There are two principal methods of stone-printing, Relief and Intaglio.

In the former, the fatty parts of the stone are not attacked by the etching fluid, while the rest of the stone is dissolved more or less. Therefore the fatty places are left in relief.

In the second method, the design is either engraved into the stone with a sharp steel instrument or etched-in with acid.

The relief method has the advantage of greater speed and, generally, a greater number of impressions. It is easy for the artist to apply, especially in crayon work. The intaglio, however, makes possible finer and more powerful work, and again, in many cases, is the easier of the two for the artist. Therefore it is impossible to say in a general way which is the better. It depends on the work to be done.