Digital Prints

Liquid emulsions, image transfers, and emulsion lifts are alternative printing processes for
color photographs.
Traditional Fine-Art Prints
Fine-art printmaking has a glorious history that extends back to the time of the 16th century
and Albrecht Dürer. Here is a brief rundown of the major types of traditional fineart
prints (also called “fine prints” or “works on paper”).
Relief Prints
The artist sketches an image on a wood block or other surface and then cuts away pieces
from the surface, leaving only the raised image. Ink is then applied to the surface with a
roller and transferred onto paper with a press or by hand-burnishing or rubbing. The
recessed, cutaway areas do not receive ink and appear white on the printed image. Relief
prints are characterized by bold dark-light contrasts. The primary relief techniques are
woodcut (the earliest and most enduring print technique), wood engraving (made from the
end-grain surface of blocks and offering more precision and detail), and linocut (printed
from linoleum; well-suited for large areas of contrasting colors).
Intaglio Prints
Intaglio (pronounced “in-tal-yo”) comes from the Italian word intagliare, meaning “to
incise.” An image is incised with a pointed tool or “bitten” with acid into a metal plate,
usually copper or zinc. The plate is covered with ink and then cleaned so that only the
incised grooves hold the ink. The plate and dampened paper are then run through a press
to create the print. The intaglio family of printmaking techniques includes: engraving (an
engraved line has a sharp and clean appearance), drypoint (results in heavier, softer-looking
lines than those in an engraving), mezzotint (yields soft tonalities ranging from gray
to black), etching (results in a characteristically raised surface), and aquatint (an etching
process yielding a textured and toned image).
Chapter 1 ■ Navigating the Digital Landscape 17
Right: Spanish painter/printmaker Maureen Lucía Booth works with her etching press in her studio in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Granada. Left:
The Three Graces, drypoint, additive (etching), by Maureen Booth (2002).
Courtesy of Mike Booth/WorldPrintmakers.com