RESEARCH

HAND PRODUCED TECHNIQUES

Intaglio etching linocut screen Print woodcut lithography

INTAGLIO

Intaglio is a family of printmaking techniques in which the image is incised into a surface, known as the matrix or plate. Normally, copper or zinc plates are used as a surface, and the incisions are created by etching, engraving, drypoint, aquatint or mezzotint. To print an intaglio plate, ink is applied to the surface and then rubbed with tarlatan cloth to remove most of the excess. The final smooth wipe is often done with newspaper or old public phone book pages, leaving ink only 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 recesses of the plate to the paper.

Intaglio techniques are often combined on a plate. For example Rembrandt's prints are referred to as "etchings" for convenience, but very often they have engraving and drypoint work as well, and sometimes no actual etching at all.

ETCHINGEtching is a printmaking process using sheets of metal such as; Copper or zinc. This Technique dates back roughly 500 years. Etching can be very costly depending on how complicated the person wants to make their piece, it also can be very time consuming.

Etching is a very long process, first the metal is coated in wax so you are able to create your drawing using a burin on the wax surface. The metal plate will be submerged into a bath of acid so that the acid will eat away the parts that are not protected by the wax. Eventually the wax ground is removed and ink is forced into the etched impressions made by the burin to create an image on the piece of metal.

John Sloan, Turning Out the Light, 1905, etching, image.

Etching can be created using different colours of ink, however most people chose to use blank ink to create their images as it is easier for them rather than having to try and fill a specific part of the etching with coloured ink

LINOCUT

Linocut is another printmaking technique. This printmaking technique dates back to 1905 when the artist Die Brücke from Germany used this technique similarly for wallpaper printing.

A sheet of linoleum is usually if not always mounted on a woodblock (for the relief surface). A design is then cut not engraved into the linoleum sheet using a V-shaped chisel or gouge. The raised areas act as a mirror image to show the parts to show printed. A brayer is then used to cover the linoleum sheet with ink, after this has been done it is then impressed onto a piece of paper or a piece of fabric. Linoleum is the best material to use for this type of printing technique as the sheet will not split like the grain on wood tends to do when cut.

Colour linocuts can be made by using a different block for each colour as in a woodcut, but, as Pablo Picasso demonstrated quite effectively, such prints can also be achieved using a single piece of linoleum in what is called the 'reductive' print method. Essentially, after each successive colour is imprinted onto the paper, the artist then cleans the lino plate and cuts away what will not be imprinted for the subsequently applied colour

"Kennawash“ by John Well-Off-Man, linocut

SCREEN

Screen printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink-blocking stencil. The attached stencil forms open areas of mesh that transfer ink or other printable materials which can be pressed through the mesh as a sharp-edged image onto a substrate. A roller or squeegee is moved across the screen stencil, forcing or pumping ink past the threads of the woven mesh in the open areas.Screen printing is also a stencil method of print making in which a design is imposed on a screen of silk or other fine mesh, with blank areas coated with an impermeable substance, and ink is forced through the mesh onto the printing surface. It is also known as silkscreen, seriography, and serigraph

Caviar beadsagain a glue is printed in the shape of the design, to which small plastic beads are then applied – works

well with solid block areas creating an interesting tactile surface.Discharge inksused to print lighter colours onto dark background fabrics, they work by removing the dye in the

garment – this means they leave a much softer texture. They are less graphic in nature than plastisol inks, and exact colours are difficult to control, but especially good for distressed prints and underbasing on dark garments that are to be printed with additional layers of plastisol.

Expanding ink (puff)an additive to plastisol inks which raises the print off the garment, creating a 3D feel.Flockingconsists of a glue printed onto the fabric and then foil or flock (or other special effect) material is applied

for a mirror finish or a velvet touch.Four colour process or the CMYK color modelartwork is created and then separated into four colours (CMYK) which combine to create the full

spectrum of colours needed for photographic prints. This means a large number of colours can be simulated using only 4 screens, reducing costs, time, and set-up. The inks are required to blend and are more translucent, meaning a compromise with vibrancy of colour.

Glitter/Shimmermetallic flakes are suspended in the ink base to create this sparkle effect. Usually available in gold or

silver but can be mixed to make most colours.Glossa clear base laid over previously printed inks to create a shiny finish.Metallicsimilar to glitter, but smaller particles suspended in the ink. A glue is printed onto the fabric, then

nanoscale fibers applied on it.Mirrored silverAnother solvent based ink, but you can almost see your face in it.Nylobonda special ink additive for printing onto technical or waterproof fabrics.Plastisolthe most common ink used in commercial garment decoration. Good colour opacity onto dark garments

and clear graphic detail with, as the name suggests, a more plasticized texture. This print can be made softer with special additives or heavier by adding extra layers of ink. Plastisol inks require heat (approx. 150°C (300°F) for many inks) to cure the print.

