Høytrykk

Relief printing is one of the oldest printmaking techniques. What all relief printing methods have in common is that the parts of the printing matrix intended to transfer ink are raised above the surrounding areas. The cut-away or lowered areas remain without ink and therefore do not print onto the paper.

In relief printing, the image is created by removing material from the areas that are not intended to print. The remaining raised surfaces are rolled with ink or otherwise inked and then pressed against paper or another material.

Unlike intaglio printing, where the ink is held in recessed areas of the plate, relief printing places the ink on the surface of the raised areas. This gives the technique a direct and distinctive character, often with strong lines, contrasts, and visible traces of the artist’s tools.

Relief printing includes artistic techniques such as woodcut, wood engraving, and linocut, as well as historical printing methods such as letterpress, where movable type and other relief elements are assembled to create a printing form.

The fundamental principle of relief printing is that the artist removes the areas that are not intended to print. The image emerges from the relationship between the raised areas that carry the ink and the carved-away areas that remain unprinted.

The printing matrix can be worked directly with knives, gouges, engraving tools, or other instruments. The material that is removed determines where the paper remains unprinted, while the remaining raised surfaces form the image.

In relief printing, artists often have to think in reverse compared with the final printed image. The areas that are carved away do not appear as lines or shapes in the print but create empty spaces and contrasts. At the same time, some techniques build up the printing form from separate elements, as in letterpress, where the artist works with ready-made type and other relief components.

Different materials and working methods create a wide range of visual expressions. The structure of the wood, the movement of the tools, and the way the matrix is worked often become visible elements of the finished artwork.

Woodcut is one of the oldest forms of artistic relief printing. The technique is based on cutting the image into a wooden block, usually along the direction of the wood grain. The areas that are intended to remain white or without colour in the print are removed with knives, gouges, or other tools, while the raised areas retain the ink and transfer the image to the paper.

Woodcut has a direct and distinctive expression in which the structure of the wood, tool marks, and the artist’s working process often become visible parts of the image. The technique is particularly suited to clear lines, strong contrasts, and simplified forms, but can also be used for highly detailed and complex expressions.

Woodcut has a long history in both Asia and Europe. In Europe, the technique became especially important from the Middle Ages onward, among other things for illustrated books, religious images, and graphic reproductions. In the sixteenth century, artists such as Albrecht Dürer developed woodcut into a highly refined art form with great detail and technical precision.

In colour woodcut, several printing blocks are often used, with each block representing one colour or colour group. Each block is printed separately, and the colours are gradually built up through precise registration between the different printing forms.

Another method is the jigsaw technique, in which a single woodblock is divided into separate pieces that can be coloured individually and reassembled before printing. The different pieces function as separate printing elements, allowing the artist to combine colours and forms in a flexible way. The technique makes it possible to create multi-colour prints from a single block, but requires careful planning and precise assembly of the individual parts.

The reduction technique is also based on the use of a single woodblock, but in this method the block remains intact throughout the process. After each colour layer is printed, the artist cuts away new areas of the block before printing the next colour. The block is gradually reduced, meaning that earlier stages cannot be recreated. The technique requires careful planning because every alteration to the block affects all subsequent prints.

Both the jigsaw technique and the reduction technique demonstrate how colour woodcut can be developed far beyond traditional black-and-white prints. In these methods, the construction and transformation of the printing block itself become an integral part of the artistic process.

Although woodcut shares some fundamental principles with mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock printing), the different traditions have developed distinct materials, working methods, and visual expressions. Western woodcut has often been associated with strong contrasts and direct carving of the block, while mokuhanga traditionally uses water-based colours, multiple woodblocks, and a more layered and nuanced approach to colour.

Mokuhanga is the traditional Japanese form of woodblock printing and represents a distinct development within relief printing. The technique differs from the European woodcut tradition in several important ways.

Mokuhanga developed in Japan from the seventeenth century and reached its peak during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries through artists of the ukiyo-e tradition. Unlike many European woodcuts, where a single block is often used for the entire image, Japanese colour woodblock prints are usually built up from multiple blocks, one for each colour.

