Zincography

Zincography is a graphic arts technique used since the 19th century. It belongs to the general category of relief printing, as it prints what is raised from the metal surface.

Inventors of zincography are considered to be:

• The English Colonel Sir Henry James.

• The German Eberhard in 1804.

• The English painter-engraver Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) in 1840.

The technique was perfected by Glyn and Appel in 1845.

In zincography, a zinc plate covered with ink or varnish is used. The zincographer draws the image they want to print on the plate and then places it in a nitric acid solution to etch it lightly. The white parts of the image are created with indentations. After the acid dries, the plate is coated with a new layer of ink or varnish using a roller, without covering the lines of the drawing. This process is repeated until the layer of ink or varnish becomes thick enough. Then, through electrolysis, a print (cliché) is made from the plate, which is then placed in the printing press along with the text.

Zincography developed throughout the 19th century in Europe, dominating the illustration of publications and impacting traditional engraving techniques and methods because engraving images on zinc was both faster and cheaper. Zincography workshops thus operated in every major European printing house.

In Greece, a precursor form of zincography, which was likely electrotyping or glass printing on zinc, appeared around 1870. It was introduced by the innovative professor of Applied Mechanics and Railways, Iason G. Zochios (c. 1840-1909).

Zincography became more widespread after 1894 (at which time the terms "zincography workshop" and "zincographic" appear in the Athenian press), running parallel to photo-zincography, with which it is sometimes confused in publications. The earlier zincographers, such as the prolific Eleftherios G. Kazanis (1861-1930) and Aristeidis Laios (1871/3-1965), were trained in woodcut. The award-winning Kazanis began producing trichromes from 1907 and eventually became a photographer.

Zincography in Greece reached its peak, though this did not always equate to quality, during the early decades of the 20th century and the Interwar period, during which the term "zincographers" was often erroneously used to refer to photo-zincographers.