The resulting grooves hold ink for printing from. It is a very exacting craft, requiring great skill, but was favoured due to the beauty of the line and the expense of acids. Another factor in it’s attractiveness, was that the earlier acid etchers tended to etch into steel, which was a slow process and lacked the finese of the engraved line. In its day engraving was the high tech premier method for book illustration and the reproduction of art work, putting affordable art in the hands of ordinary people for the first time.

Durer is often regarded as the greatest ever engraver.