed to light become conductive and therefore discharge to the ground. The area of the drum
not exposed to light (those areas that correspond to black portions of the original document) remains
negatively charged.
3. Developing: The toner is positively charged. When it is applied to the drum to develop the image, it
is attracted and sticks to the areas that are negatively charged (black areas), just as paper sticks to a
balloon with a static charge.
4. Transfer: The resulting toner image on the surface of the drum is transferred from the drum onto a
piece of paper with a higher negative charge than the drum.
Chester Carlson, the inventor of photocopying, was originally a patent attorney, as well as a part-time
researcher and inventor. His job at the patent office in New York required him to make a large number of
copies of important papers. Carlson, who was arthritic, found this to be a painful and tedious process. This
motivated him to conduct experiments with photoconductivity. Carlson used his kitchen for his
"electrophotography" experiments, and, in 1938, he applied for a patent for the process. He made the first
photocopy using a zinc plate covered with sulfur.

plastic, or other substrates. Inkjet printers are the most commonly used type of printer, and range from small
inexpensive consumer models to expensive professional machines
The concept of inkjet printing originated in the 20th century, and the technology was first extensively developed in
the early 1950s. Starting in the late 1970s inkjet printers that could reproduce digital images generated by
computers were developed, mainly by Epson, Hewlett-Packard (HP), and Canon. In the worldwide consumer
market, four manufacturers account for the majority of inkjet printer sales: Canon, HP, Epson, and Lexmark, a 1991
spin-off from IBM.

The emerging ink jet material deposition market also uses inkjet technologies, typically printheads
using piezoelectric crystals, to deposit materials directly on substrates. There are two main technologies in use in
contemporary inkjet printers: continuous (CIJ) and Drop-on-demand (DOD).
The continuous inkjet (CIJ) method is used commercially for marking and coding
of products and packages. In 1867 Lord Kelvin patented the syphon recorder,
which recorded telegraph signals as a continuous trace on paper using an ink
jet nozzle deflected by a magnetic coil. The first commercial devices (medical
strip chart recorders) were introduced in 1951 by Siemens.

Disadvatanges

Advantages

Compared to earlier consumer-oriented color

Many "intelligent" ink cartridges contain

printers, inkjets have a number of advantages. They

a microchip that communicates the estimated

are quieter in operation than impact dot

ink level to the printer; this may cause the

matrix or daisywheel printers. They can print finer,

printer to display an error message, or

smoother details through higher printhead

incorrectly inform the user that the ink

We know that there are many advantages of

resolution, and many consumer inkjets with

cartridge is empty. In some cases, these

are it can make a lot of copies at once. Also,

using a photocopier machine but there are

photographic-quality printing are widely available.

messages can be ignored, but some inkjet

using a photocopier machine is usually cheaper

also disadvantages. For example, it is a big

In comparison to more expensive technologies

printers will refuse to print with a cartridge that

to use compared to using a printer. Plus, the

machince, so it will take up a lot of space.

like thermal wax, dye sublimation, and laser

declares itself empty, to prevent consumers

machine copies your document fast, so you

Another disadvantage is the photocopier

printing, inkjets have the advantage of practically no

from refilling cartridges.

don't have to wait that long. The last advantage

machine is very heavy, you won't be able to

that we will tell you is the photocopier

move it around easily. So, where you put it at

machine copies your document accurately. In

first is where it stays. The last disadvantage

total, we told you four advantages: it makes

is that the machine itself is very expensive.

Advantages

Inkjet printing is a type of computer printing that recreates a digital image by propelling droplets of ink onto paper,

Some advantages of the photocopier machine

Disadvatanges

warm up time, and lower cost per page. However,

Long-term durability of early inkjet prints was

low-cost laser printers can have lower per-page

quite poor, though improved ink formulations

costs, at least for black-and-white printing, and

have greatly improved this attribute. See the

possibly for color.

section on durability for more information.

many copies at once, it is cheap to use, it

copies your document fast and accurately.