Intaglio is an Italian word that describes any printing process in which the ink is held in furrows below the surface of a metal plate and is transferred to paper through the application of pressure, usually from a printing press.
A general term covering engraving and related printing techniques, in which the ink that yields the image is held by recessed lines incised into a matrix (plate). Such a hollow-cut design is the opposite of relief.
A printing process in which the image is manually incised or chemically etched into a metal plate using a variety of techniques and tools. The paper receives the ink from the incised recessed marks and not from the top surface of the plate, as in relief printing. For intaglio printing the paper is dampened so that it will be squeezed under printing pressure into the inked recesses of the plate. One of the distinguishing characteristics of this type of printing is that the dried ink impression stands up from the paper in very slight relief. Aquatint, engraving, etching, mezzotint, and drypoint are intaglio techniques.
Intaglio construction - A process employed by Richard Serra in his Hreppholar series of 1991 (47.60 - 47.67). The process required that the intaglio plate be deeply etched in order to create texture and therefore retain a large quantity of ink. Next, in order to fulfill the artist's desire to give the prints more mass, paper heavier than the support sheet was cut to the shape of the image area. Edges of this sheet were shaved for a smooth transition. The entire assembly was finally run through the press while printing and lamination were simultaneously taking place.