Another important difference is the use of water-based pigments rather than the oil-based printing inks that later became common in European printmaking. The colours are applied to the woodblocks and then transferred by hand onto dampened paper without the use of a mechanical press. The technique is characterised by transparent colour layers, soft transitions, and extremely precise registration between the different blocks.

Traditionally, mokuhanga involved a collaboration between several specialists: the artist who designed the image (eshi), the woodcarver who prepared the printing blocks (horishi), and the printer who produced the final impressions (surishi). This division of labour differed from the European tradition, where the artist often worked directly on the printing block themselves.

Mokuhanga had a major influence on European art in the late nineteenth century, particularly within Impressionism and Modernism. Artists were inspired by the flat areas of colour, unusual perspectives, asymmetrical compositions, and the strong emphasis on line and surface.

Wood engraving is a development of woodcut in which the printing block is made from the end grain of the wood rather than along the grain. By using a hard wood block, often boxwood, cut across the grain, the artist obtains a smoother and denser working surface than in traditional woodcut.

The hard surface makes it possible to work with very fine engraving tools, such as burins and small gouges, creating extremely detailed lines, dots, and textures. Unlike the often bold and expressive character of woodcut, wood engraving allows for highly precise transitions between light and dark and a wide range of tonal values.

The technique follows the same relief printing principle as other relief processes: the areas intended to print remain as raised surfaces, while the areas that should remain without ink are removed. Because of the hardness of the wood surface, the artist can work with a great number of small cuts and marks, making highly detailed images possible.

Wood engraving developed particularly in Europe during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and became highly important for illustrations in books, newspapers, and scientific publications. The technique was widely used for reproducing drawings, paintings, and photographic subjects before modern reproduction methods took over.

Unlike copper engraving, where lines are incised into a metal plate and printed as intaglio, the lines in wood engraving remain as raised relief elements. This made the technique especially valuable in letterpress printing, because wood engraving blocks could be combined with movable type and printed simultaneously on the same press.

During the nineteenth century, wood engraving became one of the most important methods for illustrated mass production. The technique made it possible to combine high technical quality with efficient production and was used in everything from literary works and newspapers to scientific illustrations and encyclopaedias.

As an independent artistic technique, wood engraving has always been less widespread than woodcut, but in modern times it has experienced renewed interest among artists who wish to explore fine detail, texture, and the contrast between a precise working process and the direct expression of relief printing.

Linocut is based on the same fundamental principle as woodcut, but the printing block is made from linoleum instead of wood. Linoleum is a softer and more uniform material than wood, allowing the artist to carve more freely and directly. The artist can work with knives, gouges, and other tools to remove the areas that should not print, while the remaining raised surfaces retain the ink and transfer the image to the paper.

The softer block gives linocut a different expression from woodcut. Lines can become more organic and spontaneous, and the technique is well suited to clear shapes, strong contrasts, and graphic compositions. At the same time, the material allows for detailed structures and a wide range of surface effects and textures.

Linocut became particularly popular among artists in the twentieth century and is still widely used in contemporary art, illustration, and art education. The technique was adopted by many modernist artists because it allowed for a direct and experimental form of expression, while also being accessible and relatively easy to work compared with wood.

In colour linocut, several printing blocks are often used, with each block representing one colour or one colour layer. The colours are gradually built up through precise registration between the blocks, in the same way as in colour woodcut.

A widely used method in colour linocut is the reduction technique. In this process, the same linoleum block is used throughout the entire printing process. After each colour layer has been printed, the artist cuts away new areas of the block before printing the next colour. The block is gradually reduced, meaning that earlier stages cannot be recreated. The technique requires careful planning because each intervention in the block determines which areas can be printed in later layers.

Linocut therefore allows artists to work both spontaneously and systematically. The combination of the soft material, clear relief structures, and the possibilities of multi-colour printing makes the technique a vibrant medium in contemporary printmaking.

Metal relief printing is a relief printing technique in which the image is created as a raised printing surface in metal. Unlike intaglio printing, where the image consists of recessed areas that hold the ink, it is the raised parts of the metal relief that transfer the ink to the paper.

The printing form can be produced in several ways. The image can be worked directly into a metal plate by removing parts of the surface, or the printing form can be constructed from separate pieces of metal attached to an underlying plate, for example by soldering or gluing. In this way, different heights, shapes, and structures can be combined into a single relief surface.

