engraving (printing process)
- The intaglio process in which the design is incised into a printing plate, usually a flat copper plate, with the aid of a graver or burin that is held in the palm of the hand and pushed against the copper to cut lines comprising V-shaped grooves. The plate is then inked up, wiped so that ink is retained in the grooves and then forced out under the pressure of the printing process to create lines on the paper. The technique was first developed in the early 15th century in Germany, probably by goldsmiths who wished to keep records of the designs they had engraved on their wares. The process is distinct from "wood engraving (process)," which is a process for relief printing; "wood cut (process)" refers to engraving wood blocks for printing. Historically, "engraving" has sometimes been used incorrectly to refer to all printmaking processes, particulalry any process employing printing plates. For the single step of incising an inscription or design into any surface, not only a printing plate, see "engraving (incising)."
engravings (prints)
- Refers to prints on paper incorporating impressions of a reverse design created on a printing plate, usually copper, into which the design has been incised (engraved) using burins or gravers. Historically, "engravings" has sometimes been incorrectly used to refer to all prints, regardless of the specific technique. For prints made from designs engraved on a flat wooden block, use "wood cuts"; for prints made from a plate that is etched rather than engraved, use "etchings."
French
- Refers to the culture of the modern nation of France, or in general to cultures that have occupied the area of the modern nation in western Europe.
paper (fiber product)
- Refers generally to all types of matted or felted sheets or webs of fiber formed and dried on a fine screen from a pulpy water suspension. The fibers may be animal, such as hair, silk or wool, or mineral, such as asbestos, or synthetic. However most paper is made from cellulosic plant fiber, such as from wood pulp, grass, cotton, linen, and straw.
prints (visual works)
- Pictorial works produced by transferring images by means of a matrix such as a plate, block, or screen, using any of various printing processes. When emphasizing the individual printed image, use "impressions." Avoid the controversial expression "original prints," except in reference to discussions of the expression's use. If prints are neither "reproductive prints" nor "popular prints," use just "prints." With regard to photographs, see "photographic prints"; for types of reproductions of technical drawings and documents, see terms found under "reprographic copies."
steel (alloy)
- Any of various hard, strong, durable, malleable alloys of iron and carbon, often with other elements such as manganese, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, copper, tungsten, cobalt, or silicon; widely used as a structural material.
steel engraving (printing process)
- Printmaking process of engraving using plates of steel or steel-faced copper; replaced the use of less durable copper plates in the early 19th century. For the engraving of steel plates for the production of documents such as banknotes, use "siderography."