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A artistic image printed, usually on paper, using a plate or die.

A very useful annual plant that produces long fibres in its stalks. It is used in papers that require a very refined pulp. It brings whiteness, lightness and helps to give the paper very good mechanical strength.

A process exclusive to ARCHES®. After being made on a cylinder mould, ARCHES® Aquarelle paper is dipped into a bath of natural gelatin, which penetrates to the core of the paper.

Gouache (from the Italian “guazzo”) is a water-based paint, like watercolour, but it has more covering power and is opaque. The binder or solvent used for this paint is traditionally gum arabic and it is diluted with water. Gouache is a distemper.

The grain of a paper is the texture of its surface, which can be of varying degrees of smoothness, the smoothest being satin grain. ARCHES® papers are known for their smooth, regular grain, obtained by making the paper on a cylinder mould and thanks to

A printing process that consists of marking paper or a product by pressing gold or silver (or other) leaf onto it. It is the only hot stamping process that is capable of faithfully rendering a metal effect, in particular for gold and silver. Printing inks

Ink consists of two essential components: a pigment for the colour and a binder that serves as a vehicle for the colour and fixes it on the paper. The pigments used in modern inks are very varied, while the binders are mainly vegetable, mineral or

The art of incising a metal surface with a burin to reproduce a drawing so that it can be printed on paper. The print is obtained by inking the whole of the metal plate and then wiping the surface so that the ink remains only

The aim of sizing is to make the paper more resistant to liquid absorption so as to limit the penetration of water and inks. The sizing agent is deposited either on the fibres in the pulp (each fibre is “coated” with size), or on the

Operation that consists of applying a plastic film to the surface of paper. This is a finishing or treatment operation for printed surfaces.