Printmaking Terminology Questions and Answers
Associate Professor, Taipei National University of the Arts
LIU, Hsi-Chuan
Q: Currently there are many terms used abroad for ᄲ̤ᦹᯉ: (1) ink jet print (2) digital
(3) giclée (4) digital print. Why isn't there one term consistently applied?
A: All of the terms above are used. There are still many interchangeable terms used
abroad for this type of media, and no single unifying term. Many similar terms
are applied to ᄲ̤♊⠛ and ᄲ̤ᦹᯉ, for instance: in all the English language
documentation for digital prints and digital photography, the term "digital print" is
used; but among the commonly seen names there are also: digital prints, computer
art, digital art, digital fine art, digital printmaking, giclée, digital printed images,
electronic prints, ink jet print and others. Mainly because this new and developing
medium has propagated so quickly, a lot of confusion has arisen in the area of
terminology. Among the above mentioned terms, most still utilize the key term
"print."
To decide if a digital artwork can be considered printmaking, we could
use criteria such as traditional forms of printmaking or traits involving printmaking
(production of multiples or the quality of indirectness), but I think the most basic
thing is that it still depends on the artist's creative concept or intention. The current
recommendation for Chinese is to use ᄲ̤ᦹᯉ (according to the criteria set by the
judges of this exhibition). As for English, it is best to respect the original term used
by the creator.
Q: The term serigraphy is often translated as ⃨֬ᦹ, is that appropriate? Can the terms
screenprint or screen print be used for silkscreen? Can we use silkscreen as a unified
term? Can we translate these three terms as ⃦ℐᦹ?
A: Serigraphy indicates a technique which is equivalent to screenprinting, screen
printing or silkscreen, and silkscreen is a shortened name for silkscreen printing.
Furthermore, serigraph is ⃨֬ᦹᯉ, ⃦ℐᦹᯉ or ઋᦹᯉ (the term currently used
in Chinese) and these terms are equivalent to screenprint or screen print, so all of the
above terms can be used. Also, there are people who consider the term serigraphy to
indicate a form of printing used early on (stencil printing, and contemporary ⃨֬ᦹ
ᯉ, ⃦ℐᦹᯉ or ઋᦹᯉ are suitable names for screen print or screenprint.
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Q: Should the term dry point contain a space between the two words, or be written as
drypoint?
A: Both are fine, as is dry-point. Users have agreed on these conventions.
Q: Are linocut and linoleum synonyms? Can the term ᑪ⍑әᦹ be used for both?
A: The full name for linocut is linoleum cut, and can be used for ᑪ⍑әᦹ.
Q: The terms woodblock and woodcut are translations used for ቌኈቌԀ or ቌԀә
ᦹ. Are the terms the same? Perhaps there should be different terminology for these
translations.
A: They are synonyms. In order to distinguish between relief and recessed wood
engraving, I suggest indicating which one it is by stating "relief printing plate"
parenthetically after the term since both recessed printing and wooden lithographic
plates are currently made.
Q: Someone recommend, for the sake of clarity, using the term lithograph for ᵲᦹ but
not for not for ౹ᦹ in general. I'd like to know if that makes sense. Is it suitable to
use lithograph and not the lithography to name the process?
A: Lithograph is the print while lithography is the process. In the past, to explain the
four major printing types, commonly called ౹, Ӛ, ә, ઋ, I still recommend using
౹ᦹ as a general term. Although ᵲᦹ is called lithograph in English, up until now
there has been confusion in applying these terms. In order to differentiate, we can
use planography to indicate the general term of lithography (In the educator Liao
Hsiu-ping's book The Art of Printmaking, the term planography is used to indicate
lithography), or plate lithography as opposed to stone lithography. However, if
there is any uncertainty concerning the author's use of stone plate or metal plate
lithography or even paper or other plate material (it seems all the work in this
exhibition used the terms lithograph or lithography) it is better to apply the general
term of ౹ᦹ. If it can be determined which of the processes has been used (stone
or metal plate), then the term ౹ᦹ can be used with the type of plate (such as ᵲᦹ
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or ⸉଼ᦹ ) indicated parenthetically or in an area reserved for details. Additionally,
offset indicates offset lithography (metal plate), but for indirect offset (the image is
first offset printed on a rubber roller, and then the rubber roller is used to print the
image on paper or other material) it isn't recommended that the term ౹ᦹ be used,
rather we should use the term Ⱨ֬౹ᦹ or ౹ᦹ(⿵࿲Ⱨ֬).
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