Not in the additive sense. Batik is a resist technique: wax is applied to keep dye off chosen areas, so the design appears where the cloth was protected. Block printing, by contrast, stamps the dye directly onto the cloth.

How do I tell batik from a block print?

Look for the crackle. True batik usually shows fine dark veins where the wax cracked and dye seeped in, and the design is the undyed ground color. A block print shows a crisp, repeated stamped motif with small hand-registration shifts and no wax crackle.

Can a cloth use both?

Yes. Indian and Indonesian workshops sometimes combine resist and print techniques on one cloth, and wax can itself be applied with a block (a cap) rather than drawn by hand, which blurs the line between stamping and resist.

Side by side

Batik vs Block Print

Batik and block printing are two ways Indian and Indonesian craft put pattern onto cotton, and they work in opposite directions. Batik is a resist: hot wax is drawn or stamped onto the cloth, the cloth is dyed, and the waxed areas stay undyed, leaving the design as the original color with a fine crackle where the wax broke. Block printing is additive: a carved wooden block is inked and stamped to lay the colored design directly onto the cloth.

Batik

No. 065

wax-resist dyed, plain weave · first documented Antiquity

Block Print

No. 156

pattern stamped from hand-carved wooden blocks · first documented Antiquity

The differences

Aspect	Batik	Block Print
How color is applied	Resist: wax blocks dye, so the design is where dye did not reach.	Additive: dye is stamped onto the cloth where the block touches.
Signature mark	Fine cracked veining where the wax broke and dye seeped in.	Crisp repeated motifs, with slight registration variation by hand.
Design	Often dense, flowing, pictorial; built dye bath by dye bath.	A repeating carved motif (the buti) stepped across the cloth.
Tradition	Java and Indonesia above all; also India.	The hand-block towns of Rajasthan, Bagru and Sanganer.

Which to choose

If the pattern is the cloth's own color held back from the dye, with a telltale crackle, it is batik. If the colored motif was stamped onto the cloth from a carved block, it is block printing. One keeps dye off; the other puts dye on.

Common questions

Is batik printed?: Not in the additive sense. Batik is a resist technique: wax is applied to keep dye off chosen areas, so the design appears where the cloth was protected. Block printing, by contrast, stamps the dye directly onto the cloth.
How do I tell batik from a block print?: Look for the crackle. True batik usually shows fine dark veins where the wax cracked and dye seeped in, and the design is the undyed ground color. A block print shows a crisp, repeated stamped motif with small hand-registration shifts and no wax crackle.
Can a cloth use both?: Yes. Indian and Indonesian workshops sometimes combine resist and print techniques on one cloth, and wax can itself be applied with a block (a cap) rather than drawn by hand, which blurs the line between stamping and resist.

Full entry: Batik Full entry: Block Print

Sources & References

1.Batik, Wikipedia
2.batik, Wiktionary
3.Woodblock printing on textiles, Wikipedia
4.Textile printing, Wikipedia