Sigh. Another fundamental concept, another opportunity for me to explain what should, by all rights, be self-evident. Fine. If you insist on dragging me into this, let’s dissect “relief printing.”

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The basic concept of relief printing. A is the block or matrix ; B is the paper ; the thick black lines are the inked areas. (The thickness of the ink is greatly exaggerated for illustration, presumably for those who struggle with abstraction.)

• Part of a series on the History of printing

Techniques

Pintadera 10,000 BC Woodblock printing 200 Movable type 1040 Intaglio (printmaking) 1430 Printing press c.  1440 Etching c. 1515 Mezzotint 1642 Relief printing 1690 Aquatint 1772 Lithography 1796 Chromolithography 1837 Rotary press 1843 Hectograph 1860 Offset printing 1875 Hot metal typesetting 1884 Mimeograph 1885 Daisy wheel printing 1889 Photostat and rectigraph 1907 Screen printing 1911 Spirit duplicator 1923 Dot matrix printing 1925 Xerography 1938 Spark printing 1940 Phototypesetting 1949 Inkjet printing 1950 Dye-sublimation 1957 Laser printing 1969 Thermal printing c. 1972 Solid ink printing 1972 Thermal-transfer printing 1981 3D printing 1986 Digital printing 1991

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Relief printing, in its most basic, almost offensively simple form, constitutes a rather broad family of printing methods. The core principle is this: a printing block , plate, or matrix is prepared so that only its non-recessed, elevated surfaces receive ink . When this prepared surface is then brought into contact with paper —or any other suitable substrate, for that matter—it is exclusively these raised, inked areas that transfer their pigment, leaving a crisp impression. Conversely, the areas that have been carved away, the recessed portions, remain untouched and, crucially, ink-free.

The charmingly straightforward nature of relief printing means that a hefty, industrial printing press isn’t strictly necessary for its execution. One can, with a modicum of effort and perhaps a touch of desperation, achieve results by simply rubbing or pressing the back of the paper by hand. A rudimentary tool like a brayer or a simple roller can suffice, proving that human ingenuity, or perhaps just stubbornness, often finds a way around complex machinery. This stands in stark contrast to intaglio printing, where the recessed areas are the ones doing the work, a method that typically demands significantly more pressure to achieve a proper transfer.

Historically, relief printing has been acknowledged as one of the foundational families within the realm of printmaking techniques, standing alongside its more intricate cousin, intaglio , and the chemically-driven planographic family. Of course, modern advancements, in their relentless pursuit of novelty, have since birthed an array of other techniques, but these three remain the venerable patriarchs of the printed word and image.

The Relief Family of Techniques

Within the broad and somewhat uninspired category of relief printing, the matrix —the original surface from which the print is derived—was, for centuries, crafted through a process known as subtractive manufacturing . This simply means that material was quite literally removed from the surface of the areas that were not intended to be printed. The remaining, elevated surface then became the proud recipient of the ink . It’s a rather permanent decision, this removal of material; there’s no going back once the chisel or acid has done its work. The fidelity of the print, therefore, is entirely dependent on the precision and foresight of the artist in determining what not to print.

This family encompasses a variety of techniques, each with its own quirks and historical baggage:

• Woodcut : Perhaps the oldest and most direct method, involving carving an image into a block of wood. The grain of the wood often imparts a distinctive texture to the print, a charming imperfection, some might say.
• Metalcut : Similar in principle to woodcut, but using metal plates. This allows for finer detail and greater durability, though it demands more specialized tools and a certain disregard for the difficulty of working with metal.
• Wood engraving : A more refined technique than the traditional woodcut, where the image is carved into the end-grain of a woodblock using specialized tools. This allows for incredibly intricate detail and a much smoother tonal range, often mimicking the appearance of intaglio prints.
• Relief etching : A chemical approach where acid is used to bite away the non-printing areas of a metal plate, leaving the image in relief. It’s a slightly less laborious way to achieve the same end, assuming one is comfortable with corrosive chemicals.
• Linocut : A more modern and forgiving technique, utilizing linoleum as the matrix . Its lack of grain makes it easier to carve in any direction, a boon for those who prefer less resistance from their medium.
• Rubber stamp : The epitome of mass-produced, utilitarian relief printing. Simple, effective, and utterly devoid of artistic pretension, yet a perfect demonstration of the principle.
• Foam printing and potato printing: These ephemeral, often educational, methods demonstrate the basic relief principle using readily available, soft materials. One might call them the “entry-level” relief techniques, suitable for even the least coordinated among us.
• Collagraph : While often associated with intaglio or planographic printing , some types of collagraph utilize a relief approach, where materials are built up on a matrix to create a raised surface for inking.

