American
Historical
Print Collectors Society
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DICTIONARY
OF PRINTMAKING TERMS
The following is a dictionary list of terms useful in the study of
American historical prints. Thanks to Christopher W. Lane, Donald
Cresswell, and Carolyn Cades of the Philadelphia Print Shop for allowing AHPCS
to adapt their dictionary for use on this site.
Index
[A |B |
[C |D |
[E |F |
[G |H |
[I |J |
[K |L |
[M |N |
[O |P |
[Q |R |
[S |T |
[U |V |
[W]
- à la poupée print
-
A print created when colored ink is
applied directly into a separate area of a plate's surface and
worked into the
appropriate area of the design using cotton daubs called
dollies, or in French, poupée.
- Allegorical print
-
A print representing a universal truth by using imagery. Often
using a classical theme.
- Antique print
-
All prints printed and published before 1900 are considered antique
prints. A modern reproduction of an old print is not itself an antique.
The cut-off date of 1900 is not firmly fixed, however, and in many
circumstances original prints made before World War II are also
considered to be antiques.
Bird's-eye view prints
Prints showing their subject as viewed from above at an oblique
angle.
Blind stamp
A blind stamp is an embossed seal impressed without ink onto a print as
a
distinguishing mark by the artist, the publisher, an institution, or a
collector.
Block
A (wood) block is a piece of wood used as a matrix for
woodcuts or wood engravings.
Cartes-de-visite
Photographs mounted on card stock measuring approximately 4 x 2.5
inches.
Production in the United States flourished from the 1860s to the 1880s.
Catalogue raisonnà
A catalogue raisonnà is a documentary listing of all the works by
an
artist which are known at the time of compilation.
Chine applique (chine collé) print
A chine applique or chine colle is a print in which the image is
impressed onto a thin sheet of paper, originally China paper, which is
backed by a
stronger, thicker sheet. China paper takes an intaglio impression more
easily than regular paper, so chine applique prints generally show a
richer impression than standard prints. Proof prints are often done as
chine appliques.
Chromolithographs
Lithographs printed in at least three colors.
Cityscape prints
Prints depicting cities or towns.
Cloth prints
Prints produced on cloth. Linen, cotton, and silk are
frequently used.
Counterproofs
In printmaking, impressions taken from a print or drawing by passing
it through a press against a damp sheet of paper. The image appears in
reverse.
Edition
An edition of a print includes all the impressions published at the
same time or as part of the same publishing event. A first edition
print is one which was issued with the first published group of
impressions. First edition prints are sometimes pre-dated by a proof
edition. Editions of a print should be distinguished from states of a
print. There can be several states of a print from the same edition,
and there can be several editions of a print all with the same state.
For limited editions, cf. below.
Engravings
Prints taken on paper from incised plates.
The two main classes of engravings are intaglio and relief.
In intaglio engraving, the line engraved has a positive value. The
line which is engraved on the plate is the line which appears on the
print. Heavy pressure is applied to the plate to extract the ink from the
plate to
the paper.
In relief engraving, the lines engraved are negatives to leave the
design in relief. Relief printing, or surface printing, transfers ink from
the lines left on the surface of a plate (like printing from type).
Etchings
Prints taken on paper from plates incised using an acid to
corrode the plates' surface.
Fine Art & Historical Prints
Prints can be separated into two general types, fine art prints and
historical prints. These types can best be understood through a
differentiation of their emphasis. The distinction between the two
types of prints is not clear-cut nor is it understood by all experts
in the same way. Generally a fine art print is one conceived and
executed by an artist with as much or more concern for the manner of
presentation of the print as for its content; whereas the concern of
the maker of an historical print is focused more on the content of the
image than on its presentation.
Genre prints
Prints depicting scenes from everyday life.
Impression
An impression is a single piece of paper with an image printed on it
from a matrix. The term as applied to prints is used in a manner
similar to the term "copy" as applied to a book.
