In their National Endowment for the Arts–funded project the authors sought to provide artists with an innovative method for creative expression using electrolytic etching techniques long used in the electronics and biotech industries. Using scientific methods, the electrolytic etching process was improved and then compared side by side with copper etched in ferric chloride after analysis with an AFM. The optimized electrolytic etching method proved to be superior to classical acid etching in intaglio printmaking.