printmaking

American  

[print-mey-king] / ˈprɪntˌmeɪ kɪŋ /

noun

1. the art or technique of making prints, especially as practiced in engraving, etching, drypoint, woodcut or serigraphy.

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Etymology

Origin of printmaking

First recorded in 1925–30; print + making

Explanation

Printmaking is an art form that involves making designs or images by printing them with ink. In most cases, printmaking allows you to produce many copies of the same picture. Short on Picassos? Print some more! In some forms of printmaking, you carve a design into a wooden block, coat the block with ink, and then press it onto paper or canvas. The resulting work of art is called a print. Another type of printmaking requires special screens that have designs burned into them, creating a kind of stencil. Ink is then pushed through this screen onto paper or fabric — this is called screenprinting or silkscreen.

Example Sentences

Always an industrious worker, his oeuvres ranged from stage set design to photography and printmaking.

From Barron's • Jun. 12, 2026

The artist's career spanned seven decades, and he was known for using painting, printmaking, photography and latterly digital art to depict his native Yorkshire and his adopted home of California.

From BBC • Jun. 12, 2026

Long intertwined with protest and politicking thanks to quick creation times and near infinite reproducibility, printmaking is still being used in the activist realm today.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

For much of its history printmaking has been relegated to second-class citizenship, with works that are viewed as less than equal to one-offs in other media.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

Perhaps the distinction between original and copy is not so critical in printmaking after all.

From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson