Printing frame

“ It is far better to have a printing-frame that is so fixed that it will never shift its position in the slightest degree. To this is fastened a little movable frame that has two steel needles whose position is adjustable at will. Lubricate the leather inside with wax and lay a sheet of white paper on it. See that the tint plate is so fastened in the press that it cannot stir out of place. ”

“ At the end of each traverse of the colour carriage there is a pause, which gives the printer time to change the pawl into the new tooth of the index at which it is required.
The printer is guided in his selection of colours for each scroll that he prints by the “scale board” and the “design board.”
Scale boards vary according to the pitch of the design paper, and according to the length of the design, and the number of times in which a design repeats in one revolution of the printing drum. ”

“ It must be remembered, however, that most modern printing is done by machinery on soft paper, and not by the hand press, and these somewhat wiry letters are suitable for the machine process, which would not do justice to letters of more generous design. ”

“ 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. ”

“ This copper reproduction of the woodcut is filled in at the back with metal, mounted on wood, and is then ready for the printer, who has his ‘overlays’ all ready, and the business of printing begins.
There is nothing more wonderful in the history of printing than the rapid development of the printing machine and the extraordinary increase of its productive power. The ordinary press, though greatly improved, was found quite inadequate to the demands made upon it; and, the attention of practical men being directed to some more rapid means of production, the steam printing machine was invented. ”

“ The rapid improvements which have taken place in the printing press during the last twenty years, afford another instance of saving in the materials consumed, which has been well ascertained by measurement, and is interesting from its connection with literature. In the old method of inking type, by large hemispherical balls stuffed and covered with leather, the printer, after taking a small portion of ink from the ink-block, was continually rolling the balls in various directions against each other, in order that a thin layer of ink might be uniformly spread over their surface. ”

“ No doubt every printer is aware that the prints produced from the same negative and on the same sample of albumenised paper similarly sensitized vary considerably in richness and depth on different days. For instance, when the light is bad, and when, consequently, the printing takes a long time, the colour of the darkened surface will be found to be much duller than on a day when the light is powerful. ”

“ In these days of machinery, when paper can be made in any size of sheet desired, the process is reversed: the size of the letter-press page is determined and the size of the sheet of paper adapted thereto. Upon receipt of the paper the printer sends a full-sized dummy of it to the manufacturing man so that he may compare it with the order that was given to the paper dealer. The book is then put to press, and as soon as the printing has been completed, the printed sheets are delivered to the binder. ”

“ The preparation of getting the machine colours in position, and setting the machine ready for printing, necessitates the turning out of at least a ream, or a half ream (five hundred or two hundred and fifty rolls) at once; whilst the equivalent in hand-printing is fifty to sixty rolls. It often happens that the design of a machine paper is approved of, whilst the colourings it is printed in are unsuited to the scheme. By the hand process, room quantities of even ten to fifteen pieces can be printed specially at from 15 per cent. ”

“ These plates are filed smooth at the back, and fixed on wood, and you have the blocks ready to print from; one representing one color, another another, and so on, till the plates for a single shawl of many colors may mount up in value to a very large sum.
Before printing, the fabric has been well washed; the barège being passed, by machinery, over cylinders which apply and squeeze out a wash of soap, soda, and glue. All roughness had previously been removed by a “cropping” machine. After drying, it comes to the printing-table, where it is treated much like a paper-hanging. ”

“ Paper is fed, one sheet at a time, against the paper guide, and the roller, passing over, produces the desired printing impression. When the roller is returned, the sheet is automatically ejected and counted. The pressure and shade of the printing are regulated by the adjustment of impression screws.
An advantage claimed for this type of machine is that electrotypes and zinc etchings can be used, or regular printers' job type can be substituted for printing small circulars and office forms. If a letter or form is used frequently, it can be electrotyped and held permanently, releasing the type. ”

“ But the modern printer, as a rule, dumps down the page in what he calls the middle of the paper, which is often not even really the middle, as he measures his page from the head line, if he has one, though it is not really a part of the page, but a spray of type only faintly staining the head of the paper. ”

“ In the ordinary type of litho-printing machine the printing bed (Fig. 22) is levelled in the machine for the first printing, and, if this is carefully arranged, no alteration will be required throughout the whole series; for, in changing from one colour to another, the printing plate can be slipped from the bed and another substituted in a very few minutes. The most scrupulous care should be exercised at all times to prevent dirt or grit of any kind insinuating itself between the surface of the printing bed and the back of the plate. ”

“ Direct Tin Printing—The Machine—Peculiarities of Impression—Cylinder Covering—Colour Sequence—Printing Inks—Drying Racks—Air Drying and Stoving.
“Direct tin printing” is not, as the term might suggest, a direct impression of the printing forme on the metal plate. It is in reality a transfer printing process in which the transferring medium is a cylinder with an elastic covering. ”

“ The number of prints to be attempted at one printing will vary with the kind of work and with the printer's experience. The printing may be continued during three days, but if the paper is kept damp longer, there is danger of mould and spotting. With work requiring delicate gradation of colour and many separate block impressions twenty or thirty sheets will be found sufficient for three days' hard work. ”

