Acetic Acid - a weak acid, commonly found in vinegar, used to counter etch and remove ghost images from the stone.
Asphaltum - a by product of the crude oil manufacturing process. Used in lithography to establish a tint field to easily attract ink when printing.
Citric Acid - An organic acid. Used to re-sensitise the stone to allow it to be drawn on again.
Dissolution - the process of a solute dissolving in a liquid.
Etch - the process of establishing where the grease attractive and grease repellent areas are on the stone. This is done with a mixture of gum arabic and nitric acid.
Ghost Image - a light image that can be seen after removing ink and drawing materials from the stone. When printing is finished this is grained off the stone for it to be used again. If this isn't removed properly, the image can reappear when making your new image.
Graining - the process of removing the image from a stone with carborundum grit and water.
Gum Arabic - a water soluble liquid used throughout the lithographic process. Can be mixed with nitric acid for etches, to protect images on the stone, create washes and more.
Gum transfer paper - paper coated in gum arabic. Drawings on this paper can be transferred onto a litho stone.
Manière Noir - a process in which an ink field is established on the stone and the image is created by scratching away the ink.
Matrix - the surface that the image is made on. In stone lithography this is the limestone. In plate lithography this is an aluminium or zinc plate.
Nitric Acid - a corrosive acid used to etch images when mixed with gum arabic.
Photolithography - the process of transferring images, drawings, patterns on a photo positive aluminium plate. The plate is exposed on a exposure unit. Comparable to how screen printing screens are exposed in preparation for a print.
Reticulation - a reoccurring interlacing pattern.
Reversal technique - any process that requires an ink field to be created before the first etch. The image is taken away from the field, being created in reverse.
Sansador - a solvent used to remove grease.
Wash - any pattern making technique that requires materials to be diluted with water or a solvent.
Updated 14/07/25