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Printmaking Processes: A Webliography

F. Moras' Lithographic Establishment, Philadelphia, 610 Jayne St. Plain & fancy printing. By Ferdinand Moras. Philadelphia:Moras's Lithographic Establishment, between 1867 and 1869
F. Moras' Lithographic Establishment, Philadelphia, 610 Jayne St. Plain & fancy printing. By Ferdinand Moras. Philadelphia:Moras's Lithographic Establishment, between 1867 and 1869.
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.24839

Introduction:

The online resources compiled below provide guidance in understanding and identifying printmaking processes.  Interactive websites provide written explanations and visual demonstrations of processes. Videos include demonstrations of techniques as well as lectures on a range of processes, including modern day digital methods. 

For published resources on printmaking, please refer to the selected bibliography on Media and Format Identification and History found in the Prints and Photographs Division’s guide to Visual Materials: Processing & Cataloging.  



Websites: Glossaries and Guides to Printmaking Processes:

Sculptura in ęs / Ioan Stradanus invent. By Philippe Galle.
Sculptura in æs / Ioan Stradanus invent. By Philippe Galle. From series: Nova reperta, no. 19. ca. 1600.
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3a27499

Crown Point Press, Magical Secrets:
https://magical-secrets.com/process/ External link
Guides to several print processes, with examples, as well as a glossary of terms.

Image Permanence Institute, Graphics Atlas: http://www.graphicsatlas.org/ External link
Comprehensive guide to graphic processes, including descriptions, examples, and tools to compare and identify printing processes. Also includes timeline of processes: http://www.graphicsatlas.org/guidedtour/ External link

International Fine Print Dealers Association, Glossary: http://www.ifpda.org/glossary External link
Glossary of terms associated with printmaking, including examples of various processes.

Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Printed Image in the West (Overview)
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/prnt/hd_prnt.htm External link
Companion site to an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, with essays on aquatint, drypoint, engraving, etching and woodcut.

MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) Interactives: What is a Print? http://www.moma.org/interactives/projects/2001/whatisaprint/print.html External link
Interactive animation offers a virtual hands-on explanation of steps to create a woodcut, engraving and lithograph.

The Philadelphia Print Shop, Ltd., Reference Library
http://www.philaprintshop.com/whataprt.html External link
Includes “What is a Print?” guide to broad categories of prints, with brief explanations of several major processes, as well as a dictionary of printmaking terms and a glossary of printmaking nomenclature and abbreviations.

The Printed Picture: Richard Benson & The Museum of Modern Art, New York
http://printedpicture.artgallery.yale.edu/glossary External link
Glossary of terms related to prints and printmaking from Richard Benson's book The Printed Picture (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2008).

Videos Related to Printmaking Processes:

Print making A new tradition featuring original color lithography. By  Richard Floethe. N.Y.C.: New York City W.P.A. Art Project, [between 1936 and 1941]
Print making A new tradition featuring original color lithography. By Richard Floethe. N.Y.C.: New York City W.P.A. Art Project, [between 1936 and 1941].
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3b48828

Minneapolis Institute of Art: Prints and Processes (Relief, Intaglio, Lithography, Screenprinting):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL60EF8C723EACBBB7 External link
Video series with step-by-step demonstrations of relief, intaglio, lithography and screenprinting. 

Museum of Modern Art: Pressure + Ink Printmaking series (7 videos):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD1240D899F3875A4 External link
Video series, with introduction to printmaking, as well as introduction to and demonstration of relief, intaglio and screenprinting processes.

Victoria & Albert Museum, How Was It Made: Woodcut Printing, 1450-1520:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgCYovlFRNY  External link

The Printed Picture: Richard Benson & The Museum of Modern Art, New York:
http://printedpicture.artgallery.yale.edu/ External link
Companion site to an exhibition on the history of the printing of pictures at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 2008-09. Site includes many short videos on wide range of print processes and history by Richard Benson, author of The Printed Picture (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2008) and co-curator of the exhibit.

 


Compiled by: Kristi Finefield, Reference Librarian, September 2017.
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