Printing processes: relief and intaglio printing
Printing processes: relief and intaglio printing
There are four main classes of printing technology: embossed printing, intaglio printing, screen printing and lithography. Let's look at some details of the relief process and intaglio printing. These are the two oldest and most famous of the main classes of printing technology.
Relief printing
Relief printing is a general term that describes the process of printing from a relief surface on which areas without an image have been cut. Water-based inks are rolled onto embossed areas and the image is transferred onto paper. Traditionally, a matrix of wood or linoleum. Woodcut is probably the oldest and easiest form of embossed printing. She reached full maturity in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Both manual and electric tools are used to cut images for printing. The image rises above the surface of the block. The material of the block is cropped, leaving a printed image. After the image is circled with ink, the paper is placed on the ink surface and rubbed by hand or passed through a press to transfer ink from the unit to the paper to create the image.
Gravure printing
Gravure printing includes a number of related technologies, usually performed on a metal plate. Copper, zinc or steel plates are used. Grooves or pits cut into the plate with a sharp tool or with a strong acid solution. Bold ink is worked out in these recesses, and the surface of the plate is wiped. Thanks to the high press pressure, soft, damp paper also picks up ink. Main gravure printing processes include etching, engraving, drying and mezzo tinto.
Etching: This process uses acid to bite the image into a metal plate coated with acid-resistant soil. Primer is a coating used to protect the plate from acid. Typically, solid soil is pulled by a needle, exposing the metal to form an image for printing. Etching is also used as a comprehensive term for any gravure printing process that uses an acid bath to create an image.
Engraving: developed in Europe in the 15th century. When engraving, the image is created using a burin, a wedge-shaped or diamond-shaped tool, directly on the plate.
Dry point: this is another process where marks are applied to the plate with a sharp pointed tool. However, in a dry place, the twisting of the displaced metal formed by cutting a line called a burr is not removed. It is covered with paint and creates a velvety look. Soft copper plates are commonly used for dry printing.
Mezzo Tinto: This technique has become especially popular in 18th-century England for reproducing portraiture. The process involves indenting the printing plate by swinging the toothed metal tool over the entire surface. Each pit contains ink. If you print at this point, the printed image will be solid black. The fingerprint maker creates tones by wiping or polishing a rough surface with varying degrees of smoothness to alter the ability to hold ink of selected areas on a plate.
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