As we close down another year, it’s a good time to pause and examined what we’ve learned. Over the years we have come up with some effective ways to increase print quality and efficiency when printing steel-backed, polymer photogravure plates. Here are the Top 5 tips we use all the time when printing your Intaglio Editions polymer plate:
Jon Lybrook at Nils Borch Jensen Studios in 2018 in front of a large Keith Haring print.
- Use heating pads available from drug stores to warm your plate before applying ink. The same pads can be placed under the glass ink slab. Heating the ink makes it looser and allows it to flow into the pits of the plate better, providing better density and richness. This is especially vital in winter months.
- Some projects go on longer than the ink can stay fresh. Weigh your ink when mixing combinations of modifiers and inks to ensure a consistent mixture every time.
- Always calender your paper before printing photogravure! This pre-stretches the paper, and allows for more consistent results. It is also necessary when printing multiple plates on the same sheet to prevent overlap.
- To secure registration of your plate, lick a clean finger. Now put three dots of spit from your finger to the middle of the back of the plate. Moisture behind the plate helps prevent the plate from pivoting or sliding during the printing.
- Clean your plates using a gentle solvent, like SoySolv2 after use, but avoid over-cleaning or scrubbing polymer photogravure plates. Cleaning plates too often or roughly will lead to an early loss of fidelity.
Questions? Contact us for a free consultation!
Jon Lybrook – Printmaker and Publisher, Intaglio Editions LLC