In 1967 the Printmakers Workshop (now Edinburgh Printmakers) was established in Edinburgh by a small group of artists, including Philip Reeves. This was the first open-access print workshop in Britain, and soon attracted the financial support of the Scottish Arts Council. Edinburgh Printmakers Workshop established a new culture of shared experimentation and knowledge between artist and artist-printer, in contrast to the continental tradition where artists paid for printing services and rarely worked directly on the presses. During the 1970’s the Edinburgh Printmakers Workshop model was followed by artist-run print studios that opened in other Scottish cities - Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Dundee. A network of artist-run print studios now exists throughout Scotland - a feature unique to this country. The larger Scottish studios have comprehensive facilities for etching, lithography, screen-printing, and relief printing; and in addition operate active programmes in print-publishing, gallery and touring exhibitions, and education. As a result a continuous flow of artists from Scotland, England, and overseas, makes use of these facilities, and printmaking is now widely regarded as a major, accessible art form.

Edinburgh Printmakers aims to promote the understanding of printmaking and pursue excellence in its practice by providing, maintaining and staffing an inexpensive open-access studio and free admission gallery.

Studio: Located in the centre of Edinburgh, the two-level gallery adjoins one of the most attractive and well equipped studio spaces in Britain. Studio facilities are provided at reasonable cost for any artist who wishes to work in etching, lithography, screenprinting or relief printing.

Use of the studio is for anyone, professional printmakers, artists and beginners alike. They run a yearly membership scheme, with access open to anyone who has some experience in one or more printmaking media. As well as Scottish artists, They have had artists visiting and working here from countries such as Germany, France, Mexico, Spain, former Yugoslavia, Slovenia, Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Iceland, Indonesia, Portugal, Ireland, Iran, Czechoslovakia, Italy, India, Holland, Japan and Singapore.

Their intensive weekend courses also provide access for people new to printmaking and equip the person with enough knowledge to start work in the studio with confidence.

Exhibitions Programme: To complement the work on show by the resident artists they have a rolling programme of exhibitions representing the whole spectrum of contemporary graphic art. Previous exhibitions have ranged from the graphic works of artists such as Jake & Dinos Chapman, Tracey Emin and Gavin Turk to Marc Chagall, David Hockney, Matisse and Picasso and contemporary American prints by such artists as - Andy Warhol and Jim Dine - to the wealth of talent that exists in Scotland itself.

Edinburgh Printmakers carries work by leading established artists as well as innovative new-work by contemporary up and coming artists. The diverse range of artists is reflected in the variety of styles and approaches represented in their print collections available for sale.

Collaborative Publications: The Studio's programme of collaborative editioning projects includes co-publications with many leading UK and European artists, all of whom are now working with them to explore the possibilities offered by non-toxic printmaking methods. They also specialize in publishing thematically based print folios, each of which is, in itself, a small collection of original art.