Relief printmaking entails cutting into the surface of the printing block to form an image. The cut-away areas do not receive ink and appear as white space on the paper, according to Monoprints.com. The artist rolls ink directly onto the block, places the paper onto the block, and rubs or presses the back of the paper to transfer the ink. Presses also serve to transfer the ink, when available. Common materials artists use as printing blocks include wood (woodcut prints) and linoleum (linocut prints).
Planography, more commonly called lithography, takes advantage of the way in which greasy substances repel water. According to Monoprints.com, the artist draws an image onto a flat surface, a stone plate in traditional lithography, with a waxy or greasy substance. The artist applies water to the surface, leaving the portions without the grease damp. The plate is inked and only the portion with drawing on it holds the ink. A press pushes the paper against the plate and transfers the image to the paper.
Called serigraphy in fine arts circles, the common term for stencil printmaking is silk-screening. In this process, the artist takes a mesh or porous material (silk, for example) and applies a glue or varnish to portions of it to form an image. The untreated portions allow ink to pass through, while the treated portions stop the ink, according to DAPTTF. The artist places the mesh over the paper and rolls multiple layers of ink onto it. The ink that pushes through the untreated portion of the mesh creates the final image on the paper.
Intaglio printmaking encompasses several distinct processes, but several commonalities link the processes. All the types of intaglio printmaking employ metal plates. The methods for altering the plates to produce images include acid etching, engraving, drypoint, mezzotint and aquatint, reports Monoprints.com. The artist applies ink to the plate and wipes it to leave ink in only the low areas. The plate and dampened paper are run through a press. The press pushes the dampened paper into the depressed areas of the plate to pick up the ink.