printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating 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 processed techniq ...

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

press Press may refer to: Media * Print media or news media, commonly called "the press" * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press (newspaper), a list of newspapers * Press TV, an Iranian television network People * Press (surname), a fam ...

, 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 Plate may refer to: Cooking * Plate (dishware), a broad, mainly flat vessel commonly used to serve food * Plates, tableware, dishes or dishware used for setting a table, serving food and dining * Plate, the content of such a plate (for example: ...

. 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, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...

on which the counterproof is to be taken.

References

Engraving Printmaking {{printmaking-stub