SUPPLIES

copper plate

metal file

Putz pomade

fine steel wool

etching needle

paper

hot plate

rags

dish soap

whiting

soy sauce

burnisher

intaglio ink

rubbing alcohol

ground (water based ink)

brayer (designated for ground)

newsprint

chit/bondo scraper/credit card

tarletan

Plate Preperation

• Bevel the edges of your copper plate with a metal file.

• Polish the plate using Putz Pomade.

  • Apply with a piece of fine steel wool.

  • Rub in circles in multiple directions until the plate is polished.

  • Wipe off excess with a rag.

• Degrease the plate (from this point, do not touch the front of the plate with bare fingers)

  • First, wash the plate with dish soap.

  • Then use a combination of soy sauce and whiting on the plate.

  • Finally, dry off and wipe rubbing alcohol across the plate.

APPLY THE GROUND

• The ground we use is a water based ink. Due to this, you must be very careful to keep all oil away from any tools and surfaces you use.

• There is a special brayer that can be found along with the ground.

  • Never use this brayer for anything else and always wash only with soap and water.

HOW TO PRINT

• Soak paper

  • Paper must soak for at least 30 minutes!

  • BFK and German Etching are trusted paper brands.

  • Asian papers such as Mulberry and Kitakata also work great.

• Start with a clean plate! (Or a just printed plate.)

• Apply ink with a chit, bondo scraper, or old credit card.

• Use tarletan to push ink into the incised lines.

• Use tarletan to remove excess ink and wipe ink away from the smooth area of the plate.

• Use a piece of newsprint gently with fingers to remove ink from the “white” areas of the plate.

• Blot your paper.

• Press order from bottom to top:

  • Press Bed

  • Registration Guide or newsprint

  • Your plate

  • Paper you want to print on

  • Newsprint

  • Blankets (catcher, cushion, pusher)

• Run through the press.

A LA POUPÉE

This is just a fancy French term for wiping with two colors.

• Instead of applying one color to the entirety of the plate, carefully apply two or more in their own sections.

  • Use a small chit for more precision.

• Using as many tarlatans as you have colors, carefully wipe the plate in color coordinated sections.

Top Roll

This will add color to the parts of your plate which have no lines.

• Start with a plate wiped and ready for printing.

• Cut a stencil out of mylar into the desired shape.

• Make sure you have a brayer which is long enough to go across your plate but also has a big enough circumference to go all the way across your plate in the other direction.

• On a separate piece of glass, roll out a thin layer of intaglio ink onto a brayer.

  • I would recommend adding transparent base to your color!

• Then carefully roll all the way across your plate once.

• And print!

CHINE COLÉ

Easy way to add multiple colors to your plate at once.

• Wipe plate to a point where it is ready to print.

• Cut thin colored paper into desired shapes (tissue paper works well).

• Put your small pieces of paper onto a piece of plexiglass.

• Gently dust with wheat paste.

• Carefully move the pieces of paper onto your plate with the wheat paste side up.

  • Be careful not to get the dry wheat paste onto your plate.

• Carefully place blotted paper on top and run through the press.

HOW TO CLEAN UP

Intaglio inks are oil based, so they must be cleaned this way!

• Use the vegetable oil to get ink off the glass and tools!

  • Use a toothbrush when cleaning your plate!

• Wipe up with a rag.

• Sue simple green to degrease all surfaces.