Linoleum printing is experiencing a renaissance: with simple tools, anyone can create personalized cards or invitations in small print runs, even at home.
What is linoleum printing?
Similar to woodblock printing, linoleum printing is also a letterpress process: the surface that is higher is inked and transferred to the paper. Since linoleum has only existed for about 150, linoleum print art is only in the last century. The most famous artists are Henri Matisse, M. C. Escher and Pablo Picasso, who created either monochrome or multicolor art prints. Linocut artists love the slightly bold and simplistic flat color print of the linoleum plate.
What is a linoleum plate?
The linoleum plate is slightly porous (to better absorb the ink), but is considered homogeneous in surface. This is an important difference from woodblock, which has strong grains.
Classically, linoleum consists of linseed oil, cork flour and has jute fabric as a substrate. Alternatively, plastic rubber plates (similar to eraser material) are used for letterpress printing. These alternatives are especially suitable for smaller motifs.
What materials and tools do you need for linoleum printing?
What do you need for linoleum printing, you ask? If you look at the headlines of this article, you may get the impression that you need a lot. I recommend you always start with the minimum: a linoleum plate and carving tools. Everything else you can add little by little. So here is a comprehensive list, which is only meant as a guideline.
Linocut plates
Linocut plates are the most important material. The linocut plates are available from small (about A6) to large (90x130cm). In the last decades the quality of the plates has improved drastically. Gone are the days when the plate must be processed with a lot of force. Linoleum printing plates come in different colors and sizes. The porosity also determines how well a lino plate binds the ink and then transfers it to the paper. In addition, plates have different densities: some are softer than others. This can be especially relevant for large projects. That's why it's important here to test the different plates and not buy the first one that comes along.
Pure vinyl plates are very soft and can be used as stamps for small designs. This lack of resistance, but at the same time can be a disadvantage, because you quickly "slip" on the surface and it comes to errors.
Erasers work well for small projects. These can be cut and carved and make nice test projects. Otherwise, cardboard or foam rubber can be cut out on motif and then mounted on cardboard. This is a cheap way to create an effect similar to linoleum printing.
Linocut tool
The most important linocut tool is carving knives in different sizes and shapes. For beginners, it is advisable to purchase a set consisting of a screw holder and various blades. With more experience it is worth buying more expensive carving knives, which are more resistant. You will need at least two types: a contour knife in V-shape and a flat lifter in U-shape. To keep your linoleum carving tool sharp (this reduces the risk of injury) I recommend that you also buy a sharpening stone or a diamond grinding plate. This way you can enjoy your carving knives for a long time.

Linocut Christmas Card on Japanese Paper
Linocut paper
When choosing paper, you should pay attention to three aspects:
- What structure should the paper have?
The surface structure of the paper also determines the print image. The smoother the surface, the smoother the printed area on the paper. However, these surfaces are often coated and absorb less ink accordingly. - How thick can the paper be?
The lower the grammage of the paper the more flexible and the more all details are captured. However, the lack of stiffness can be a disadvantage when positioning the paper. If printing by hand, the paper should not be heavier than 250g/m2, as printing onto the linoleum plate is very difficult. Thicker papers should only be used with a printing press. - How expensive should the paper be?
Since linoleum printing is mostly used to make multiple prints, the price of paper is very important, especially for larger print runs. Since the first print is usually poor, initial test prints can be made on newsprint, paper remnants, etc. Japanese and Chinese papers are particularly cheap (although very thin).
As an alternative to paper, polyester film or fabric can be used. Special inks are needed for linocuts on fabric. Also, textiles absorb a lot of ink.
Lino printing inks
Classic lino printing ink is a bit thicker and dries slowly. Most of the time it is water soluble. Performing linoleum printing with acrylic ink is worthwhile only for small motifs (for example, on erasers or on foam rubber). The ink is applied so quickly that it does not have time to dry.
There are also different price ranges and qualities of linocut inks. Artists' paints have better miscibility and higher light fastness. However, craft lino inks can be applied better and more saturated with hand printing, which is a great advantage for beginners.
Which ink is suitable for lino printing? Actually, any ink that can be applied to paper, that does not dry immediately, and that also adheres to the linoleum surface. If you don't want to buy special paints, you can mix your acrylic paints with a printing medium (available from Daler Rowney) or drying retarder, or just try a few drops of dishwashing liquid. These solutions are ideal in the beginning, when you want to test the technique, but very quickly you will reach your limits with them.
Printing machines
Since most people do not own printing machines, this topic is only touched on here. If you are interested, art academies and adult education centers offer courses in working with linoleum printing presses. For papers up to approx. A3 there are printing presses for linoleum printing. Here, paper and linoleum plate are pressed together in the press with great pressure. Other machines are available for linoleum printing. With the cylinder press, for example, the paper is pulled onto a roll and the roll is rolled onto the linoleum plate with pressure.

