Impressions taken from a print, drawing, or printed or handwritten textual work, by pressing the original against a sheet of damp paper, often by passing it through a rolling press. Some of the ink of the original is transferred to the damp paper; the resulting image appears in reverse and may be fainter than the original. The original may be damaged in the process. Counterproofs are often made as part of the working process and are used as aids in correcting for the final version. In some cases, counterproofing was used to produce the finest quality copperplate printing; the second print consisted of delicate lines, and lacked the beveled impressions seen in the original print. Counterproofs are sometimes created as forgeries of valuable prints and drawings but the mirror image gives such copies away. For images or marks that result from an unintentional transfer of ink or other medium, use "offsets."
