- Potatoes

-Newspaper

- Pencil

-Carving knife

- Knife

- Acrylic paint

-Paint brushes

-Tissues

- Fabric

-T- shirts

-Card

How to guide:

1. Firstly,you need to design what prints you want to carve into your potatoes. If this is your first time doing it you should start with simple shapes with little detail because it can be hard if you try to do designs too intricate. For example, I started with letters,a heart and a music note as these were simple designs and it was my first time.

2.You should then chop your potato in half using a chopping board and a knife. You will also then need to dry the excess water of off the potato because it could affect the quality of the print by making it wet.

3. You should then take a marker pen and draw your design clearly onto a piece of potato. The clearer the design is the better because then it will make carving easier. You could also use a pencil and press the pencil into the potato to make the design look as if it has been cut out a bit. When I done this it made it easier for me to carve.

4. You then need to take a knife or a carving knife and carve your design out. You need to make sure you carve a significant layer of potato of off the outside of your design. You also need to ensure you even the edges out to ensure your print will look as smooth as possible.

5.Once you've carved your design you need to put paint on the potato then press it onto any material, which could include t-shirts or an assortment of materials. You should press your potato down firmly and don't move it around once it is pressed on the material to avoid smudges.

6. You then need to leave it to dry and this could be done by putting it on a radiator and leaving it for a few hours.

7. You then need to clear up everything and clear up the excess potato as there may be a lot!

Skills and knowledge gained: Before doing potato printing I thought that it would be quite simple, but it wasn't. Carving my design out of potato needed me to be quite steady with the knife and to pay attention to the little details. I learnt about a type of print and learnt how you can make prints onto just about anything with little materials!

Costs: 

Potatoes: £5 for 5

T shirts £3 for one white plain t-shirts

Acrylic Paint £1 in poundland for an assortment of colours

Paintbrushes 80p for 2 paint brushes

Paper plates: 20 plates for 99p

Carving knives

Nail: 5p for one

Sponges : £1 for 12 sponges or 8p per sponge

Paper: 1p per sheet , I used 4

Christmas cards : Pack of 20 for £3

Speed: The longest part of potato printing is the carving. The more detailed your design is, the longer it will take to prepare. We started preparing at our potato's at 11 o clock in the morning and I finished my final print at half 12. Once the potatoes were prepared and carved the printing part was easy and not time consuming at all.

Health and safety: You couldn't do this process without using a sharp tool to carve the potatoes. I used a fairly big knife to carve my potatoes and this meant I had to watch out for my health and safety. I did this by ensuring I was careful with the knife and never aimed it towards my chest. I always carved away from myself to avoid hurting myself with the knife.

Experiences: I enjoyed doing the potato printing because it allowed me to be creative with my designs and allowed me to learn new skills such as , potato carving and a skill in printing. I thought this was a good way of showing my understanding of printing and I could use it in the future to produce more prints.

Is it relevant? I think that this is relevant to the other printing techniques because it shows that you don't need to spend a lot of money to make prints like some techniques need. It also shows how not all printing techniques require a lot of skill and knowledge and that everyone can do it.

Advantages: An advantage to digital screen printing is that it doesn't use separate screens for each colour so it means the colour is unlimited and the process is easier and less time consuming. As well it means there is no required minimum order size for items designed with digital printing so it makes it a more versatile print. You can also create much more detailed designs due to the fact the ink is applied thinner than it would be on the screen process.

Disadvantage: A disadvantage to digital screen printing is that it is limited on the number of surfaces on which the technique works and as well only shirts with white or light colours can be used. Any dark fabrics have to be screen printed so this puts a limitation on the process.

Skills & knowledge required: You will need knowledge of how to do the process and also about what fabrics and colours to use.

Costs: Digital printing does have a higher cost per page compared to more traditional printing methods, but the price is usually offset by avoiding the costs of the technical steps that are needed to making the printing plates.

Speed: This process isn't very time consuming because it doesn't use separate screens for each colour so you therefore don't need to use time up changing the screens.

Technical considerations: You need to consider whether digital printing or the screen process is best for the design you want. Digital printing is more suited to designs with a high amount of detail and orders that are in a small quantity.

Uses through history: Digital printing presses began in 1993 and this came along with the development of computers. Xerox played a large role in the development of digital printing.

Advantages: An advantage to desktop publishing software is that it allows you to import pictures into your document, whether they are pictures you've taken or found online you will be able to add them in and use them however you want. Another advantage is how you can create professional looking documents with little knowledge of design. The software is easy to use for a range of people with different experiences.

