Plate (printing)

“ A second branch of the art is plate printing, in which the lines and characters are engraved in intaglio in a plate, and which, being covered with ink, and the surface of the plate wiped clean, leaves the ink in the undercuts, which is taken up by the paper when pressure is applied through a roller. Plate printing is a very old art, the plate printing press having been ascribed to Tomasso Finiguerra, of Florence, in 1460. ”

“ If the center of the plate is devoted to one, obviously no more can be accommodated on it, but by placing one at each end, or one on each quarter of the plate, both economy of plates and convenience of printing are secured. The end may be readily accomplished by matting the plate as a negative is matted in printing. ”

“ A "dry point" plate is produced by drawing on a copper plate with a steel or diamond point, and without biting by acid. The lines are cut into the copper and a burr thrown up which holds the ink in printing, and produces a soft, velvety line. The method of printing such a plate is similar to that of an etching, but the possibilities are not as great in the printing, as they rest to a greater extent upon the work of the artist. A great depth of color, producing wonderfully rich effects, can be obtained and the finer lines can be made much more delicate than by any other method. ”

“ The plate, having been etched as deep as is safe, is then turned over to the router, whose business it is to cut out all the metal between ornaments and lettering to the proper depth. This done, the engraver, who in former years practically dug out the entire plate with his hand tools, comes in to give the finishing touches and correct any slight imperfection that may remain. It is of the utmost importance, of course, that the dies should be clear-cut and deep, to avoid clogging up in printing, particularly in the plates used for stamping (p. 223) in inks. ”

“ The plate can then be rolled with ordinary printing-ink, and impressions taken to any reasonable amount.
Space will not permit us to detail the various modifications of this process which exist under different designations. Metal plates can now, by a very similar treatment, be made ready for the etching acid. Wood-blocks which no artist but the sun has touched, can be given to the engraver ready to his hand. The lithographic printer is also independent of the draughtsman, for absolutely perfect fac-similes of maps, plans, &c.; line-subjects can also be produced in endless quantity. ”

“ The art of printing, in all its numerous departments, is essentially an art of copying. Under its two great divisions, printing from hollow lines, as in copperplate, and printing from surface, as in block printing, are comprised numerous arts.
84. Copperplate printing. In this instance, the copies are made by transferring to paper, by means of pressure, a thick ink, from the hollows and lines cut in the copper. An artist will sometimes exhaust the labour of one or two years upon engraving a plate, which will not, in some cases furnish above five hundred copies in a state of perfection. ”

“ In copperplate printing the whole of the plate is first inked, the flat surface is then cleaned, leaving ink in the incisions or trenches cut by the engraver, so that, when dampened paper is laid over the plate and pressure is brought to bear, the paper sinks into the incisions and takes up the ink, which makes an impression in line or lines on the paper. ”

“ Prints produced by the third method, copper-plate printing, give far greater difficulties to the photo-mechanical worker. Every pull from the engraved plate—etching scraper drawing and photogravure excepted—possesses a tone on its surface, which is, moreover, very unequal, and although increasing its artistic qualities, offers, however, considerable difficulties for reproduction. ”

“ There is the opportunity to play with, and work hard over, a plate. Perhaps the etcher has not, for reasons only known to himself, put in the plate all that can be shown in the print by ordinary printing. The printer actually has to interpret in his printing the etcher's meaning, for the which, as a rule, he gets "more kicks than ha'pence," and in the end wishes he had stuck to plain plate printing as far as the profit is concerned.
In the process of printing an etching, the printer first covers the plate with ink and then wipes it with the rags, and, if necessary, with the hand. ”

“ This built-up copper plate is very strong, and any number of pictures or letters—for they make moulds and plates of both—can be printed from them.
Then the editor said we should see the men printing from these plates, fastened into iron frames called "forms." So down ever so many winding stairs we travelled, until we came to a dark under-ground room, where the "Hoe" printing-presses are. ”

“ Some subjects require a slow plate, some a very quick plate. A medium rapid plate is the better plate for general use in all-round work. A very rapid plate is needed for instantaneous. If our correspondent has trouble with his plates, please write to the editor.
G. I. J. asks how the tint first obtained on the paper in printing can be preserved, if the toning-bath that tones the florograph-paper can be used for other papers, and if a picture can be easily over-developed. ”

“ Pin-perforated.—See Percé.
Plate is the term used, not always quite correctly, to describe the ultimate reproductions from the die which constitute the printing surface in the manufacture of stamps: the word covers not only a sheet of metal with stamps engraved on it, but also a group of clichés or a forme of printer's type and even a lithographic stone.
Plate number is the consecutive number of each plate of a particular value, appearing on the margin of the plates and (in some of the British series) on the stamps themselves. ”

“ Here the half-tone process ends, the resulting plate being produced by any of the photo-engraving methods; but the most satisfactory results are obtained by photo-etching. The main objection to the half-tone plates is their lack of relief. No great depth can be obtained without sacrificing the effect. In printing these plates the greatest care in making ready must be exercised, and a smooth surface paper must be used. It is also necessary that a fine grade of ink be used in small quantity, and that it should be properly distributed. ”

“ When the whole of the plate has been so inked, the impression is pulled. The results are beautiful, but the process of printing is exceedingly slow—three or four impressions a day, only, being obtainable from a moderate sized plate. ”

“ Printing is comparatively a modern invention, although impressing or taking impressions from seals is one of the very oldest. It is divided into two kinds, plate-printing and surface-printing. Printing from type or blocks having the marks to be impressed raised, is called surface-printing, while that in which the lines or marks are cut in, is called plate-printing. ”

