Atelier Jonas Ruhs

Photogravure — print & limited edition

A photogravure is a hand-printed, photomechanically produced intaglio print and an original work of printmaking.

The image is exposed onto a photosensitive printing plate, then developed and etched.

The plate is inked by hand with archival oil-based pigment ink and printed onto fine mould-made paper using the intaglio process.

Several impressions can be taken from a single plate; together they form an edition. Each print is individually inked, printed, inspected, signed and numbered by hand.

Although all prints in an edition are based on the same plate, the manual printing process creates the subtlest differences in inking, impression and paper. These give each print its individual character.

Within a limited edition, every photogravure is therefore not only part of a print run, but also a unique work in its own right.