Disadvantage: A disadvantage to DTOP is that you could lose your work. Once you have created documents you may not have save it and your computer could shut down and you would not be able to recover it. This makes DTP not very reliable.

Skills & knowledge required: You do not need many skills or knowledge to use desktop publishing because it is fairly simple, but a knowledge of computer basics beforehand would help a lot.

Costs: Different desktop publishing softwares cost differently, but some can cost around £25 and others can be even more expensive than that.

Speed: The speed of DTP depends on the user. If you are experienced or pick up the software quickly you will create documents at a fast speed, but others may find it harder and it may take them longer.

Technical considerations: You need to consider what DTP software is best for you and the documents you produce, different ones are better for certain documents.

Uses through history: Desktop publishing originated in 1983 by James Bessen at a community newspaper in Philadelphia. The programme was called type processor one and it ran on a PC using a graphics card for display. Nowadays, there are loads of different DTP software.

Advantages: Inkjet printers are normally smaller than laser printers so it means they are more suited to smaller offices or home use. As well as being smaller they are normally quieter so when in a small office there isn't any need to worry about noise causing a problem.

Disadvantages: Ink cartridges in inkjet printers often get clogged or dirty, which then either blocks the ink droplets or causes them to land incorrectly. The way to resolve this is to initiate a long self-cleaning process which uses up valuable ink and costs you more money. Laser printers do not have this problem. As well as this another disadvantage is the fact that you can't use all types of paper with an inkjet printer. If you use the wrong type of paper you run the risk of the printed ink smearing and could then get all over your hands or clothes.

Skills & knowledge required: You need to have a knowledge of knowing what type of inks and papers you need to use for this specific printer. You need to have the skill of being able to change the ink cartridges.

Costs: Inkjet printers are cheaper than laser printers especially if you only need a basic printer to accomplish normal printing tasks at a reasonable quality level. However, inkjet printers ink cartridges are sometimes expensive to replace. If you are likely to be printing a lot then the cost of the cartridge replacements will add up.

Speed: Inkjet printers take no time at all to print your desired print and can take seconds!

Technical considerations: You need to consider carefully the type of paper you use in the printer because it could result in your print being ruined if you use the wrong type of paper. You also need to ensure that the ink doesn't get clogged and if it does you will need to fix it immediately.

Uses through history: Inkjet printing originated in the 19th century and the first bit of technology for it was developed in the early 1950s. In the 1970s inkjet printers that could reproduce digital images generated by computers were developed mainly by , Epson, Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Canon.

Advantages: A big advantage to laser printers are the fact they produce a very high quality print. The high quality is due to the fact the printers utilise electro-photography which results in a high quality output. Another advantage to laser printers is that they barely emit any sound, which means they are well suited for work the place.

Disadvantages: A huge disadvantage to laser printers is the fact they are known to be hazardous to the atmosphere and your health. The printers have high voltages when running and a small amount of ozone is generated which can therefore damage the ozone layer. As well as this some laser printers have been known to emit particles that are suspected to cause respiratory diseases.

Skills & knowledge required: There is little skill or knowledge needed to use these printers, but you will need a knowledge upon what ink cartilige to use when it needs changing and how to do it.

Costs: Laser printers can be quite costly to begin with and then can get even more costly due to the maintenance, service and repair. This is another reason as to why they are more suited to businesses and not home use.

Speed: Laser printers are sometimes known as 'page printers' due to the fact they print documents a page at a time which means they work at a very fast performance rate.

Technical considerations: When using a laser printer you need to consider whether it is suitable for you. These printers are more well suited to businesses as oppose to a household because it can be expensive to maintain and repair.

Uses through history: The first laser printer was invented by George Starkweather in 1978 who was a Xerox employee. The first model, the Xerox 9700, was able to print 120 pages per minute, but unfortunately was too large and therefore not ideal for smaller businesses or home use.

As years went by the demand for more office equipment at home grew and Hewlett Packard release the first line of desktop laser printers in the early 1980s that were made easier for home use due to the fact they used disposable toner cartridges that were easy to replace.

Advantages: The best thing about photocopying is how easy it is to create multiple copies. Photocopying is best for mass production of print because copies are made within seconds with no effort really at all needed. As well the prints are cheap to produce after the main machine has been purchased.

