Which printmaking technique uses a raised surface to create images?

The printmaking technique that utilizes a raised surface to create images is relief printing. In this method, areas of the print surface that are raised are inked and then pressed onto paper, resulting in an image that is ostentatiously defined by the inked areas. This is a foundational technique in printmaking, and examples include woodcut and linocut, where the artist carves away the non-image areas from a block, leaving the raised parts to produce the print.

Other techniques differ significantly from relief printing. For instance, intaglio involves incising or engraving a design onto a metal plate; the ink is held within the grooves, making it the opposite of relief printing. Lithography relies on the principle of oil and water repelling each other, with images drawn on a flat stone or plate. Etching uses acid to cut into the surface of a metal plate to create an image, which is also distinct from the raised surface employed in relief printing. Each of these techniques has its unique processes and results, emphasizing why relief printing is categorized separately.