Printing TechniquesJill Allden

Hand Techniques

Etching

Etching is a printmaking process that dates back 500 years. The etching process involves sheets of metal, usually made of copper, and acid. The acid is used to etch the print onto the metal. You may choose to create different effects with different methods, but you will always rely on acid to etch the plate.

“Evidence indicates that etching was used in the Middle Ages in Europe and maybe even earlier. The design is absolutely critical when selecting etching stencils. Think about the material you plan to use, the image you want to create and the overall visual impact.”

–(techgeek.com)

Intaglio

Intaglio is a family of printmaking techniques in which the image is incised into a surface by a various number of etching and engraving methods. Collographs are also considered to be intaglio plates. Collographs are plates that, instead of being etched into, are worked on the surface with materials the user wishes. Collographs end up producing a lot of fine detail if done correctly.

To print an intaglio plate, ink is applied to the surface and then rubbed with cloth to remove most of the excess. The final smooth wipe is often done with newspaper, after which only ink is left in the incisions. A damp piece of paper is placed on top and the plate and paper are run through a printing press that, through pressure, transfers the ink from the plate to the paper.

Linocut

A linocut is a form of Intaglio where, instead of engraving or etching into a metal plate, the plate is instead a shape of linoleum or rubber.

This type of intaglio is not as detailed as the others due to the flexibility of the lino when cutting.

Screen Print

A screen print is when the desired image is cut out of paper like to create a stencil. The paper is then put on one side of a mesh and then ink is forced through using a roller or squeegee.

Woodcut

Woodcut is another form of Intaglio where the image is this time carved into a block of wood – not metal.

The blocks or plates of wood themselves are cut along the grain (as opposed to Wood Engraving, where they are cut against the grain)

Lithography

Lithography is similar to Intaglio in that it is a completely smooth, flat plate of either stone or metal which is etched upon. However, instead of being etched into regions that are raised and regions that are lowered, the plate is etched into regions that accept water and repel ink or that repel water and accept ink.

Mechanical Techniques

Letterpress

Letterpress printing is a type of relief printing and was used for centuries. We would recognise it as the same type of printing performed by typewriters – individual letters have their own carved plates that are inked and then pressed into the page when the letter is ‘typed’.

Gravure

Rotogravure (roto or gravure for short) is a type of intaglio printing process that involves engraving the image onto an image carrier.

In gravure printing, the image is engraved onto a copper cylinder – it is a cylinder because it uses a rotary printing press.

Most gravure presses print on rolls (or webs) of paper rather than on sheets of paper. Gravure presses that print on sheets of paper is considered a specialty market.

Rotary gravure presses are the fastest and widest presses in operation, printing everything from narrow labels to 4 m wide rolls of vinyl flooring.

Digital Techniques

Photocopying

A photocopier is a machine that makes copies of documents and visual images quickly and cheaply. Most current photocopiers use a technology called xerography, a dry process using heat. The process of xerography is in five stages – Charging, Exposure, Developing, Transfer and Fusing.

“Charging: cylindrical drum is statically charged by a high voltage wire or a charge roller. The drum has a coating of a photoconductive material.

Exposure: A bright lamp illuminates the original document, and the white areas of the original document reflect the light onto the surface of the photoconductive drum. The areas of the drum that are exposed to light become conductive and discharge the static. The area of the drum not exposed to light remain negatively charged. The result is a latent electrical image on the surface of the drum.

Developing: The toner is positively charged. When it is applied to the drum to develop the image, it is attracted and sticks to the areas that are negatively charged (black areas), just as paper sticks to a toy balloon with a static charge.

Transfer: The resulting toner image on the surface of the drum is transferred from the drum onto a piece of paper with a higher negative charge than the drum.

Fusing: The toner is melted and bonded to the paper by heat and pressure rollers. This example is of a negatively charged drum and paper, and positively charged toner as is

common in today's digital copiers. Some copiers, mostly older analog copiers, employ a positively charged drum and paper, and negatively charged toner.”

-(wikipedia.org)

Laser Printing

Laser Printing has the same principals as photocopying – A drum is electrostatically charged and the ink is oppositely charged and attracted to the correct parts of the paper to produce the printed document. However, instead of the charged areas being designated by an existing document, these areas are designated by the document being sent from the computer to the printer.

Inkjet Printing

Inkjet printing is just as the name suggests – the printer shoots jets of ink at the paper into the areas that require ink. As well as in Laser Printing, colours are mixed on the page from CMYK cartridges in the printer itself.

Desktop Publishing

Desktop Publishing, or DTP, is a term usually used to describe the layout of a document or image etc that is going to be printed on a mass scale.

There is a range of software available for this, a common home-available one being Microsoft Publisher. These programs are different from other programs because all of the content is intended to be printed or published. Other programs can create work that is only viewed on a computer or projector.