PVC and Phthalate Freerelatively new breed of ink and printing with the benefits of plastisol but without the two main toxic

components - soft feeling print.Suede InkSuede is a milky coloured additive that is added to plastisol. With suede additive you can make any

colour of plastisol have a suede feel. It is actually a puff blowing agent that does not bubble as much as regular puff ink. The directions vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but generally you can add up to 50% suede additive to your normal plastisol.

Water-Based inksthese penetrate the fabric more than the plastisol inks and create a much softer feel. Ideal for printing

darker inks onto lighter coloured garments. Also useful for larger area prints where texture is important. Some inks require heat or an added catalyst to make the print permanent.

PRINTCreated indirectly, through the transfer of ink from the surface upon which the work was originally drawn or otherwise composed. The artist determines how many prints are to be made in an edition, usually signing and numbering each one (and sometimes separately producing one or more artist's proofs. Depending on the complexity of the process chosen, the artist may work in conjunction with an expert printmaker, and make use of a printing press, a baren, a brayer, and/or a squeegee.

Reem Hashim,printmaking, ''Self-Portrait,''

WOODCUTThe art of the woodcut print has a long tradition particularly in the Chinese and Japanese cultures. Woodcut printing is capable of a wide range of effects from the subtle, poetic, multicolour, detailed prints of the Oriental artists to the bold, expressive, graphic, black and white prints of the German Expressionist artists in the early twentieth century. Making a woodcut print is simple, does not require expensive material and can even be done without a printing press. Materials required for creating a woodcut print are as follows:     •     Block printing ink – either water based or oil based    •     Wood block – soft wood like pine or linoleum    •     Ink roller – rubber    •     Woodcutting tools – V-shaped, U-shaped and straight edged    •     Printmaking paper – acid free printmaking paper – either standard white or handmade papers of any type    •     Wood spoon or printing press – large wood spoon with a broad flat back surface or an etching press    •     White pencil – conti or pastel pencil

A woodcut begins as a design sketched on a block of wood that has been covered with a white ground. All wood not part of the design is cut out with a sharp gouge.The raised design is

coated with ink by rocking a leather-covered wooden tool called a dabber over the block. The gouged areas are thus kept ink-free A sheet of paper is next

placed on the inked block and imprinted on it by a means of a vertical press. Pressure is applied gently so as to avoid damaging the wooden relief work.

The finished print is peeled from the block. A single wood block, if carefully handled, can yield a few hundred clear impressions before the raised design begins to chip.

The earliest woodcut attributed to Dürer shows St. Jerome in his study pulling a thorn from a lion's paw; it was used as a frontispiece for a collection of St. Jerome's letters published in Basel in 1492.

LITHOGRAPHY

Charles Marion Russell's The Custer Fight (1903)

Lithography has been used for various filmography and other visual things. Lithography originally used an image drawn in wax or other oily substance applied to a lithographic stone as the medium to transfer ink to the printed sheet. In modern times, the image is often made of polymer applied to a flexible aluminum plate. The flat surface of the plate or stone is slightly roughened, or etched, and divided into hydrophilic regions that accept a film of water and thereby repel the greasy ink, and hydrophobic regions that repel water and accept ink because the surface tension is higher on the greasier image area which remains dry. The image may be printed directly from the stone or plate (in which case it is reversed from the original image) or may beoffset by transfer to a flexible sheet, usually rubber, for transfer to the printed article.

MECHANICAL PRODUCED TECHNIQUES

Letterpress

Gravure

Screen process

LETTERPRESSLetter pressing. The printing quality achieved by a modern letterpress machine with UV curing is on par with flexo presses. It is more convenient and user friendly than a flexo press. Water-wash photopolymer plates are used which is as good as any solvent-washed flexo plate. Today even CtP (computer-to-plate) plates are available making it a full-fledged, modern printing process. Inking is controlled by keys very much similar to an offset press. UV inks for Letterpress are in paste form, unlike flexo. There are various manufacturers of UV rotary letterpress machines, viz. Dashen, Nickel, Taiyo Kikai, KoPack, Gallus, etc. which also offer hot/cold foil stamping, rotary die cutting, flatbed die cutting, sheeting, rotary screen printing, adhesive side printing, and inkjet numbering. The central impression presses are more popular than inline presses due to their ease of registration and simple design.

GRAVURE A type of intaglio printing process, that is, it involves engraving the image onto an image carrier. In gravure printing, the image is engraved onto a copper cylinder because, like offset and flexography, it uses a rotary printing press. The vast majority of gravure presses print on rolls (also known as webs) of paper, rather than sheets of paper. (Sheetfed gravure is a small, specialty market.) Rotary gravure presses are the fastest and widest presses in operation, printing everything from narrow labels to 12 feet (4 m)-wide rolls of vinyl flooring. Additional operations may be in-line with a gravure press, such as saddle stitching facilities for magazine/brochure work. Once a staple of newspaper photo features, the rotogravure process is still used for commercial printing of magazines, postcards, and corrugated (cardboard) product packaging.