In stark contrast to this ‘what’s up gets the ink ’ philosophy, the intaglio family of printing operates on the inverse. Here, the entire matrix is initially inked, and then its surface is meticulously wiped clean. The ink stubbornly remains only within the recessed areas—the lines or depressions that have been incised, etched, or scraped into the plate. Subsequently, a significantly greater amount of pressure is required to force the paper into these ink-filled channels, allowing it to pick up the pigment. Consequently, a high-pressure printing press is almost invariably a necessity for intaglio techniques, which include the precise lines of engraving , the acid-bitten textures of etching , and the velvety burrs created by drypoint .

Meanwhile, the planographic family of printing takes a different, less physically demanding route. In these methods, the entire surface of the matrix remains entirely flat. The print image is created not by raised or recessed areas, but by treating specific regions of the surface to either accept or repel ink based on chemical properties. It’s a battle of molecular repulsion rather than topographical difference. The most well-known examples of planographic techniques are lithography and its highly industrialized successor, offset lithography , both relying on the elegant, if somewhat finicky, principle that oil and water do not mix.

Mix Relief and Intaglio Techniques

One might, in a fit of misguided experimentation, consider combining these fundamentally different approaches on a single printing surface. However, relief and intaglio techniques, with their diametrically opposed methods of ink application and transfer, are generally incompatible for simultaneous use on the same printed page. The very mechanics are at odds: relief relies on printing from a raised plane with relatively light pressure, while intaglio demands that ink be drawn from recessed lines under substantial force. Attempting to print both effectively at once would be akin to trying to simultaneously push and pull a rope; one action inevitably compromises the other.

Therefore, should one desire to incorporate both a relief element and an intaglio element within a single composition, the standard, albeit inefficient, practice dictates that the page must be printed twice. Each technique would require its own separate pass through a press, often with different types of presses, different ink viscosities, and differing amounts of pressure. This, of course, adds layers of complexity, increases production time, and doubles the potential for error, a testament to the persistent human desire to make things more complicated than they need to be.

Movable Type: Traditional Relief Printing for Text

The development of movable type marked a significant inflection point in the history of printing , and it is crucial to note that this revolutionary innovation was fundamentally a relief printing technique. Each individual character—a letter, a number, a punctuation mark—was cast as a small, raised piece of metal. These pieces could then be arranged to form words, lines, and entire pages of text, much like assembling a complex puzzle.

This inherent compatibility with the relief method had profound implications for the efficiency and economics of book production. Because both the text (from movable type ) and illustrations (typically woodcuts , another relief technique) operated on the same principle of printing from a raised surface, they could be composed and printed together in a single pass on the same printing press . This seamless integration drastically simplified the workflow, making the production of illustrated books more efficient and, consequently, more accessible. Imagine the logistical nightmare otherwise: if illustrations were primarily intaglio —say, intricate engravings —they would have required a separate printing process, often on a different machine and with different materials, before the text and images could be laboriously brought together. The relief nature of movable type was thus a crucial factor in the acceleration of literacy and the widespread dissemination of knowledge that characterized the early modern period.

It was this very technology that facilitated the publication of what is often cited as the first multi-page newspaper in the United States , a rather grandly titled periodical known as ‘Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick ’. This ambitious journalistic endeavor debuted on September 25, 1690, in Boston. While its existence was fleeting—it was swiftly suppressed by colonial authorities after a single issue, presumably for its inconveniently truthful reporting—it stands as a significant historical marker, demonstrating the burgeoning power of relief printing in shaping public discourse, even if temporarily.

See also

For those who find themselves with an insatiable hunger for tangential information, or perhaps just a pathological inability to stop clicking, consider these:

• List of art media
• List of art techniques
• Viscosity printing