Photogravure: inked polymer plate

Friday, February 23, 2007

inked polymer plate

Here is a shot of an inked polymer plate. This section of the plate is about 1.75 inches wide. It shows the "aquatint" random dots, and you can see how those help to hold the ink in the darker areas. Below are two closeup views, which clearly show the spacing of the random dots. Each of these sections are about 3/8" wide.

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Very basic description of the process and equipment used

I've set up this blog to document my work in learning the process of polymer photogravures, or photo gravures. My background is in printmaking and painting, but I have always loved making photographs. This process may be a perfect link between those mediums.

The process begins with photographs I take using black and white film. The negatives are scanned into my computer and then printed out as a positive image on clear inkjet media. This positive image is placed in contact with a light-sensitve polymer plate and exposed. The plate is then developed in water and gently scrubbed with a soft brush. The areas of the plate that were exposed to light have been hardened, but the areas protected by the positive image are water soluble and wash away leaving lower areas that will later hold ink during printing. After the plate is dried and further hardened, it is treated much as any other etching plate. Artist's grade printing ink is worked into the grooves in the plate by hand, and then polished off the high areas. The plate is then placed in contact with damp printmaking paper and pulled through an intaglio press under great pressure. The paper is forced down into the grooves of the plate where it picks up the ink and the image is created.

Materials and equipment used:

Medium and large format cameras

Dell XPS 710 computer

Epson Perfection 3200 scanner

Epson 1280 inkjet printer

Pictorico overhead transparency media

Toyobo Printight KM73 photopolymer plate

Nuarc mercury UV exposure unit

Workpress custom intaglio press

Photogravure

Friday, February 23, 2007

inked polymer plate

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what is a photo gravure?

Very basic description of the process and equipment used

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