Etching is when artists cover a steel or copper plate with a layer of wax. The wax protects the surface, and the artist uses a sharp tool to scratch, or etch, the design through the wax. While with engravers a soft metal plate is used, typically copper, and the design is engraved into the metal using a special tool called a “burin.” A burin is a steel rod that’s sharpened diagonally at one end to create a controllable cutting edge. The use of the burin to cut an image into the metal using a series of lines of varying width and depth. The length and depth of the lines helps to create different tones and shades. Deep lines will hold more ink than shallow ones, which produces a darker tone when printed.