The printmaking technique in which an image is incised into a metal plate is called intaglio. The word describes a print made from recessed lines or areas, which hold the ink below the plate's surface.
Artists commonly work on copper or zinc plates. In engraving, a burin cuts lines directly into the metal. In etching, acid corrodes lines that the artist has exposed through a protective ground. Other intaglio methods include drypoint, aquatint, and mezzotint, each producing different textures, tones, or line qualities.
After the plate is inked, the surface is wiped clean while ink remains in the recessed marks. Damp paper is then pressed firmly against the plate, forcing it into those grooves and lifting out the design. This process can create rich lines and subtle tonal effects, but plates gradually wear and may require reworking.
Intaglio is the opposite of relief printing, in which the raised surface receives ink. Lithography works through the interaction of grease and water on a flat surface, while screen printing pushes ink through a stencil. These differences make intaglio a technique family rather than one single process.