Block printing is the oldest method of printing. This is the simplest of the printing techniques and requires very limited material. A block of material (usually wood) has a design drawn on one flat side. The design is carved by cutting away the spaces between the areas that form the pattern, thus placing the design in a raised position. Thus the block has a negative portion and positive design portion which is raised design or design in relief. A separate block is required for each colour in design. Colour is applied to the surface of the block and the block is then pressed onto the cloth thus an impression of the positive design is made on the cloth. Great care is required to line up the blocks exactly and to overprint with different colours in exactly the right spots.
For producing multi-coloured prints many blocks are employed, each of them providing a part of the final design. This method is a laborious and time-consuming, since a very large number of impressions have to be made to print the whole design on the entire cloth. As a result, the production is low. However, no special printing machines are required in block printing. In India, Sanganer and Bagru prints of Rajasthan are popular examples of hand block printing (Fig. 10.1).
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