printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proces ...

, a counterproof is a print taken off from another just printed, which, by being passed through the

press Press may refer to: Media * Publisher * News media * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press TV, an Iranian television network Newspapers United States * ''The Press'', a former name of ''The Press-Enterprise'', Riverside, California ...

, gives a copy in reverse, and of course in the same position as that of the plate from which the first was printed, the object being to enable the printmaker to inspect the state of the plate. Counterproofing was used to produce the finest quality copperplate printing; the second print consisted of delicate lines, and lacked the

beveled A bevelled edge (UK) or beveled edge (US) is an edge of a structure that is not perpendicular to the faces of the piece. The words bevel and chamfer overlap in usage; in general usage, they are often interchanged, while in technical usage, they ...

impressions seen in the original print. To ''counter-prove'' is also to pass a drawn design in black lead or red chalk through the press, after having moistened with a sponge both that and the

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...

on which the counterproof is to be taken.

References

Engraving Printmaking {{printmaking-stub