Block printing is one of the oldest and most hands-on ways of making prints. The idea is simple: you carve a design into the flat surface of a block, coat the raised, uncut parts with ink or dye, and press or stamp the block onto paper or fabric. Because only the raised surface prints, block printing is really a form of relief printing, and any carved block will do, from a traditional woodblock to a sheet of lino or a simple rubber stamp. It is the craft behind everything from a hand-printed greetings card to a length of beautifully patterned cloth.
Block printing and relief printing
Block printing and relief printing describe the same basic process, inking a raised, carved surface and pressing it onto something else. In practice, people tend to say "relief printing" for fine-art prints on paper, such as a woodcut or a linocut, and "block printing" for the broader, more craft-based tradition, especially printing repeating patterns onto fabric. Whatever you call it, the block is the heart of the method: carve it once and you can print the same image again and again.
How block printing works
- Carve your design into a block of wood, lino or rubber, cutting away everything that should stay the colour of the paper or cloth. For a multi-colour design you usually carve a separate block for each colour.
- Charge the block with ink or dye, either by rolling it on with a brayer or by pressing the block into colour spread on a pad.
- Print by pressing the block firmly onto the paper or fabric, stamping it down, tapping it with a mallet, or rubbing the back with a baren.
- To cover a larger surface, repeat the motif, using registration marks or corner pins so each impression lines up with the last and the pattern tiles without a break.
- Let each colour dry before printing the next, building the design up layer by layer.
Block printing on fabric
Block printing is most closely tied to textiles. Printed cloth made this way is among the oldest decorated fabric in the world, and the tradition is still alive today, nowhere more so than in India, where artisans in Rajasthan towns such as Bagru and Sanganer, and the Ajrakh printers of Gujarat, press intricately hand-carved wooden blocks and natural dyes across cotton entirely by hand. Printing on fabric uses thicker, textile-specific inks or dyes and benefits from firm, even pressure, which is why a dedicated textile press or our A2 textile lino press can make the work far easier.
A short history
Block printing is ancient. Carved blocks were used to stamp patterns onto cloth in early China and Egypt, long before printing reached paper, and medieval European monasteries cut blocks to print textiles. The craftsman Cennino Cennini described the technique in a treatise around 1437, and from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries printed fabrics spread across Europe, from Augsburg to France and Britain. Through all these centuries the hand-carved block stayed essentially the same simple, reliable tool, and in many places, including India, hand block printing is still practised much as it has been for generations.
Getting started with block printing
Block printing is one of the friendliest crafts to try, because you need so little to begin. Carving and printing a simple block-print stamp is a perfect first project, and the linocut is the easiest block to carve. Our step-by-step guide for beginners walks you through it. All you really need is a block, some cutting tools, ink and a baren; when you are ready for larger work, explore our block printing presses. The glossary explains any other term you meet along the way.