Intaglio
An intaglio print is one whose image is printed from a recessed design
incised or etched into the surface of a plate. In this type of print
the ink lies below the surface of the plate and is transferred to the
paper under pressure. The printed lines of an intaglio print stand in
relief on the paper. Intaglio prints have platemarks.
Lettering
The lettering of a print refers to the information, usually given
below the image, concerning the title, artist, publisher, engraver and
other such data.
Limited Edition
A limited edition print is one in which a limit is placed on the
number of impressions pulled in order to create a scarcity of the
print. Limited editions are usually numbered and are often signed.
Limited editions are a relatively recent development, dating from the
late nineteenth century. Earlier prints were limited in the number of
their impressions solely by market demand or by the maximum number
that could be printed by the medium used. The inherent physical
limitations of the print media and the relatively small size of the
pre-twentieth century print market meant that non-limited edition
prints from before the late nineteenth century were in fact quite
limited in number even though not intentionally so. German printmaker
Adam von Bartsch, in his 1821 Anleitung zur Kupferstichkunde,
estimated the maximum number of quality impressions it was possible to
pull using different print media.
- Engraving: 500 (and about the same number of weaker images)
- Stipple: 500 (and about the same number of weaker images)
- Mezzotint: 300 to 400, though the quality suffers after the
first
150
- Aquatint: Less than 200
- Wood block: Up to 10,000
It was only with the development of lithography and of steel-facing of
metal plates in the nineteenth century that tens of thousands of
impressions could be pulled without a loss of quality. These
technological developments led to the idea of making limited edition
prints, by which printmakers created an appearance of rarity and
individuality for multiple-impression art.
Lithograph
Prints taken from a drawing done from a polished limestone or zinc or
aluminum plates. The drawing is done with greasy crayons, pens, or
pencils. A solution containing gum arabic and dilute nitric acid is
washed on the stone (or plate). This solution fixes the design in
place. The entire plate surface is washed with water and then inked.
Print paper is applied and sent sent through a press, transferring a
the image of the stone (or plate) to the paper.
Lithotint
A tonal lithograph printed from two stones or plates.
Matrix
A matrix is an object upon which a design has been placed and which is
then used to make an impression on a piece of paper, thus creating a
print. A wood block, metal plate, or lithographic stone can be
used as a matrix.
Mixed Method
A mixed method print is one whose design is created on a single matrix
using a variety of printmaking techniques, for example: line
engraving, stipple, and etching.
Numbered Print
A numbered print is one which is part of a limited edition and which
has been numbered by hand. The numbering is usually in the form of
x/y, where y stands for the total number of impressions in this
edition and x represents the specific number of the print. The number
of a print always indicates the order in which the prints were
numbered, not necessarily the order in which the impressions were
pulled. This, together with the fact that later impressions are
sometime superior to earlier pulls, means that lower numbers do not
necessarily indicate better quality impressions. As with signed
prints,
the numbering of prints is a development of the late nineteenth
century.
Offset lithographs
Lithographs printed by transferring an images from a stone or
plate to an intermediate surface and then to the print paper.
Oleographs
Chromolithographs printed on a textured surface.
Popularly used to produced inexpensive reproductions of oil paintings in
the late nineteenth century.
Original Print
An original print is one printed from a matrix on which the design was
created by hand and issued as part of the original publishing venture
or as part of a connected, subsequent publishing venture. For fine art
prints the criteria used is more strict. A fine art print is original
only if the artist both conceived and had a direct hand in the
production of the print. An original print should be distinguished
from a reproduction, which is produced photomechanically, and from a restrike, which is produced as part of a later, unconnected publishing
venture.
Paper
Laid paper is made by hand in a mold, where the wires used to support
the paper pulp emboss their pattern into the paper. This pattern of
closely spaced lines can be seen when the paper is held up
to light. Laid paper often has a watermark. Wove paper is made by
machine on a belt and lacks the laid lines. False laid lines can be
added to machine-made paper. Though wove paper was invented in the
eighteenth century and laid paper is still produced, the majority of
prints made prior to 1800 are on laid paper and the majority of prints
made subsequently are on wove paper. China paper is a very thin paper,
originally made in China, which is used for chine applique prints.
