Printing Processes

Printing Processes

Relief:

This process starts with cutting away parts of the linoleum or wood to make raised areas. These are the parts that will be printed. The areas that were cut away will be white/negative space in the final product.

1. Block is prepared by toning (to easily see removed areas of wood)

2. Drawing can be transferred by iron oxide/carbon paper transfer

3. Decide which form of white line or black line composition

4. Design is cut/gouged into the block

5. Ink is rolled over the surface

6. Placed on the press and passed through transferring

Relief art

Intaglio:

This is ingraving or scratching away black ground. Artists usually use hatching or crosshatching to create images. The parts removed is where the ink will go (lines become image that will be printed).

1. Prepare plate (polish and clean)

2. Apply ground

3. Smoke plate (ground is heated and absorbs soot)

4. Scratch away ground

5. Etching the plate

6. Rinsed

7. Ground removed and plate cleaned

8. Wiping plate with ink

9. Remove excess ink

10. Plate is laid on press and run through it

Intaglio art

Lithography:

Artwork is drawn with a greasy material on a lithographic stone. The idea is to treat the stone and have the grease pulled down into it. The drawing is then replaced with greasy ink to make a print.

1. Apply gum arabic to establish the non-image area (make sure the whites of the stone stay that way)

2. Apply acidified gum arabic (TAPEM)

3. Remove some of it and replace it with fresh gum arabic

4. Use cheese cloths to buff

5. Wash it out with lithotine.

6. Drawing is replaced with asphaltum (to create a greasy receptive base or the ink)

7. Drawing “disappears,” see fairly clear imageSponge stone, roll ink onto it.

8. Put it through printing press to push ink into stone (do it over and over again until it’s a full inking)

Lithographic art

For my first go, I would probably try Relief printing. It seems pretty simple to do and I
don’t think it would turn out that bad. I’m not sure I’d want to try Lithography because
I don’t really understand it (the process seems a little confusing). The same goes
with Intaglio, even though I watched the videos, it’s just not making sense. These old
methods influenced new designers by showing how you can effectively make an exact
copy of something without damaging it. They also show what is possible with just a stone
or block of wood, no photoshop needed.