Acid free
Papers with a 7 pH, or very close to 7 pH. Below 6.5 pH or above 8.5 pH is not considered acid-free. Acid free materials are more permanent, less likely to discolor, or to deteriorate materials they are placed with over time. Works on paper, and the mats, mounts, etc. with which they are framed, are best acid free.
Aging
The continuous action of atmospheric components like oxygen, moisture, light, temperature - on materials and structures, leading to deterioration.
Annotation
Information added to an image, such as arrows, pointers, words, notes for special editions (e.a. for "artist proof", h.c. for "hors de commerce"), etc.
Appraisal
A type of analysis and evaluation, especially in an official or professional capacity. In appraising works of art, for instance, an art appraiser studies their various qualities, and ultimately estimates their monetary worth, typically for insurance or taxation reasons, or in establishing a price.
Aquatint
An intaglio, etching, and tonal printing process in which a porous ground allows acid to penetrate to form a network of small dots in the plate, as well as the prints made by this process. Aquatints often resemble wash drawings. 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.
Art Conservation
Preservation from loss, damage, or neglect, stabilizing chemically and structurally, sustaining the survival of objects as long as possible in what is closest to their original form. The application of science to the examination and treatment of objects, and to the study of the environments in which they are placed — used, transported, and stored.
Artist's Proof
One of a small group of prints set aside from an edition for the artist's use; a number of printer's proofs are sometimes also done for a printer's use. An artist's proof is typically one of the first proofs from a limited edition of prints and marked as an E.A. (épreuve d'artiste) or A.P. They are usually not numbered.
Avant-garde
French for vanguard. Artists and their work which stand in the forefront of a movement or of new ideas, often in opposition to established ideas and traditions; art that's ahead of its time, innovative, experimental, heterodox. The modern era has invariably had a flourishing avant-garde, but many have said it is no longer possible in a postmodern era. The bourgeoisie, once alienated by the avant-garde, rarely question any longer the presentation of any avant-garde's productions by their public institutions.
Burin
A tool used in engraving or incising metal plates and in carving stone. A knob-like wooden handle which holds a metal shaft having a sharp beveled point with one size of several possible shapes, either flat, round, multiple, or elliptical.
Burnisher
A tool with a hard smooth rounded surface used for smoothing and polishing, in metal work, ceramics and gilding. Burnishers are typically metal or stone.
Burr
In engraving and drypoint, the ridge of metal plowed up by the burin, or needle, on the surface of a metal plate. A sharper tool generally produces less burr than a dull one. In a line engraving the burr is removed with a scraper to produce a clean line; in drypoint it is not removed, in order to produce the soft, blurred effect typical of that technique.
Bon à tirer
French for "Good to print". It is generally assigned on a trial proof by the artist to indicate to the professional printer that a satisfactory state of his print has been obtained. It gives the printer the standard to which he must adhere in taking successive impressions
Canceled plate
Defaced plates, stones, etc., to ensure that there is no possibility of being reprinted after the printing of a limited edition of prints has been completed.
Collagraph
The print resulting from a collage of materials glued together on a base and printed as a combined relief and intaglio plate.
Colophon
The logo of a printer or publisher. Or an inscription page sometimes found at the end of a book, noting information about the design of the book. This information might identify the font, paper, or bookbinding.
Deckled edge
The rough edge of handmade paper formed in a deckle.
Engraving
A method of cutting or incising a design into a material, usually metal, with a sharp tool called a graver. One of the intaglio methods of making prints, in engraving, a print can be made by inking such an incised (engraved) surface.
Etching
An intaglio printing process in which an etching needle is used to draw into a wax ground applied over a metal plate. The plate is then submerged in a series of acid baths, each biting into the metal surface only where unprotected by the ground. The wax layer is then removed and by pressing a sheet of paper onto the plate, the ink is forced into the etched lines.
Intaglio
The collective term for several graphic processes in which prints are made from ink trapped in the grooves in an incised metal plate. Etchings and engravings are the most typical examples.
Linoleum cut, linocut
A linoleum block or plate used for making relief prints. Linoleum is a durable, washable material formerly used more for flooring as vinyl flooring is used today. It is usually backed with burlap or canvas, and may be purchased adhered to a wooden block. The linoleum can be cut in much the same way woodcuts are produced, however its surface is softer and without grain.
Lithograph
It is a method of printing from a prepared flat stone, invented in the late eighteenth century. A drawing is made on the stone or plate with a greasy crayon, also called "tusche", and then exposed to water. The lithographic ink, applied to the stone, sticks to the greasy drawing, but repelled by the rest of the surface. Then a sheet of paper is placed on top of the stone plate and runs both through a press under light pressure. For colour lithographs, separate drawings on separate stone blocks need to be made, one for each colour.
Mezzotint
In printmaking, an engraving process that is tonal rather than linear, or prints produced by this process. Developed in the seventeenth century, a copper or steel plate is first worked all over with a curved, serrated tool called a rocker, raising burrs over the surface to hold the ink and print as a soft dark tone. The design is then created in lighter tones by scraping out and burnishing areas of the roughened plate so that they hold less ink, or none in highlights. Details may be sharpened by engraving or etching in a "mixed mezzotint."
Registration mark
The exact alignment of shapes or edges in various areas of any piece of work. In printmaking, registration is the proper positioning of plates, papers or colors.
Woodcut
A print made by cutting a design in side-grain of a block of wood, also called a woodblock print. The ink is transferred from the raised surfaces to paper.
Wood engraving
A print similar to a woodcut (woodblock print) in that it is made by cutting (engraving) a design into a block of wood. However unlike a woodcut, the artist cuts the design on the end-grain of hardwood rather than the side grain of soft wood. The print's design can therefore be more intricate than the typical woodcut.