Printmaking refers to the usage of a variety of media in order to produce a number of images, or multiple duplications. Together with the development of digital printing, it is perhaps hard to imagine that at some point in time all printed matters, both images and letters, have been created manually. In printmaking, a finished original print is accomplished with successive impressions made via contact with an inked or uninked natural stone, woodblock, plate, or screen. This original print will be different from printed reproductions of artwork that exists in other media like painting and sketching.

Printmaking consists of four basic methods: 1. Planographic (lithography) 2. Relief (woodcut and wood engraving) 3. Intaglio (etching and engraving) 4. Stencil (serigraphy or screen printing).

In relief printing methods, an image is made by carving away the surface area of a block of material, normally timber, so that the original, uncut surface of the chunk creates the inked graphic, as the lower, cut-away areas keep the paper exposed. The process of carving the image is subtractive, so the artist need to think in the negative, removing what must not be printed.

The earliest as well as most popular form of relief printing will be the woodcut. The process begins with a flat plank of wood cut along the grain, into which the artist carves making use of numerous knives, gouges, as well as chisels in order to produce the desired picture. Part of the appeal of a woodcut print is in the obvious artifacts of the process, such as the wood grain consistency and stray scrapes from high spots in carved parts.

Fewer artifacts will be evident in prints from wood engravings, which are cut into the end grain of hardwoods. With these tougher, more dense blocks, an artist can attain a better detail as well as quality of line that is possible with a standard woodcut, approaching that of engravings in metal. In reality, wood engraving and copper engraving share the exact same principle tool, known as a burin. A typical burin includes a knob-like handle made of wood and a shaft of square tool metal that is beveled at an angle in order to produce a sharpened cutting point. By changing the amount of hand force applied to the burin, an expert engraver could cut smooth lines of different width. Wood engraving is a quite recent innovation, merely becoming widespread during the 18th century. It quickly became the traditional method for reproducing images alongside text; for that reason, wood engraving blocks are usually sized the exact same height as letterpress type. The level of popularity of wood engraving dropped with the widespread use of photogravure as a way of reproducing images in print.

A much more recent form of relief print will be the linoleum block print, or linocut. A standard commercially-produced linoleum block has a 3 mm thick layer of gray linoleum installed on a substrate of composite timber such as particle board. The linoleum surface area is much softer and much more easily carved compared to wood, enables cuts to be made in any direction without regard to grain, and could be worked with easily and inexpensive cutting materials. Those features, in addition to the low cost of the material, make linocuts a common relief printing method.

Printmaking is a very wide medium in art and could be studied almost anywhere, in art institutions or from printmakers. Once you learn basic principles, you will find there are numerous techniques to make a really good print.