Polyester plate printing started as a low cost yet professional form of commercial offset lithography. CMYK plates are made on computers and can print high volume runs of business cards, pamphlets, posters, and the like. The medium, also known as Pronto Plate Lithography, is capable of reproducing the full spectrum of lithographic marks such as hand drawn brush strokes, ink wash, texture, crayon and pencil marks, and is equally well suited for digital imaging. Plates can be also imaged directly with a laser printer or a photocopier. The process is more straightforward than conventional lithography as the plate does not require chemical processing in the form of etching with nitric acid. Some print shops still use fountain solution and strong acids for printing and processing, but the samples shown here are all made without the addition of harmful chemicals such as glycol ether or plate etching chemicals. The most common problem encountered when printing a polyester plate is "scumming", when the plate starts picking up ink in areas where it is not wanted. The solution is simply to use a wiping solution that is fortified with a small amount of gum arabic and a sprinkling of citric acid. The gum makes the plate more ink loving, and the citric is particularly helpful in preventing scumming, and ensures a clean print.
RESOURCES
RESOURCES
MARK MAKING TOOLS
Recommended Drawing Materials:
Don't use these Drawing Materials:
ALSO TRY: Scraping with a razor blade or sandpaper. |
OTHER WAYS TO GET AN IMAGE ON THE PLATE
|
|
|
|
PREPARING THE IMAGE
|
|
|
INKING PROCESS
For this process to work, you need oil based ink or paint. Water-soluble inks will not work. Viscosity |
|
PRINTING THE PLATE
For this process to work, you need oil based ink or paint. Water-soluble inks will not work. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Paper suggestions:
Gampi – Any gampi papers are ideal because their smooth surface has the ability to show very fine detail. The Chinese characters for gampi literally translates as “goose skin”. This paper is sometimes referred to as “silk tissue”. (About Gampi from Japan)
Kozo – Kozo papers with a crisp, smooth surface work very well.
|
References (still in progress)
https://studylib.net/doc/10199036/pronto-plates---marcitackett.com
https://studylib.net/doc/10199036/pronto-plates---marcitackett.com