High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Wood engraving is a technique in printmaking where the "matrix" worked by the artist is a block of wood. It is a variety of woodcut and so a relief printing technique, where ink is applied to the face of the block and printed by using relatively low pressure. A normal engraving, like an etching, has a metal plate as a matrix and is printed by the intaglio method. In wood engraving the technique for working the block is different from woodcut, using an engraver`s burin to create very thin delicate lines, and often having large dark areas in the composition, though by no means always. Wood engraving traditionally utilizes the end grain of wood as a medium for engraving, while in the older technique of woodcut the softer side grain is used.