There is, for example, stippling which appeared in the 16th century. Stippling was used by Domenico Campagnola in Italy before being adopted and improved upon by Bartolozzi in England in the 18th century. In the second half of the 18th century aquatint developed in France. Aquatint used resin dust to granulate the plate. Granulation can thus be considered to be a means of turning black areas into half-tone areas both in intaglio and relief plates.
Granulation is opposed to solid colours .
The term is, on the other hand, close to shading which uses a screen for a uniform fading down from a maximum tone. Granulation is also distinct from line and relief line , as well as from intaglio or relief dotted plates, even though the latter type of plate is such that the juxtaposition and crossing of dotted areas may result in a real granulation of the plate surface. By making such a distinction this description will gain in clarity and precision. Insofar as concerns values in wood , lino , and plastic work, turn to the articles treating these various techniques as well as to the articles on lines and on cut . One does not speak of granulation when refering to the graining of a lithographic stone.