An intaglio print is one whose image is printed from a recessed design incised or etched into the surface of a plate. In this type of print the ink lies below the surface of the plate and is transferred to the paper under pressure. The printed lines of an intaglio print stand in relief on the paper. Intaglio prints have platemarks. Limited editions are usually numbered and are often signed.
Limited editions are a relatively recent development, dating from the late nineteenth century.
Earlier prints were limited in the number of their impressions solely by market demand or by the maximum number that could be printed by the medium used. German printmaker Adam von Bartsch, in his 1821 Anleitung zur Kupferstichkunde, estimated the maximum number of quality impressions it was possible to pull using different print media. It was only with the development of lithography and of steel-facing of metal plates in the nineteenth century that tens of thousands of impressions could be pulled without a loss of quality. These technological developments led to the idea of making limited edition prints, by which printmakers created an appearance of rarity and individuality for multiple-impression art. Prints taken from a drawing done one polished limestone or zinc or aluminum plates.