Disadvantages: A main disadvantage to photocopying is that you don't get the highest quality prints. The prints you get from it are good, but you can get more high quality from techniques such as gravure. Another disadvantage is that some photocopiers can be quite big so they do take up a lot of room and are not very easy to manoeuvre.

Skills & knowledge required: To photocopy you don't really need any skills or knowledge. The process is extremely simple so you do not need to have any specific skills to work it. You of course will need a knowledge on how the machine works though.

Costs: Once you have bought the photocopying everything else will be fairly cheap. The photocopier is the most expensive component and once set up you will only need to pay for paper and ink.

Speed: Photocopier is extremely fasts and produces copies in seconds! Photocopiers are good for mass printing because it can produce a lot of documents in a small amount of time.

Technical considerations: When photocopying you need to consider the amount of paper and ink you will need to avoid it running out and you being unable to make any prints.

Uses through history: The photocopier was invented in 1937 by Chester Carlson who was an attorney and also a part time researcher and inventor. Chester Carlson invented a process called 'electrophotgraphy' which later developed into photocopying. His job required him to make a large amount of copies of important papers and he got frustrated by the expense and difficulty of copying documents. This frustration led him to doing experiments with photoconductivity, which then led him to invented a method of transferring images from one piece of paper to another using static electricity. It took Chester 15 years to establish basic principles of electrophotographic and the process was renamed 'Xerography'. The first known photocopy was called the '10-22-38 Astoria'.

Advantages: In the screen printing process the ink is applied thicker than in digital printing so it therefore makes the colours brighter on both light and dark materials. Screen printing is best for designs that need a high level of vibrancy.

Disadvantages: Screen printing is not as good at creating designs that require a lot of detail. This is due to the fact that the ink is applied thicker so it is harder to create intricate designs. Since the ink is applied thicker it can sometimes mean a thick finish which ruins the appearance.

Skills & knowledge required: You need to have a skill and knowledge at the actual process and the different materials you need to use.

Costs: The price of screen process printing depends on the scale, but is normally quite expensive.

Speed: Screen process printing is a very fast form of printing and is one of the fastest there is.

Technical considerations: You need to consider how much detail is in the design to decide whether the screen process (not good with a lot of detail) or digital printing (good for detailed designs) is best for the particular product.

Uses through history: Screen printing started in China and is a form of stencilling. It was then later adapted by other Asian countries like Japan, and then further developed by creating newer methods.

Advantages: The main advantage to gravure printing is that it produces high quality documents and is used to produce things such as magazines, packaging and printing onto fabric and wallpaper. Gravure printing produces bright prints that look professional and of a very high standard.

Disadvantages: The cost of gravure printing is high because of the expensive equipment that is needed. This means that this print making process is only good for long print runs.

Skills & knowledge required: You need to be able to pay attention to detail with this to ensure the process is being done correctly. You will need a knowledge on the best way to do this process and how to get the best results.

Costs: The cost of gravure printing is high because the engraving plate is expensive to make and the cylinders are also expensive to maintain.

Speed: The speed of gravure printing is fairly fast because it is used to print magazines which will need to be printed for a deadline so therefore be printed fast and efficiently.

Technical considerations: You need to consider the ink and the best way to remove the ink to ensure you don't mess up the final product.

Uses through history: Gravure printing started in the 1300s by artists of the Italian renaissance.

In these times fine etchings and engravings were cut by hand into soft copper.

Advantages: An advantage to letterpress printing is that it is an extremely uncomplicated technique. Letterpress printing is suitable for self publishing your own handmade books or creating professional looking documents such as invitations and leaflets. Once you have set up your own letterpress, printing a lot is quite easy and takes little effort. Another advantage is the quality of letterpress printing being very high. Letterpress printings allow you to create documents that are crisp with clean lines and bold images. As well as this the prints are printing with high pigment level ink which means the images and typography are sharp.

Disadvantages: A disadvantage to letterpress printing is that every time you apply a different colour you have to wait for it to dry before applying another colour. This can cause complications when trying to create something colourful. Another disadvantage to letterpress printing is the complications that come with want to print images. When wanting to use photographs and drawings you must convert it to a photo engraving which is a slow and expensive process that turns images into raised metal dots and lines. This means that it can add money and time to the production process.

Skills & knowledge required: When doing letterpress printing you need to be good at critical thinking because you will need to assess an solve any problems that could arise in the process. As well you need to be good at paying attention to all the different elements such as the different colours you may use to ensure they don't smudge. The knowledge you will need for this process is a knowledge on the method of letterpress printing and also a knowledge of how all the different materials work best.

