Printmaking

Printmaking is the art of creating artworks by printing, most commonly on paper. Printmaking is said to have an element of originality  because its not just a photographic remake of a painting. Printmaking is a process which a person is able to make multiple copies of a same piece. 

A matrix, in printmaking, is what is used along with ink to retain the image used to produce the print. Commonly used matrices include: metal plates, polymer plates for engraving or etching, stone, aluminium, polymer for lithography, blocks  of wood for woodcuts and wood engravings, lino for linocuts.

Examples of historical prints:

Examples of contemporary prints:

History of printing:

History of printing

Woodblock printing 200 CE: Movable type 1040: Printing press 1377: Etching c. 1515: Mezzotint 1642: Aquatint 1772: Lithography 1796: Chromolithography 1837: Rotary press 1843: Hectograph 1869: Offset printing 1875: Hot metal typesetting 1884: Mimeograph 1886: Photostat and Rectigraph 1907: Screen printing 1910: Spirit duplicator 1923: Xerography 1938: Phototypesetting 1949: Inkjet printing 1951: Dye-sublimation 1957: Dot matrix printing 1968: Laser printing 1969: Thermal printing c. 1972: 3D printing 1984: Digital press 1993: