Etching & Intaglio
Intaglio is the form of printmaking in which the image is incised into a printing plate. Under the umbrella of intaglio, we find the techniques of etching, engraving, drypoint, mezzotint, and collagraph.
We stock intaglio tools from the world’s leading manufacturers including etching needles, carbide tip tools, burin engravers, and mezzotint rockers.
Zinc and copper plates for etching, transparent plates for collagraph, monoprint, and drypoint, and preparation tools can be found in this section.
Browse traditional formula oil based inks and a selection of modifiers, as well as watersoluble inks for intaglio techniques.
Etching mordants Ferric Chloride and Copper Sulphate are now tried and tested safer alternatives to Nitric Acid and Dutch Mordant.
In this section we have the tools and materials you will need to dab, scrape, or roll your ink onto the intaglio plate.
An assortment of essentials for intaglio, including low odor solvents as well as alkaline stripping agents for acrylic resists.
Traditional bitumen and wax-based grounds, dedicated acrylic grounds and resists, and materials for creating carborundum plates.
We have hundreds of titles to help inspire and motivate your artistic practice.
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An Introduction to Etching & Intaglio
Intaglio plates are prepared for printing by pushing the ink into the incised lines, pits or burrs you make in the plate, and then wiping away the ink from its surface.
Etching involves biting the exposed areas of metal with acid or alternative solutions such as ferric chloride or copper sulphate. Areas that are not to be bitten have acid resists applied in the form of grounds to draw through, aquatints for tone, and stop-out varnishes.
Engraving dates from about the 15th century. It is a non-etched intaglio technique whereby groves are cut into the plate with sharp burin engravers. Adapted from goldsmithing, engravings have distinct and slightly embossed lines, properties found to be invaluable for printing banknotes.
With drypoint, lines are scratched into the plate with sharp points and a burr is thrown up along the line, a bit like a furrow created by a plough. This burr and furrow hold onto the ink, giving a soft feathery line when printed.
Mezzotint is a type of reverse image-making technique whereby the whole plate is roughened with a mezzotint rocker which will print as velvety black. The roughened plate is then scraped and burnished smoother in gradations to draw rich tonal variations from the darkness.
Collagraphs straddle the intaglio/relief definition but are often inked and printed in the same way as intaglio. Plates are constructed using found materials and carborundum stuck onto all sorts of substrates, offering versatile and creative image-making.
In this section you will find traditional and modern materials for etching and intaglio. Please take a look at our PDF guides for help.