It was only in the mid seventeenth century that the artist Rembrandt introduced etching as a genre of fine art. This changed when, in 1822, Thomas Lupton invented the steel plate, which allowed almost an unlimited number of impressions, drastically increasing the popularity of the medium.Д®tchings date back to the fourteenth century when the process was used to decorate metallic armor. However, the disadvantage of this particular metal was the limited number of impressions (approximately 2000-3000) that could be obtained from a single plate. Originally copper plates were used for this process. The paper selected to carry the print is first dampened, so it is easily able to absorb the ink left behind on the matrix when it is pressed firmly against it. The surface of the matrix is then cleaned leaving behind only the ink which has seeped into the carved outlines. Once this initial process of carving is complete, the matrix is inked. In engraving, tools such as the burin or graver are used to cut a design into a metal plate. The oldest and most commonly used intaglio technique is engraving. Common uses still include some postage stamps and paper currency, at one time used for all mass-printed materials including bank notes, stock certificates, newspapers, etc.Intaglio printmaking includes techniques such as engraving, etching, dry point, aquatint and mezzotint.Formerly used extensively for high quality magazines, fabrics and wall papers.Plates are usually made from copper or zinc.The appearance of engraving is sometimes mimicked for items such as wedding invitations by producing an embossment around lettering printed by another process (such as lithography or offset) to suggest the edges of an engraving plate. Today intaglio engraving is largely used for currency, banknotes, passports and occasionally for high-value postage stamps. The golden age of artists engraving was 1450-1550, after which the technique lost ground to etching as a medium for artists, although engravings continued to be produced in huge numbers until after the invention of photography. Drypoint and etching were also German inventions of the fifteenth century, probably by the Housebook Master and Daniel Hopfer respectively. Italian and Netherlandish engraving began slightly after the Germans, but were well developed by 1500.

Martin Schongauer was one of the earliest known artists to exploit the copper-engraving technique, and Albrecht DГјrer is one of the most famous intaglio artists. It has been suggested that goldsmiths began to print impressions of their work to record the design, and that printmaking developed from that. Engraving had been used by goldsmiths to decorate metalwork, including armour, musical instruments and religious objects since ancient times, and the niello technique, which involved rubbing an alloy into the lines to give a contrasting colour, also goes back to late antiquity. Intaglio engraving, as a method of making prints, was invented in Germany by the 1430s, well after the woodcut print. Brief history old master print, line engraving Both intaglio and relief, as well as planographic printing processes, print a reversed image (a mirror-image of the matrix), which must be allowed for in the composition, especially if it includes text.Other families have developed, especially in the twentieth century - see printmaking.Planographic, including lithography, where the image rests on the surface of the matrix, which can therefore often be re-used.The matrix is then just inked and printed not wiped as described above. Relief prints, including woodcut, where the matrix is cut away to leave the image-making part on the original surface.For example Rembrandt's prints are referred to as 'etchings' for convenience, but very often they have engraving and drypoint work as well, and sometimes no actual etching at all.ДЄpart from intaglio, the other traditional families, or groups of printmaking techniques are: Intaglio techniques are often combined on a plate. A damp piece of paper is placed on top and the plate and paper are run through a printing press that, through pressure, transfers the ink from the recesses of the plate to the paper. The final smooth wipe is often done with newspaper or old public phone book pages, leaving ink only in the incisions. To print an intaglio plate, ink is applied to the surface and then rubbed with tarlatan cloth to remove most of the excess.

Collographs may also be printed as intaglio plates.

Normally, copper or zinc plates are used as a surface, and the incisions are created by etching, engraving, drypoint, aquatint or mezzotint. Intaglio is a family of printmaking techniques in which the image is incised into a surface, known as the matrix or plate.

Intaglio artists