Costs: The more colours you use in letterpress printing the more expensive it will be because you will have to purchase these. As well as extra costs for colours there is also an extra cost for using photographs and drawings as these have to go through a different process which costs money and takes time.

Speed: The speed of letterpress printing can be slow depending on how many colours you use. Every time you add a colour on you have to allow it time to dry before using another colour so if you want to create something with a range of different colours it may take a long time.

Technical considerations: When working in letterpress printing you need to consider the best materials for the job and what product you can create best. The products that are most suitable for this type of printing are self published books and professional documents like invitations.

Uses through history: Letterpress printing began in the 1400s and was the main printing technique for communication for more than 500 years. It began as a primary method of publishing books and remained a very popular choice for hundreds of years. Nowadays, it has evolved to be more of an art form than a standard printing practice. We can now use letterpress printing to create commercial works that have a great quality in comparison to digital printing methods.

Advantages: An advantage to lithography printing is that the process is able to create clear and sharp looking images due to fact rubber is used compared to other methods using metal plates. Another advantage to lithography printing is that it is a very versatile technique. You can print many different products, for example magazines,newspapers and alternatively objects such as prints on cloth, plastic and wood.

Disadvantage: A major disadvantage to lithography is the materials used because they are complex and highly specialised. This therefore means it is expensive and harder to gather the materials than other methods.

Skills & knowledge required: Skills required for lithography include time keeping - to ensure the products are made a suitable amount of time- and attention to detail to ensure each and every detail of the designs are how they should be.

You should also have a knowledge of how the process has developed and what the best materials and methods you should be used to create the best prints possible.

Costs: The process of lithography was originally invented as a cheaper alternative to copperplate engraving. This isn't the best print making technique when trying to save money for small businesses because the cost of each page goes down as the quantity of printing goes up so this means it is more suitable companies looking to print a large quantity who have a bigger budget to spend.

Speed: The speed of lithography printing is fairly quick due to the fact the machines print simultaneously on both sides of the paper. You can expect some lithographic machines to print as many as 50,000 sheets per hour. However, the drawing can take up to 40 hours beforehand.

Technical considerations: You need to consider the best way to take advantage of the water and grease to create the prints that you want.

Uses through history: The print making technique of lithography was invented around 1796 in Germany by a play writer known as Alois Senefelder. He accidentally discovered lithography when trying to duplicate his scripts by writing them in crayon on slabs of limestone and then printing them with rolled on ink.

Advantage: An advantage of woodcutting compared to other print making techniques is that it has a long term durability when kept in the right conditions. Over time the stress of the print will degrade the quality; however, it still stays strong.

Disadvantage: A disadvantage in previous years of woodcutting was that the wood wasn't as good as copperplates because they were unable to convey detail information as well as copperplates could.

Skills & knowledge required: When working with woodcuts you do not need as much skill as you would need for other materials such as linoleum. This is because it is quite a forgiving material so it allows space for mistakes. You do however need to be able to pay attention to small details.

Costs: Woodcutting is a cheap printmaking technique because the materials needed are all fairly cheap. The materials include wood,printing ink, suitable substrates and different tools like knives chisels and gouges. All of these materials are cheap and accessible.

Speed: The time it takes to create a woodcut print depends on the size and level of the detail in the design. When carving a woodblock you can expect it to take anywhere from a few hours to several days.

Technical considerations: You need to consider the best approaches for different designs and how to create little details into the wood.

Uses through history: Woodcut was originally used in Europe in the 1400s for old master prints. A very old and famous example of woodcutting in history is one that was done on paper called The Fire Madonna, which can be seen in the Cathedral of Forli, in Italy.

Advantages: The process of screen printing involves the force of ink into fibres where it gets absorbed and integrated into the fabric. This means it is durable and the designs are sure to stay printed on. Items produced this way can last for years. Another advantage of screen printing is that the screen can be made to any size needed so you can always create different sized of images.

Disadvantages: A disadvantage to screen printing is the limit on the mixture of different colours. This is due to the fact of the colours being pushed through the mesh which then means it is hard to create accurate colours without them merging together. Another disadvantage is that it is hard to create intricate designs due to the screens used.

Skills & knowledge required: Skills required for screen printing include When working with screen printing you will need to have a knowledge of the different materials you're going to be using and how to work best with them. You will also need a knowledge of the actual process.

