How to start printmaking at home (and make your first print)

If you're looking for a creative hobby that doesn't involve a screen, an expensive machine or a studio, try printmaking. With a few basic materials and a kitchen table you can make real prints at home, and your first one can be done in about half an hour.

This guide covers what printmaking is, which techniques work at home, what you need, and how to make your first print, step by step, with a photo of every step.

What is printmaking?

Printmaking means making a picture on one surface and transferring it onto paper. Instead of drawing on the page, you work on a block or plate, put ink on it and press paper on top. The print comes out as a mirror image, with the texture and small imperfections that make every print a little different.

You can print from almost anything: wood, lino, foam, cardboard, glass, even leaves or half a lemon. For centuries, printmaking was how pictures and books were copied. Today people do it for the process, and for the moment you peel the paper off and see what appears.

Printmaking techniques you can try at home

• Block printing. Ink the raised parts of a surface and press them onto paper. Foam, cardboard, stamps, carved lino or building blocks all work, and square blocks are a natural fit for pixel art. It's bold, graphic and the easiest place to start.
• Monoprinting. Roll or paint ink onto a smooth surface like glass or acrylic, draw into it, and press paper on top. You only get one print of each.
• Screen printing. Push ink through a fine mesh screen with a paper stencil. Good for tote bags and T-shirts, but it needs more equipment.
• Letterpress. Printing with letters, from stamps, foam letters or type. Remember that the print is mirrored, so text has to be set back to front.

What do you need? (No press required)

A lot of people think printmaking needs a heavy press. It doesn't. Hand pressure works very well, and printmakers have used the back of a wooden spoon for centuries. A home setup is:

• a printing surface: carved lino, foam, or blocks you can build with
• printing ink: water-based block printing ink is easiest to clean up
• a roller (a brayer) and a smooth sheet to roll the ink out on
• paper
• pressure: your hands, a spoon or a clean rolling pin

Make your first print, step by step

For this example we used the inkBlox Starter Kit, a pixel art printmaking kit where you build the picture from small blox on a baseplate instead of carving it. The steps are the same for any block print.

1. Design your picture

Start simple: an animal, a heart or a letter as a small piece of pixel art. Draw it on grid paper or design it in the free inkBlox app. A print is a mirror image of the block, so flip your design before you build it. The app's mirror preview does that for you. For a picture without text, you can also skip the design and build straight onto the baseplate.

2. Build the design

Press the blox onto the baseplate following your flipped design. This is the part where you can still change everything: if a blox is in the wrong place, lift it off with the blox remover and move it.

3. Roll out the ink

Squeeze a line of ink onto the plexiglass sheet and roll it out with long strokes in one direction, not back and forth, until you have a smooth, even layer. You can even put two colours side by side for a colour fade.

4. Ink the blocks

Roll the ink over all the blox. Press firmly so the roller reaches every block, including the small ones at the edges. If ink lands somewhere you don't want it, wipe it off with a tissue before you print.

5. Lay down the paper

Put one edge of the paper down first and hold it, so it can't slide once it touches the ink. Then slowly lower the rest until it's flat.

6. Press

Press the paper onto the blox with your hands and fingertips. More pressure is better: every block has to touch the paper. Light spots in a print usually mean a corner didn't get enough pressure.

7. Peel the paper

The best part. Peel the paper off slowly from one end and watch your pixel art appear on the paper. (Film it. Everyone does.)

Let the print dry flat. Then rinse the blox, baseplate, roller and sheet with water and a little soap; the ink is water-based. Your blocks are ready for the next design, or for another print of the same one.

Pelican print designed and printed by Eric from the inkBlox team.

Everything for your first print in one box. The inkBlox Starter Kit has a baseplate, 700 blox in five shapes, five Schmincke inks, a roller and an inking sheet. No carving, no press. See the kit (€74.50) →

Tips for beginners

• Start with one colour and a small, simple design.
• Borrow from pixel art. Pixel art and cross-stitch patterns are already drawn on a grid, so they're easy to turn into a block design.
• Use less ink than you think. Too much ink fills the gaps and blurs the edges. If the print looks blobby, roll the ink thinner.
• Try different papers. Thin, slightly textured paper often picks up the ink better than thick card. Every paper gives a different result.
• Print more than once. The second or third print is usually better than the first, as the blocks take up the ink evenly.
• Mark the corners of your block on the paper if you want to add a second colour later, so the layers line up.

Why printmaking is worth trying

Printmaking is slow in a good way. Rolling ink, pressing paper and pulling a print gets you off the screen and back to your hands. It works for an evening on your own, and for a family project at the kitchen table. With a buildable block there's also nothing sharp, so kids can do every step, and kids who already love pixel art rarely need convincing.

Curious where this way of printing comes from? Read how artists started printing with building blocks.

Make your first print this weekend. Get the inkBlox Starter Kit (€74.50) → · Download the free app →