Metal reliefs can also be created through chemical processes, where parts of a metal plate are protected while other areas are etched away to create a raised printing surface. Such metal relief forms have, among other uses, been employed as printing blocks in letterpress, where text, illustrations, ornaments, and other graphic elements could be produced as relief printing forms.

The technique has been used both in artistic printmaking and industrial printing production. Metal relief printing allows for fine details, durability, and combination with other relief printing elements, demonstrating how relief printing can be created both through carving and through construction.

In contemporary printmaking, metal relief can also be combined with digital working processes, for example through the production of printing forms using photopolymer, chemical processing, or laser engraving.

Collagraph is a graphic technique in which the printing plate is built up from different materials that are glued or attached to a surface. The name comes from the Greek words kolla (glue) and graphein (to write/draw), referring to the fact that the image is created through a composite printing surface.

The technique often combines principles from both relief printing and intaglio. Raised structures on the plate can transfer ink in the same way as relief printing, while recessed areas and porous materials can hold ink in a manner similar to intaglio.

The printing plate can be constructed from many different materials, including textiles, paper, thread, wood, sand, plastic, or other textured surfaces. The inherent textures of the materials become part of the visual expression and provide extensive possibilities for experimentation with surface, light, and tonal values.

During printing, the plate can either be inked as a relief printing form, worked as an intaglio plate, or combined using both methods. Collagraph therefore offers a wide range of expressions – from clear relief textures to soft tones and complex surfaces.

Collagraph was particularly developed and adopted by artists during the twentieth century and remains widely used in contemporary printmaking. The technique is accessible and experimental, while still being based on the fundamental principles that have shaped printmaking for centuries.

Letterpress is a relief printing technique in which text and images are built up from raised elements that transfer ink to the paper. Unlike artistic relief printing techniques such as woodcut and linocut, where the artist usually works directly into a block to create an image, the printing form in letterpress is often assembled from separate elements before printing.

The use of movable type, where individual letters can be combined and reused, is known from Asia several centuries before European letterpress. In China, movable type was developed as early as the eleventh century. In Europe, letterpress printing became established in the fifteenth century through the development of the mechanical printing press and the typographic system associated with Johannes Gutenberg.

In letterpress, the printing form is made up of raised elements that may consist of movable type, ornaments, lines, frames, and various types of image elements. All parts of the printing form must be set at the same height so that they can be printed simultaneously. This made it possible to produce large quantities of text and illustrations efficiently.

For illustrations, wood engraving became a particularly important technique. Because wood engraving blocks are relief printing forms, they could be combined with movable type in the same printing form and printed simultaneously in the letterpress press. This made it possible to combine text and detailed images in books, newspapers, and magazines.

During the nineteenth century, when illustrated newspapers and magazines became widespread, wood engraving was used to produce large numbers of images in a short time. To make the process more efficient, a large illustration could be divided into several smaller sections, with several wood engravers working simultaneously on different parts of the image. The sections were then assembled into one complete printing form. This division of labour made it possible to complete complex illustrations quickly enough for inclusion in periodical publications.

Letterpress played a crucial role in the spread of knowledge, literature, news, and images. Although the technique has largely been replaced by digital production methods, letterpress is still used by artists, designers, and printers who wish to work with the tactile qualities, material character, and direct expression that are characteristic of relief printing.

As a relief printing technique, letterpress also demonstrates an important principle shared by other graphic methods: the image or text is created not only through the final impression, but through the physical construction of the printing form itself.

Relief printing continues to develop, and many artists combine traditional methods with modern technology.

New materials such as photopolymer plates can be used as alternatives to wood, linoleum, and metal, and digital working processes can be incorporated into the production of printing forms. Digital files can, for example, be used for exposing photopolymer plates or for controlling laser engraving.

Such tools do not necessarily change the character of the technique. If the artist develops the printing form as part of the creative process, the result can still be considered original printmaking.

Relief printing is therefore both a historical craft technique and a living contemporary medium. From the powerful lines of woodcut to the precise typography of letterpress, the technique demonstrates how art, craftsmanship, and technology can meet through the printing process.