World of Printmaking
World of Printmaking is a growing knowledge base dedicated to the unique art of printmaking: what it is, how it works, and its many processes.
Our goal is to make printmaking easier to understand, explore, and navigate for beginners and experienced printmakers alike.
Printmaker Lauren Alexander applies ink to a lithographic stone during the printing process.
Why printmaking matters
By making images and text easier to reproduce and share, printmaking expanded access to knowledge and art throughout the world, changing how cultures record and access information centuries before photography or digital media existed.
Today, printmaking is everywhere—from galleries and studios to books, currency, posters, packaging, and textiles—shaping the visual world we move through every day.
Opening illustration from the Diamond Sutra, the earliest known dated woodblock print, made in China in 868 CE.
What is printmaking?
Learn the fundamentals of printmaking, including how prints are made, how original prints differ from reproductions, and answers to common questions.
Types of printmaking
An overview of the main types of printmaking—relief, intaglio, planographic, stencil, and digital—and how individual processes fit within each.
