Intaglio

The process of incising a design beneath
the surface of hard metal or stone. Plates are inked
only in the etched depressions on the plates and then
the plate surface is wiped clean. The ink is then
transferred onto the paper through an etching press.
The printing is done with a plate bearing an image in
intaglio and includes all metal-plate etching and
engraving processes. The reverse of this process is
known as relief printing.

A printing method that presses damp paper into a depression in a plate that is filled with ink, lifting it inot the paper. it employs such techniques as etching, engraving, and mezzotint.