Intaglio prints

Intaglio includes etching, drypoint, aquatint, and mezzotint. It is a printmaking techniques in which the ink forming the design is printed only from recessed areas of the plate, which is the opposite of relief printing. The design is cut, scratched, or etched with acid into the printing surface or plate (often copper or zinc). The printing ink is rubbed into the grooves and the surface wiped clean. The inked plate is laid face up on the bed of a printing press, a sheet of wet printing paper is laid over it, and a blanket laid over both. Pressure applied by the press presses the wet paper into the ink-filled crevices of the plate, thus producing the printed image.