“ Stereotyping is a cheap process. A plate of this page of type can be had for about one-half the cost of the composition. The stereotype plate has all the advantages pertaining to an engraving on a lithographic stone, and it is more durable and portable.
Typography has a marked advantage in the greater ease with which printing types are inked. In the copper-plate process, the plate must be first blackened over the entire surface, and then cleansed with even greater care, before an impression can be taken. This labor cannot be intrusted to machinery, but must be done by a practised workman. ”

“ The corrector takes a sharp tool, and punches a hole through the plate where the interloper is, just the size of the type, and then restoring a common type e, through the opening, cuts it off even at the back of the plate, and solders it in its place with lead. In this way a whole line of type is sometimes introduced for an incorrect line in the plate. The corrections being made, the plate is ready for the press. When not in use, the plates, being very valuable, are carefully put in a box,—a large book requiring several boxes. ”

“ The printing paper does not come in contact with the plate before the instant of printing or remain upon it after the operation, but is held to the cylinder by the grippers and mask, and so carried over the inked plate, consequently little opportunity is afforded for absorption of the etching fluid. With chalk paper and a new plate damping may be necessary every twenty-five impressions, but as the plate becomes older fifty or even one hundred may be printed between the etchings. On plain paper of hard surface much longer numbers may be expected. ”

“ As each color is placed, the plate is wiped clean with rags as already described, and when all the colors have been properly placed, the plate is pulled through the press in the same manner as in ordinary printing.
The successful printer of color plates must be a rare artist or else work under the direction of an artist. Little of this work is now done except in Paris and Vienna, and the limited number of color plates of this kind used for book illustration in this country does not warrant the time and expense necessary to train printers capable of doing the work. ”

“ If the printing is to be done on a hand press, a lithographic leather roller is charged with printer's ink, and the plate, which has been fastened on a suitable bed-plate in the press, is rolled up while it is still moist. ”

“ The principle of a print made from an engraved wood block is that the projecting parts are covered with a thin film of ink, and when the paper is lightly pressed down upon these lines it picks up the ink from the surface wherever it touches it. In the case of an engraved metal plate, the lines on which are cut in the same way and with a similar graver to that used for white line engraving on wood, the inking and printing is quite different. ”

“ The slenderness of the incised lines, the fineness and hardness of the metal, and the peculiar method by which the ink is laid on the plate and fixed to the paper, give to prints from engravings on steel or p020 on copper a sharpness of line, a brilliancy of color, a delicacy of tone, and a receding in perspective, which have always won for this branch of printing the preference of artists. Yet it is a slow and expensive process. A steel-plate engraver may be engaged for many months upon a large plate, from which but forty perfect impressions can be taken in a day. ”

“ It is the printing that makes its use expensive, rather than the making of the plates; and as each plate must be printed separately and on special paper, it cannot be employed with type, like relief blocks.
There is much uncertainty about the production of plates by the photogravure method; and although great improvements have been made in the process, it is often necessary to produce several plates before a satisfactory one is obtained. In all these reproductive processes the more artistic the workman the better the result ”

“ Sheets of thin tissue paper, pasted together and backed with damp unsized thicker paper, constitute the mold or matrix for the papier-maché process. They are firmly and evenly impressed on the page of type, which may be flat or curved, and are then dried upon the page. When dry the matrix is removed, and adjusted to an iron mold on which melted type metal is poured from several openings. The plate so made is then cooled, planed, and beveled to fit the press. All the operations, aided by machinery, are made with great speed. Ten minutes is the ordinary time. ”

“ The earliest engraving of a printing press shows a stout framework of wood posts, firmly braced against the ceiling to resist upward pressure, a bed plate of stone as a rest for the form of type, which could be exposed to receive ink, and then be slid upon ways under the platen or pressing surface. ”

“ The inking and cleansing of the plate, always dirty and disagreeable work, has hitherto been done only by hand. All the manipulations of copper-plate work are slow and difficult: they present many obstacles to the use of labor-saving machinery.
In lithography the design to be printed, which may be engraved on stone or copper, or written with pen on paper, is transferred by a greasy ink upon the smooth surface of a stone of peculiar fineness and firmness. ”

“ A batch of sheets of printing paper, prepared and damped as described in Chapter V, lies between boards just beyond the block. The pad lies close to the block at the right on oily paper pinned to the table. To the right also are a dish or plate on which a little ink is spread, the printing brush (broad for the key-block) , a saucer containing fresh paste, a bowl of water, a small sponge, and a cloth. Nothing else is needed, and it is best to keep the table clear of unnecessary pots or colour bottles. ”

“ They are very sensitive to water and are regarded as one of the best preventatives of the cleaning of used stamps. Beautiful results are obtained by printing stamps in two colors. Of course, this necessitates the use of two plates for each design. This also gives rise to some interesting varieties, caused by one part of the design being printed upside down. Such oddities are scarce and are highly valued by philatelists.
When a plate is to be printed from, it is first warmed, then the ink is applied and rubbed into the lines with a pad. ”

“ A noteworthy consequence of the increased sale of the "Pickwick" numbers was the serious deterioration of the plates caused by friction in printing, as for every impression the plate must be inked and the superfluous ink removed by wiping with the hand. In those days the process called "steel-facing," by means of which the etched or engraved surface is hardened, was unknown, so that, comparatively, only a few impressions could be struck off before the plate indicated any appreciable sign of wear-and-tear. ”