ELI5: What Is Printmaking?

Printmaking is an artistic way of creating a picture on a master surface and using ink to stamp that exact same picture onto paper or fabric multiple times.

Think of it just like using an ink stamp or pressing a shaped cookie cutter into dough. Instead of drawing a picture with a crayon just once, an artist carves, draws, or paints a design onto a hard surface—like a block of wood, a metal plate, or a piece of rubber. Then, they roll ink over it and press it down onto paper. When they peel the paper away, the image appears!

You see printmaking all around you in everyday life without even realizing it:

• Your Favorite T-Shirt: The cool graphic or superhero logo on your shirt was likely printed using a screen with ink pushed through it, a method called screen printing.
• Storybooks and Newspapers: Before giant computer printers existed, every single book, comic, and newspaper was printed by pressing inked metal letters onto paper pages.
• Postage Stamps and Money: The tiny, super-detailed pictures on dollar bills and letters are made using metal plates carved with tiny tools.
• School Projects: If you have ever dipped a carved potato or an apple half into paint and stamped it onto paper, you have already tried printmaking!