Photomechanical prints
Prints made from photographically prepared printing surfaces. A
distinctive dot pattern is usually visible.
Platemark
A platemark is the rectangular ridge created in the paper of a print
by the edge of an intaglio plate. Unlike a relief or planographic
print, an intaglio print is printed under considerable pressure, thus
creating the platemark when the paper is forced together with the
plate. Some reproductions have a false platemark.
Print
A single print is a piece of paper upon which an image has been
imprinted from a matrix. In a general sense, a print is the set of all
the impressions made from the same matrix. By its nature, a print can
have multiple impressions.
Proof
A proof is an impression of a print pulled prior to the regular,
published edition of the print. A trial or working proof is one taken
before the design on the matrix is finished. These proofs are pulled
so that the artist can see what work still needs to be done to the
matrix. Once a printed image meets the artist's expectations, this
becomes a bon tirer ("good to pull") proof. This proof is often
signed by the artist to indicate his approval and is used for
comparison purposes by the printer. An artist's proof is an impression
issued extra to the regular numbered edition and reserved for the
artist's own use. Artist's proofs are usually signed and are sometimes
marked "A.P.", "E.A." or "H.C." (Cf. glossary of abbreviations)
Commercial publishers found that there was a financial advantage to
offering so-called "proofs" for sale and so developed other types of
proofs to offer to collectors, generally at higher prices.
* Proof before letters (Avant les lettres): An impression pulled
before the title is added below the image.
* Scratched letter proof: An impression in which the title is
lightly etched below the image.
* Remarque proof: An impression pulled before the remarque is
removed.
Relief
A relief print is one whose image is printed from a design raised on
the surface of a block. In this type of print the ink lies on the top
of the block and is transferred to the paper under light pressure.
Remarque
A remarque is a small vignette image in the margin of a print, often
related thematically to the main image. Originally remarques were
scribbled sketches made in the margins of etchings so that the artist
could test the plate, his needles, or the strength of the etching acid
prior to working on the main image. These remarques were usually
removed prior to the first publication of the print. During the
etching revival, in the late nineteenth century, remarques became
popular as an additional design element in prints and were also used
in the creation of remarque proofs.
Reproduction
A reproduction is a copy of an original print or other art work whose
matrix design is transferred from the original by a photomechanical
process. A facsimile is a reproduction done to the same scale and
appearance as the original.
Restrike
A restrike is a print produced from the matrix of an original print,
but was not printed as part of the original publishing venture
or as part of a connected, subsequent publishing venture. A restrike
is a later impression from an unrelated publishing project.
Signed
A signed print is one signed, in pencil or ink, by the artist and/or
engraver of the print. A print is said to be signed in the plate if
the artist's signature is incorporated into the matrix and so appears
as part of the printed image. Proof prints were originally signed as
"proof" that the impression met the artist's expectation. Later proof
prints were signed in order to add commercial value to these
impressions. In the late nineteenth century, in response to the
development of photomechanical reproduction techniques, fine arts
prints were signed by the artists in order to distinguish between
original prints and reproductions. Seymour Haden and James McNeil
Whistler are usually credited with introducing this practice in the
1880s.
State
A state of a print includes all the impressions pulled without any
change being made to the matrix. A first state print is one of the
first group of impressions pulled. Different states of a print can
reflect intentional or accidental changes to the matrix. States of a
print should be distinguished from editions of a print. There can be
several editions of a print which are the same state, and there can be
several states of a print in the same edition.
Stone
A lithographic stone is a slab of stone, usually limestone, used
as a matrix for a print. Lithographic stones are used to make
lithographs and chromolithographs.
Watermark
A watermark is a design embossed into a piece of paper during its
production and used for identification of the paper and papermaker.
The watermark can be seen when the paper is held up to light.
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American Historical Print Collectors Society
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Farmingdale, NY 11735-5605
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Last updated June 02, 2006
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