Typical gravure printed products include:Greeting cardsMagazinesFood packagingWall paperWrapping paperFurniture laminatesPaneling 

Gravure printing is an example of intaglio printing. It uses a depressed or sunken surface for the image. The image areas consist of honey comb shaped cells or wells that are etched or engraved into a copper cylinder. The unetched areas of the cylinder represent the non-image or unprinted areas. The cylinder rotates in a bath of ink called the ink pan.As the cylinder turns, the excess ink is wiped off the cylinder by a flexible steel doctor blade. The ink remaining in the recessed cells forms the image by direct transfer to the substrate (paper or other material) as it passes between the plate cylinder and the impression cylinder.The major unit operations in a gravure printing operation are:Image preparationCylinder preparationPrintingFinishing

SCREEN PROCESSScreen printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink-blocking stencil. The attached stencil forms open areas of mesh that transfer ink or other printable materials which can be pressed through the mesh as a sharp-edged image onto a substrate. A roller or squeegee is moved across the screen stencil, forcing or pumping ink past the threads of the woven mesh in the open areas.Screen printing is also a stencil method of print making in which a design is imposed on a screen of silk or other fine mesh, with blank areas coated with an impermeable substance, and ink is forced through the mesh onto the printing surface. It is also known as silkscreen, seriography, and serigraph.

DIGITAL PRODUCED TECHNIQUESPhotocopying

Laser printing

Inkjet

Desktop publishing (DTP)

Digital screen printing

PHOTOCOPYINGPhotocopying is widely used in business, education, and government. There have been many predictions that photocopiers will eventually become obsolete as information workers continue to increase their digital document creation and distribution, and rely less on distributing actual pieces of paper.How it worksCharging: cylindrical drum is electro statically charged by a high voltage wire called a corona wire or a charge roller. The drum has a coating of a photoconductive material. A photoconductor is a semiconductor that becomes conductive when exposed to light.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 therefore discharge to ground. The area of the drum not exposed to light (those areas that correspond to black portions of the original document) 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.A4 black & white   3p per side

A3 black & white   6p per sideA4 colour             12p per sideA3 colour             24p per side

LASER PRINTING a computer printer that produces high-resolution output by means of a process that is similar to photocopying. In place of reflected light from an image (as is used in xerography), a laser printer uses data sent from a computer to turn a laser beam on and off rapidly as it scans a charged drum. The drum then attracts toner powder to the areas not exposed to the light. Finally, the toner is fused to paper over a belt by heated rollers. In a write-black printer the laser positively charges the printed areas to attract the toner, which gives better detail than a write-white printer. In a write-white printer, the beam negatively charges the areas not to be printed to repel the toner, which gives a denser image. Faster, quieter, and capable of producing more attractive results than standard printers, laser printers have become an important means of printing business documents since they became more generally available (1984) for personal computers.

INKJETAn inkjet printer is a type of computer printer that creates a digital image by propelling variable-sized droplets of ink on to paper. Inkjet printers are the most commonly used type of printer and range from small inexpensive consumer models to very large professional machines.The inks used are usually water-based (aqueous) and use either pigments or dyes as the colourant. The inks used must have a volatile component to form the vapour bubble, otherwise droplet ejection cannot occur. As no special materials are required, the print head is generally cheaper to produce than in other inkjet technologies. The thermal inkjet principle was discovered by Canon engineer Ichiro Endo in August 1977.

DESKTOP PUBLISHINGThere are two types of pages in desktop publishing, electronic pages and virtual paper pages to be printed on physical paper pages. All computerized documents are technically electronic, which are limited in size only by computer memory or computer data storage space.Virtual paper pages will ultimately be printed, and therefore require paper parameters that coincide with international standard physical paper sizes such as "A4," "letter," etc., if not custom sizes for trimming. Some desktop publishing programs allow custom sizes designated for large format printing used in posters, billboards and trade show displays. A virtual page for printing has a predesignated size of virtual printing material and can be viewed on a monitor in WYSIWYG format. Each page for printing has trim sizes (edge of paper) and a printable area if bleed printing is not possible as is the case with most desktop printers.A web page is an example of an electronic page that is not constrained by virtual paper parameters. Most electronic pages may be dynamically re-sized, causing either the content to scale in size with the page or causing the content to re-flow.

Page layout is the process by which the elements are laid on the page orderly, aesthetically, and precisely. Main types of components to be laid out on a page include text, linkedimages that can only be modified as an external source, and embedded images that may be modified with the layout application software. Some embedded images are rendered in the application software, while others can be placed from an external source image file. Text may be keyed into the layout, placed, or (with database publishing applications) linked to an external source of text which allows multiple editors to develop a document at the same time.