Materials for hand printing
Other linocut materials
But this is not the end of the story. Especially if you want to print by hand, additional materials are necessary.
For the ink transfer to the plate you need:
- Ink roller
- Glass plate or plastic plate for rolling out the ink
- palette knife for mixing the ink
Hand printing can be done with the help of a soup spoon or with the help of a pressure roller or a hand pen.
How can I get started with linocut and printing?
To get started, a small and inexpensive lino printing starter set is a good investment. Lino printing sets usually include lino printing ink, a plate, lino printing tools, and a roller. Usually the lino printing set is only enough for one print. And there is ink left over. So it may be worthwhile to buy all the parts separately and buy several linoleum plates for it.
Instructions for linoleum printing
The most important thing is to prepare the workspace. Lino printing needs space, lots of space. This is because the delayed drying time of the linoleum ink means that the papers need to be put down or hung up individually.
It is also recommended to separate the three work steps spatially:
- Linoleum cutting generates a lot of waste. The removed linoleum creates a lot of dirt and should not get on the paint to prevent contamination.
- Rolling on the ink is an important step where the printer defines not only the mixture of the ink but also the amount on the roller: too much and the indentations will be filled with ink, too little and the ink application will be blotchy.
- When printing on, the hands and the workplace should be clean. Fingerprints and ink stains can ruin a work.
How to make a linocut?
In a linocut, the linoleum plate is carved. Lines and areas are removed from the plate to create motifs. It should be noted that the plate is mirrored by the print. If the motif has a direction (e.g. words, letters), then the motif should be mirrored and transferred to the surface. For this purpose, with the help of tracing paper, the motif can be traced, and then through a layer of tracing paper, the turned tracing paper and its motif can be transferred to the linocut plate.
Otherwise, pencil can be used to sketch directly onto the plate. The very brave simply carve away without a guideline!
The outlines of the motif are marked with a narrow contour knife. Then the negative areas are removed with a U-shaped knife: along the cut surface and if possible always in one direction.
Rolling up the paint
Beginners are recommended to start with one color. Black is a good choice because mistakes are easily visible later. The first thing to do is to spread the paint on the glass or in the plastic tub to coat the roller evenly with paint. With practice, you will notice how much paint is ideally on the roller. The amount depends on the subject, the plate and the paper. Here, practice makes perfect.
With experience, you can mix your own colors, or create ombré effects. A palette knife is very helpful here.
Hand printing
The printing paper should be larger than the printing plate. To avoid leaving the position of the print on the paper to chance, it is advisable to prepare the printing area. To do this, mark the paper size and the position of the plate on the workstation. Laying aids are absolutely necessary in case of several prints or in case of lost print. One corner of the paper is outlined with cardboard or linoleum scraps. The same is done diagonally for the linoleum plate. In this way, neatly positioned prints can be produced.
By slightly moistening the paper, the ink transfer is improved and the final result becomes more saturated. A splash with a water sprayer is sufficient here. There should be no puddles of water on the paper, otherwise the ink will run. Again, try it out and practice!
Once the plate and paper have been superimposed, the pressure should be increased and evenly distributed. This can be done with a spoon, a pressure roller or with a hand pen.
Linocut techniques
One-color prints are a good place to start for the beginner. Either motifs from the Internet are used, or your own are created. Here the challenge lies in dividing the image into light and dark. How to deal with the different shades? Different tonalities can be created by creating structures.
In doing so, you have to decide what to color before printing. For letters, for example, you can leave the letter as it is and print on it, or remove the letter shape and let the colored environment make the letter shine brightly. Accordingly, one speaks of black printing (positive printing) or white printing (negative printing).
The introduction of multiple colors supposedly simplifies the transfer of images to paper, but nevertheless, printing simplifies the color palette, and the use of patterns and textures is still recommended so that the images do not look too bold.
There are two options available to the printer:
- Multiple linoleum plates: a separate linoleum plate is used for each color. These can partially overlap (which leads to great effects, especially with transparent and semi-transparent colors) or can be distributed over independent areas, but this can quickly look messy.
- One plate: Here, a part of the plate is removed between each print and then coated with a new color. This means that it is no longer possible to refer back to the previous impression. This technique is therefore called lost print or lost plate. So here you have to think about what else is needed before each linocut.

Example of a lost plate - the previous prints can no longer be made
And now?
Finally, linoleum prints are labeled with a sharp pencil:
- the number within the edition compared to the total print, with both numbers separated by a horizontal bar (e.g. 4/10) goes in the lower, left corner
- signature and year go in the lower, right corner
Lino printing is a lot of fun! In the beginning some materials have to be purchased. However, the other costs are kept within reasonable limits.
It's a great way to create cards at home in multiples. It's also a more affordable art form because artists can define the price by the number of prints. I also like to use linoleum prints in my art journals, either as a stamp substitute, or to put beautiful designs on paper.
I hope I could inspire you to take a first step towards lino printing!
Yours Karli