Steel engraving, an engraving technique, based on steel instead of copper or wood. Steel engraving was introduced in 1792 by Jacob Perkins (1766-1849), an American Inventor, for the use of banknote printing. When Perkins moved to London in 1818, the technique in 1820 became adapted by Charles Warren and especially by Charles Heath (1785-1848) for Thomas Campbell's Pleasures of Hope with the first published plates engraved on steel.