“ Invention born of necessity has met this question in a novel manner, and the printing process is one of the most interesting phases in the preparation of a picture. Considerable mechanical ingenuity has been displayed, and various types of printing machines produced; but for the purposes of explaining the subject most lucidly and comprehensively two typical machines will suffice. Before printing, however, the raw film or stock intended for the purposes of the positive or transparency must be perforated, an operation which is similar to that followed in perforating the negative film. ”

“ Paper for linotype operators as well as that for hand-compositors should be about the size of commercial note, and the writing should run the long way of the page, the reason being that sheets of the commercial note size fit into the machine ‘copy-holder’ very neatly. Good margins should be left at the top and sides, this for side-notes and catch-lines for headings. Names of persons, etc., should be ‘printed out’ carefully in manuscripts, and interlineations should be avoided. Blind hands have always caused infinite trouble in printing-houses. ”

“ The mode of printing is almost self-evident; the roller C revolving in the direction of the arrow takes colour from the “ furnish er ” F, the excess is scraped off by the “ doctor ” G and, in continuing its Course, it comes in contact with the cloth K, which being pressed by the cylinder A into the engraving abstracts the colour therefrom and of course receives an exact impression of the engraved pattern. Larger machines printing from two to sixteen colours are precisely similar in principle to the above, but differ somewhat in detail and are naturally more complex and difficult to operate. ”

“ It is not in the province of these papers, as we have said, to tell the printer how he should draw every object he may attempt to delineate—a waste-paper basket, the head of a cow, a printing press, or a hat. But we can give him hints which will help him to observe for himself the characteristics of any object under the sun which he may wish to draw. If he finds around the mouth of a cow more pronounced lines than in a calf, he must put them in. ”

“ Once the printer or his apprentices had set the type, pulled a proof, “made up” the type into pages with the proper spacing and ornaments, and then locked it into forms by means of furniture and quoins, he placed his form on the press and adjusted it to get the most even impression. Then he was ready to begin the actual process of printing. Whereas printing is commonly done today by automatic presses, fed with paper either mechanically or by hand, it had to be done one sheet at a time in the eighteenth century. ”

“ When cutting lithographed work or similar close-register printing, where large sheets are apt to come with an irregular edge, a small wooden block against the back gage or the side gage at points on the sheet where the original register guides of the press were placed, will usually insure cutting on an accurate line with the printing. ”

“ This last book shows that unknown or not Faques was a skilful printer, for it is one of the most beautiful books issued from the early English press. The type is sharp and brilliant, the printing in red well done, and each page is surrounded with a chain-like border. On the first leaf is the printer’s device, a very uncommon one, [Pg 170] consisting of two triangles. ”

“ The art of printing has attained to a marvelous degree of progress. Hoe's printing-press, moved by steam, seizes on the blank paper, severs it from the roll in sheets of the right size, prints it on both sides, and folds it in a convenient shape,—all with miraculous rapidity. ”

“ If the print is large (say 15 by 12) it is not advisable to look at much of it at once, or for a longer time than can be avoided. It constantly happens that on a warm day the paper contracts during the short time necessary for a proper examination of the print; the consequence is, that the paper does not fall on the same place on the negative when reflected, and the result is a double print on the paper.
The printing being judged to be complete, the paper is withdrawn by taking off pressure-board and pads, and put away for the further operations of toning and fixing. ”

“ By the use of steam and of improved machinery, this inequality is put almost beyond comparison. The typographic single-cylinder type-printing machine can print fifteen hundred impressions in an hour, and the new newspaper perfecting press can print fifteen thousand perfect sheets in an hour. ”

“ In the adjoining Stock-room, some two days before being printed, the paper is “wet down,” or dampened with water, and then put under powerful screw pressure of many tons’ weight, that the sheets in the process of printing may take a clear impression from the inked type. The paper, damp from the printing-press, is then taken on trucks and by an elevator to the Drying-room, and dried, that it may not tear or the printing be defaced. In the ceiling are immense frames with cross-bars, and hanging on the latter are the printed sheets drying. ”

“ But, let us say in parenthesis, that while we deprecate the lack of artistic culture that prevents our printers from turning out artistic work, we do not for a moment claim that that which is not artistic is poor, or that all printing that is not rough is not artistic. The half-tone and coated paper have their use. If, as a matter of news or information, exactness is required, any sensible printer will turn to the half-tone for assistance. ”

“ Most printers “rubbed” or mixed the lampblack and varnish thoroughly. If the mixture was too thick, it could be thinned with linseed oil or whale oil. If red ink was desired for two-color printing, vermilion could be substituted for lampblack.
19
A view of a typical eighteenth-century printer’s composing room. Here type was set by hand to be printed on the press. (1) Setting type in a composing stick. (2) Transferring a stick of set type to a galley. (3) Planing a type form by beating lightly on the type surface with a block of wood and a mallet. DIDEROT.
A typical press room. ”

“ When the paper, which must be dampened, has been laid on the inked type or engraving, the printer places the planer carefully on the paper, holding it firmly with his left hand; with a mallet, held in his right hand, he strikes a strong hard blow on the planer. He then lifts his planer carefully and places it over the nearest unprinted surface and repeats the blow. In like manner he repeats the blow until every part of the type surface has been printed. Rude as this method may seem, a skillful workman can obtain a fair print with the planer. ”