Engraving techniques on paper

• 
  
  Xylography: xylography – from the Greek xilos (wood) and graphia (writing) – is the technique used to engrave a pattern in a slab of wood (the matrix).
  
  The matrix used is a medium-hard wood like pear, which is incised using a knife or sharp-pointed tool called a burin.
  
  Ink is rolled on the relief (uncut) section of the wood and paper pressed down onto it, either by hand or with a press.
  
  The first prints made from each matrix are of good quality but the engraved pattern on later prints is less cleanly defined due to the wood becoming worn.
 
• Chalcography: chalcography – from the Greek word khalkos (copper) – is the technique of engraving on copper. The matrix is a sheet of copper, steel or zinc that is engraved using either a burin or a drypoint.
  
  The incisions on the surface are filled with ink and the relief section is left clean.
  
  The paper is pressed down on the matrix with a roller to create an impression of the incised image.
  
  Another chalcographic technique is etching, in which the metal sheet is first covered with wax, then the image incised and the entire sheet immersed in nitric acid. The acid corrodes the sections of the sheet where the incision has removed the wax coating.
  
  The rest of the wax is then removed, the sheet inked and the print taken.
  
  
 
• Lithography: lithography – from the Greek lithos (stone) – is the technique by which an image is transferred to paper from the smooth surface of a calcareous stone.
  
  The artist creates the image to be printed by applying a grease-based substance on the stone with a brush or stick.
  
  The ink is applied but only adheres to the greased image. The print is made by applying paper with a press.
  
  Today the heavy and difficult to use stone slabs have been replaced by sheets of copper or zinc.