Etching (Eau-forte) is a process in which lines or textures are bitten (etched) into a metal plate with a variety of mordants (acids). The metal plate is first covered with an acid-resistant coating (ground). The design is then scratched or pressed into the ground, exposing the metal in these areas. Finally, the plate is submerged in an acid solution until the desired depth and width in the exposed areas is reached.

Although the basic principle of etching is very simple, there are many possible variations that have a strong influence on the final result. The materials themselves offer a wide range of possible variations: for example, copper, zinc, aluminum, or magnesium plates can be used; and nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, or ferric chloride can be used for the etching process. Other variations include the strength of the mordants, the biting time, the kinds of grounds and the ways in which they can be worked, and, finally, all the possible methods of printing.

Aquatint - a variety of etching widely used by printmakers to achieve a broad range of tonal values. The process is called aquatint because finished prints often resemble watercolor drawings or wash drawings. The technique consists of exposing a copperplate to acid through a layer of melted granulated resin. The acid bites away the plate only in the interstices between the resin grains, leaving an evenly pitted surface that yields broad areas of tone when the grains are removed and the plate is printed. An infinite number of tones can be achieved by exposing various parts of the plate to acid baths of different strengths for different periods of time. Tones can also be altered by scraping and burnishing. Etched or engraved lines are often used with aquatint to achieve greater definition of form.

Drypoint - an engraving method in which the design to be printed is scratched directly into a plate with a sharply pointed instrument. Lines in a drypoint print are characterized by a soft fuzziness caused by ink printed from a burr, a rough ridge of metal thrown up on each side of the furrow of the drypoint line. The course of the line, however, is often abruptly angular when changing directions, because the metal of the plate continually resists the engraving point. Drypoint is most often used with other printmaking techniques. It can be used to give dark accents to a nearly completed etching, for example, or it can be used first to sketch in lightly on a copperplate the proposed design for a line engraving.

Mezzotint also called black manner, a method of engraving a metal plate by systematically and evenly pricking its entire surface with innumerable small holes that will hold ink and, when printed, produce large areas of tone. The pricking of the plate was originally done with a roulette (a small wheel covered with sharp points), but later an instrument called a cradle, or rocker, was used. It resembles a small spade with a toothed edge, and its cutting action throws up rough ridges of metal called burrs. The burrs are scraped away in places intended to be white in the finished print.

Woodcut, the oldest technique used in fine art printmaking, is a form of relief printing. The artist's design or drawing is made on a piece of wood and the untouched areas are then cut away with gouges, leaving the raised image which is then inked. Woodcut prints are produced by pressing the selected medium (usually paper) onto the inked image. Woodcut printing is sometimes referred to as xylography or a xylographic process (from the Greek words 'xulon' for wood and 'graphikos for writing/drawing), although these terms are commonly reserved for text prints.

Linocut - type of print made from a sheet of linoleum into which a design has been cut in relief. This process of printmaking is similar to woodcut, but, since linoleum lacks a grain, linocuts can yield a greater variety of effects than woodcuts can. Linocut designs can be cut in large masses, engraved to give supple white lines, or worked in numerous ways to achieve many different textures. The ease with which linoleum is worked makes it admirably suited to large decorative prints, using broad areas of flat colour.

Watercolor painting - pigment ground in gum, usually gum arabic, and applied with brush and water to a painting surface, usually paper; the term also denotes a work of art executed in this medium. The pigment is ordinarily transparent but can be made opaque by mixing with a whiting and in this form is known as body colour, or gouache (q.v.); it can also be mixed with casein, a phosphoprotein of milk.

Monotype - a technique that generally yields only one good impression from each prepared plate. Monotypes are prized because of their unique textural qualities. They are made by drawing on glass or a plate of smooth metal or stone with a greasy substance such as printer's ink or oil paint. Then the drawing is pressed by hand onto a sheet of absorbent paper or is printed on an etching press. The pigment remaining on the plate is usually insufficient to make another print unless the original design is reinforced. Further, any subsequent prints will invariably differ from the first one, because variations in repainting and printing are inevitable. Since each is unique and hand executed, monotypes cannot be considered a technique of multiple replication. But, because they are prints on paper, they are usually classed with printmaking media.