The several processes grouped under the category of intaglio have in common the incision of lines or images into a surface, usually of metal. Intaglio prints result when the incised areas are filled with ink or a similar substance for transfer of the image to paper. Whereas the relief processes rely on a raised printing surface, the printing areas in the intaglio methods are depressed below the surface of the plate. In intaglio printing, an impression is made by a printing press pushing the paper into inked depressions and recesses in a metal plate. Once the plate has been cut, the depressed areas are filled with ink and the nonprinting surface wiped clean.
Pressure forces the paper into the depressed areas, and the image is transferred.
The lithographic stone or metal plate must be etched, or processed, to accept ink on the image areas and to reject ink and accept water everywhere else. The word serigraphy is derived from the Latin word seri , silk, and the Greek graphos, to write. Serigraphy has the shortest history as a fine-art medium. Nevertheless, the origin of the technique itself is quite obscure. There is little doubt that the process owes much to the ancient and simple stencil methods practiced throughout many parts of the world.