Artist's Proof. One of a small group of prints set aside from the edition for the artist's use; a number of printer's proofs are sometimes also done for the printer's use.

Chop. The impression made by the artist's or the printer's seal on the paper.

Collograph. A print made from an image built up with glue and sometimes other materials. The inked image is transferred from plate to paper and is simultaneously embossed. The name derives from "collage."

Edition. A set of identical prints, sometimes numbered and signed, pulled by, or under the supervision of the artist.

Open Edition. An unlimited number of impressions.

Limited Edition. Has a known number of impressions, usually fewer then 200, that are numbered and signed.

Lithograph. The process of printing from a small stone or metal plate on which the image to be printed is ink-receptive and the blank area is ink repellent. The artist, or other print maker under the artist's supervision, then covers the plate with a sheet of paper and runs both through a press under light pressure. The resultant "original print" is of considerably greater intrinsic worth than the commercially reproduced poster which is mechanically printed on an offset press (see "limited edition" above).

The following are descriptions of types of lithographs.

Original Stone Lithographs.

Hand drawn by the artist on limestone or marble. Each stone is used to print one color. (The best stones, which are Bavarian limestone, are gray in color and have a clear complexion free of fossils and other flaws. These stones are becoming increasingly rare.) After the edition (the number of impressions made) is hand-printed, each impression is signed and numbered by the artist, and the mark, or chop, of the printer is embossed on each print. Imperfect impressions are destroyed, the stones and plates are effaced, and each edition is carefully documented. This is the oldest lithographic technique, and still the best.

Original Plate Lithographs.

Hand drawn by the artist on aluminum plates. Plates are cheaper than stones, readily available and easier to transport. These factors make plate lithography a popular alternative to stone lithography for the creation of original prints.

Mylar Plate Lithographs.

The artist draws on a mylar sheet. The information is transferred to a photosensitive lithographic plate. The plate is printed in a manner similar to original plate lithography.

Lithographic Reproductions.

The artist produces an original artwork in any medium. The original artwork is photographed. A color separation is produced from the photograph. The information from the color separation is transferred to photosensitive lithographic plates. Each plate is printed individually. Reproduction prints are usually called posters.

Offset Print.

Any lithograph mechanically printed using an offset press. With an offset press, the ink from the plate is transferred to a rubber blanket, and from that blanket onto paper. However, with a direct or hand press, the ink is transferred directly from the plate or stone onto the paper.

Chromolithography. A process using several stones or plates--one for each color, printed in register. The result is color prints, to be distinguished from colored prints that have the color hand-applied after printing.

Intaglio. (Italian for "cut in") a method of printing in which the image is carved into a flat surface, usually copper, so that the areas to be inked are recessed beneath the surface of the printing plate. Damp paper is placed on the plate and run through a press under great pressure forcing the paper into the engraved areas and thus transferring the image. The main intaglio processes:

Line Engraving. The image is produced by cutting or gouging a metal plate directly with a sharp tool.

Drypoint. Drawing on the metal plate with a hard steel "pencil" that produces a burr by displacing, rather than removing metal, causing the printed line to be somewhat fuzzy thus adding a richness to the image. Because this wears during printing, editions are usually limited to 50 or fewer prints.

Etching. A metal plate is first covered with an acid-resistant ground, then worked with an etching needle. The metal exposed by the needle is "eaten" in an acid bath, creating the recessed image.

Mezzotint. A tonal, rather linear, engraving process made by first roughening the surface of the plate with a mesh of small burred dots and then producing the picture by flattening and burnishing selected areas which print as highlights. It is rarely practiced now since photographic methods have superseded it.

Aquatint. Another tonal process where a porous ground allows acid to penetrate to form a network of small dots. Any pure whites are stopped out entirely before etching begins, then the palest tints are bitten and stopped out, and so on as in etching. This process is repeated 20 to 30 times until the darkest tones (deepest recesses in the plate) are reached.

Iris Print. A new process using advanced technology to create a lustrous, continuous-tone digital print that meets or exceeds the quality of traditional lithography and screen printing. Organic, water-based four-color inks are applied to the surfaces of archival papers from tiny jets one tenth the diameter of a human hair. Also called a glicee print.

Monoprint. One of a series in which each print has some differences of color, design, texture, etc. applied to an underlying common image.

Monotype. A one-of-a-kind print made by painting on a smooth metal, glass or stone plate and then printing on paper. The pressure of printing creates a texture not possible when painting directly on paper.

A monoprint is one of a series--therefore, not wholly unique. A monoprint begins with an etched plate, a serigraph, lithograph or collograph. This underlying image remains the same and is common to each print in a given series. Other means of adding pigment or design are then employed to make each print in the series slightly different. The series of monoprints has a limited number of prints and each is numbered.

A monotype is one of a kind, a unique piece of artwork. It is the simplest form of printmaking, requiring only pigments, a surface on which to apply them, paper and some form of press.

Photogravure. A photomechanical process invented in 1879 for fine printing. An image is transferred to a copper plate which is chemically etched. For each print the plate is hand-inked.

Serigraph/Silk Screen Print. A form of print making utilizing stencils attached to porous screens that support delicate areas of the cut design. Most often issued in signed and numbered editions.

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