Lithography is a printing process that makes use of the immiscibility of grease and water. It exploits the properties of stone with a calcium carbonate base and a fine, porous, surface. Aloys Senefelder of Prague (1771-1834) perfected this printing process in 1798.
In Senefelder's process, a design was drawn on the stone with crayon or greasy ink. Water was used to wet the stone and, after various etching and protecting steps, the stone was brushed with oily ink, retaining the ink only on the design. This inked surface was then printed - either directly onto paper by a special press (as in most fine-art printmaking), or onto a rubber cylinder and thence onto paper (as in commercial printing).
The method of preparing stones for hand printing, still the lithographic method preferred by artists, has hardly changed since Senefelder perfected it over 200 years ago.

Go to Top