When it comes to art we all seem to know what a “painting” is, even if we have never tried to make one. 

But when we see or hear the word “print” we are not quite sure what it means because there are so many different types of prints. Prints can also be difficult to understand because they can be confused with reproductions. 

Prints are created using a single original surface, commonly called the matrix. Each print created is considered an original work of art not a copy, whereas a reproduction is a copy of another work or art. When more than one piece is created it is called an edition. Editions are usually created at the same time. In modern prints the title, edition and artist’s signature is usually found on the bottom edge of the print and is usually in pencil. 

The most common types of prints are relief, intaglio and planographic. A relief print is any print in which the image is printed from the raised portions of a carved, etched, or cast block. The most common relief prints are woodcuts and linoleum cuts. A print is called an intaglio print when the image is printed from lines or textures scratched or etched into a metal plate. The most common intaglio prints are etchings, engravings, drypoint and aquatints. Planographic prints are printed from a flat surface unlike the raised surface of a relief print or the incised surface of an intaglio print. The most common planographic printing is lithography and offset lithography.

The four prints displayed in the Millennium Café are examples of various types of prints from the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library’s permanent art collection. 

Aquatint literally means “like a water color.” Instead of lines being bitten by the acid bath, whole areas are exposed to the acid. The area is first prepared with a resin, usually in a powdered form, which is dusted on an area, heated from below the plate to make it stick, and then given an acid bath to bite the tiny areas not covered by the melted resin. The final effect is an image on a finely pebbled background which retains ink when applied and wiped.

Silk screen is a form of stencil printing in which the stencil is attached to a fine screen for support. Ink is then forced through the screen onto paper using a squeegee. Silk screens can have a hard-edged quality caused by the crisp edges of the stencil. This technique is also referred to as “serigraphy” and “screen print”.  

Lithograph is a printing technique in which the image is drawn on a very flat slab of limestone (or a specially treated metal plate). This stone is treated chemically so that ink, when rolled on to the stone, adheres only where the drawing was done. This inked image can then be transferred to a piece of paper with the help of a high pressure press.