Printing from Engraved Copper Plates using the Rolling Press (Plate I)
Copperplate printing varies from letterpress printing in the way that ink is delivered to the paper. In letterpress printing, the surface of the metal type is covered in ink and then impressed into the paper. However in copperplate printing, the ink is held entirely in the etched grooves as the entire plate is pressed into the paper, which leaves a visible imprint around the entire page.
Denis Diderot (1713-1784)
Encyclopédie. Volume 7, Printing from Engraved Copper Plates using the Rolling Press (Imprimerie en taille-douce) Plate I
Paris: Briasson [etc.], 1751-1772