Photogravure (also called heliogravure) is an intaglio printmaking technique. A photographic negative is transferred onto a copper plate using light sensitive chemicals. This is then printed like an etching.

Photogravure was a popular means for creating high-quality reproductions of photographs, in large editions, mainly from the mid-1880s to the 1910s. The process was developed by William Henry Fox Talbot (1800 – 1877) in the 1840s. In 1883, Thomas Annan and his son James Craig Annan secured the British rights for the previously secret process of photogravure. The process revolutionised the publication and reach of photography.

Methods and materials

To make a photogravure the artist begins with a metal plate, usually copper, zinc or steel, which has been prepared using aquatint. Aquatint is a powdered rosin (or resin, usually derived from pine sap) which is dusted in a fine layer on the metal plate and gently melted onto the surface. When immersed in acid to etch, the acid bites around the granules of the powder to create a roughened surface on the plate. This surface will hold ink and prints as a granular-looking black/grey tone.

Light-sensitive gelatin is applied to the prepared metal plate and ultraviolet light is used to transfer an image from photographic film (historically glass) onto this surface. The areas of gelatin exposed to ultraviolet light will harden; areas covered by parts of the photographic image will remain soft. The still-soft gelatine is washed away leaving only the hardened image on the plate. The hardened gelatin is acid resistant and acts as a ‘ground’, protecting these areas from etching. The plate is submerged in acid and the image is bitten (etched) into the surface. The printmaker rubs the plate with ink and wipes the surface clean, leaving ink within the incisions. When passed with paper though a press, the pressure pushes the paper into the marks, pulling the ink from the design and creating the print.

Photogravures have a smooth, continuous tonal range and extremely fine grain. The image on the copper plate can be added to or manipulated, like an etching, which allows for creative working and wide range of effects in the finished work.