An etching ground that has tallow added to prevent it from hardening. Once the ground has been laid onto the plate, a piece of soft paper may be fixed on top of it, onto which the artist may make a drawing. Where the pencil presses into the ground, it adheres to the paper, which is carefully pulled away together with the attached ground, leaving a design exposed on the copper. For a sharper line, the artist may draw directly through the ground again and textures can also be impressed through it. The plate is then bitten in the usual way, and an almost perfect facsimile of the original drawing is transferred to the copper.