Costs: Once you have the right equipment for screen printing the rest of the process isn't expensive to keep doing and the extra materials are fairly cheap.

Speed: This type of print is good for producing business documents so therefore means it must be a fast technique to produce a large amount of prints in a short amount of time.

Technical considerations: You need to consider the different inks needed for the job this can include the different colour inks.

Uses through history: One of the most recognised artists of screen printing is Andy Warhol who popularised screen printing in the United States. Warhol's most famous piece was his 1962 depiction of Marilyn Monroe which was screen printed using garish colours.

Advantages: Linocutting is a simple form of print making which therefore makes it a popular one. It is also cheap and there isn't a risk of injury.

Disadvantages: A big disadvantage to linocutting is that the main material in the technique (linoleum) traps sub floor moisture. This means that the moisture produced can damage other things.

Skills & knowledge required: Two main skills you will need for linocutting include skills in carving and creativeness. You will need to be good at carving because you will need to carve different patterns and designs and this is where the creativeness comes in because you will need to be creative when creating the different designs.

Knowledge: You will need to have a knowledge in the actual process and also a knowledge in the different materials you can use for this process.

Cost: Lino cutting materials can cost a lot of money, but once up and running are cheap to keep re-producing.

Speed: Linocut printing is quite a time consuming print because the materials are expensive and therefore can be hard to collect which makes production slow.

Technical considerations: You need to consider the tools you need to use for this print which include v shaped chisels, knife or gouges.

Uses through history: Linoleum in linocutting was originally used for floor covering in the 1860s, but then in Germany between 1905-13 it was used by Die Brucke where it was used for wallpaper printing.

Advantages: An advantage of intaglio printing is that it is able to create lots of prints at one time. As well as this the plates used on the machine last a long time so you save money because you don't need to replace them very often. Another advantage of intaglio printing is that it is a very versatile method and can be used for anything a customer wants.

Disadvantages: However, intaglio printing can take a lot of time and is a long and slow process. This means that a lot of time can be lost. As well, the materials needed are very expensive and as the process is long the production is expensive to run as well.

Skills & knowledge required: You need to have a knowledge of the art of intaglio and how to do it correctly to make the best prints possible.

Costs: Copper is needed for intaglio printing and copper is an expensive metal due to the high demand and the small supply of it.

Speed: The process of intaglio is slow and takes a lot of time.

Technical considerations: You need to consider getting access to the best metal for intaglio to ensure the prints come out good.

Uses through history: Intaglio printing originated from Germany in the 1430s and one of the most famous intaglio artists was Albrecht Durer. Engraving had been used by goldsmiths to decorate metalwork, which included musical instruments, religious objects and armour. It has been said that goldsmiths began to print impressions of their work to record their designs and that was where printmaking began.

Advantages: One big advantage of etching is that the material is not subjected to burrs and stresses. As well as this other advantages include short delivery times and low tool costs. Etching also allows there to be freedom when designing which is good when doing intricate designs.

Disadvantages: A big disadvantage to etching is some gases that are used can be quite toxic and corrosive and therefore can impose a great health risk. Another disadvantage is that you need to use specialised equipment for the process which may not be accessible.

Skills & knowledge required: Skills needed for this particular print based job include critical thinking skills to be able to asses strengths and weaknesses in different solutions and problems. Also, you will need to be able manage time effectively to get the job done in time to meet deadlines.

Knowledge required for this job is quite specific because you will need to know about the different processes, controls, costs and techniques for etching to be successful at it. You will also need a knowledge of computers and electronics such as circuit boards, processors, chips etc.

Costs: When pricing up etching you need to take into consideration the preperation process such as art work set up, film work and more which will all cost you. You then need to chose between brass etched sheets and nickel silver etched sheets, brass etched being cheaper. The cost will then depend on the size you choose, for example A3 Brass costs £63.50 and A3 Nickel silver costs £79.00. The materials for etching are more expensive than the actual process.

Speed: Depending on what you want to etch depends on the speed of the process. If you want to etch something small it doesn't take long at all. In the video below you can see how little time you need to etch something simple.

Technical considerations: You need to consider getting the different materials for this job such as metal and acid.

Uses through history: Etching was originally used by goldsmiths in the middle age to decorate items such as guns, armour, plates and cups. The process is thought to have been invented by Daniel Hopfer (1470-1536) who was a craftsman that applied the technique to armour and then to print making uses iron plates.