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 Engraving is a method of printing which was first used in the fifteenth century and is still used today for printing banknotes and some postage stamps. Starting with a metal plate - usually copper, but later (around 1830), steel - the engraver cuts into metal, in mirror image, the picture which is to be printed. Ink is then wiped across the plate filling the engraved lines. The flat surface of the plate is then thoroughly cleaned. The inked plate is passed through two rollers, rather like a mangle, with a piece of dampened paper on top of it: the paper is then removed bearing the printed impression. One of the characteristics of prints produced in this way is, that the printed lines stand proud on the surface of the paper: this can be quite distinctly felt by lightly running a finger over the surface of a banknote. Another distinctive feature of old engravings is the 'plate mark' normally present on the unprinted border, caused by the pressure of the edges of the metal plate during printing.
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Deutsche Version
Graphic techniques