2. To do
• Explain method in own words
• When it was invented/by who (if information is
available)
• How the method works/what do you need to do to use
this method
• What does the method look like when used (include
images)
• What are the costs involved with using this method
• How quickly the process can be done
• Provide images to illustrate discussion
• Reference at least one example with a image.
4. Etching
The etching method was first used in the 1500's to make prints by hand. Although
we don't know for certain, we believe that Daniel Hopfer.
To use this method to print, you need include metal (usually copper, zinc or
steel), a waxy acid-resist called ground, hot-plate, beeswax tapers & a sharp tool.
What you do is etch your design using a sharp object (usually an etching needle)
into a ground covered metal plate. You're etching away the ground you do not
want (the parts you want to be eaten away by the acid). Once you have finished
the design you want, you place your plate into a bath of acid. In the bath of acid,
the acid will eat away at the parts of the design not covered by the acid-resistant
ground. This gives you the design. Once this part is done, the rest of the ground is
washed off and then the ink is added all over the plate, so that the lines are filled
with ink.
5. Etching
Etching is a very expensive and time consuming type of printing. The materials
alone cost a lot of money, with print presses usually being around the £1000+
mark. That doesn't include the ink, metal & ground costs. Time depends on how
much skill you have as an artist and the design you want.
On the right, you can
see the finished result
of a very detailed
etched print. Etching is
still used today by
artists, but isn't used
by big print companies
as there are bigger and
better ways to produce
prints, that we will
explore on the next
slides.
6. Linocut
Linocutting was first used by artists in 1905-13 in Germany by Die Brücke.
Materials needed to do a linocut includes linoleum, sharp knife or v-shaped chisel
or gouge, inked with a roller. How you do a Linocut print is actually very easy.
What you first need to do is grab you tool e.g. A v-shaped chisel and a piece of
linoleum in whatever size you desire. What you then need to do is cut into the
design with the chisel which will remove parts of the linoleum (the parts will
remain ink less when you put the ink in the design). After you have finished the
design you would like, you roll the desired colour of ink onto the linoleum, making
sure that you haven't got ink inside the chiseled parts. Once you have done this,
you are ready to linocut print. You paled your linoleum down onto the desired
material and then, with a clean roller, roll on top of the linoleum to transfer the
print. The design comes out as a mirror image so bare that in mind when
producing your design. The print can also be done hundreds of times.
7. Linocut
This method of printing is quite time consuming, depending on the skill you have.
You have to re-apply ink a lot which makes the process a lot slower. It's incredibly
cheap compared to some methods and is easy to pick up the basics.
On the right, you can see
the process of creating a
linocut and the finished
result of a of a detailed
linocut print. Linocutting
is still used today in places
such as schools as it is
cheap & is used by artists,
but isn't used by big print
companies as there are
bigger and better ways to
produce prints, that we
will explore on the next
slides.
8. Comparison
• Both types of print involve the use of ink.
• Linocut is a lot cheaper than etching.
• Etching usually gives you more detail that
linocut.
• Etching has been around a lot longer
compared to linocutting.
10. Letterpress
Johannes Gutenberg is the person who gets the credit for inventing the
letterpress. This was around the 1440's. What you need for this kind of printing
includes a set of letter blocks, ink & a printing press. What you first need to
decide is what you want the letters to say. You then rearrange these letters
backwards as the end result will be a mirror image. Once you have decided, you
will then need to ink up the letter blocks in the desired colour you want. After you
have done this, you will then put this all into a printing press which will transfer
all of the letters onto the paper. This will leave a little indentation on the paper
as well which is nice for the letters to stand out.
11. Letterpress
Letterpress is less time consuming than what it replaced as a method, which was
actually hand writing out books. As it is an old process, it is not expensive as it
used to be. It pays for itself depending on how much you use it. It is also easy to
use as you use it more and more. One page of letterpress can cost around £50 if
you are paying for someone else to do it.
On the right, you can
see the finished result
of letterpress print.
Letterpress is still used
today to produce
birthday cards and
such, but isn't used by
big print companies as
there are bigger and
better ways to produce
prints, that we will
explore on the next
slides.
12. Rotogravure
Rotogravure was first discovered in the late 19th century. There isn't one person
who has not been given the title of creating the printing method rotogravure.
Cylinders are usually made of steel and then are plated with copper, engraved
with a laser or a diamond tool or chemical etching. The method is similar to the
etching method because you have to etch the design into the cylinder. The image
is etched on to the cylinder and coated with ink so the etches are filled with ink.
The excess ink is then removed and the then is rolled onto the material.
13. Rotogravure
Not incredibly time consuming, compared to the other methods of print we have
looked at so far. It is very expensive to print using rotogravure. The start up costs
are very expensive. Would only recommend this kind of printing if it's on a large
commercial scale.
On the right, you can
see a rotogravure
printing machine.
Rotogravure is still very
much used today to
produce large runs of
newspapers leaflets
and such. Still used a
lot by large companies
as they've owned these
machines for a long
time, making them cost
efficient.
14. Comparison
• These two ways of printing are very
different.
• Rotogravure is used an an industrial scale,
whereas the letter press is for your own
use.
• A letterpress is easier to find and own for
yourself compared to rotogravure.
• Although letterpress may be more
expensive than other types of printing, it
is still a lot cheaper than rotogravure.
16. Photocopying
Chester Carlson is credited as the creator of photocopying. The first proper
photocopying machine was created in 1948. Photocopying is usually all kept into
one machine but they do have individual components. A photocopier has inside it a
cylinder that is covered by a photoconductive material. Which means the material
becomes conductive when it has light on it. When the light is in the document the
white parts will reflect the light onto the cylinder. Like stated earlier, the parts of
the cylinder that are exposed to light become conductive. If there is no light, that
is where the black parts of the document are and these are negatively charged. In
the photocopier there is toner which is positivity charged powder which is directly
attracted to the black areas of the document. This toner is transferred from the
cylinder to a piece of paper. Heat is then applied which is then melted using heat
rollers. That's how you make a photocopy
17. Photocopying
Photocopying is very cheap if you have a machine already. Most people have
access to a machine at places like schools & library's. Also cheap because they can
do short and long runs if need be.
On the right, you can
see two people using a
photocopy machine.
Photocopying is still
very much used today
to produce copies of
things in places such as
schools. Rarely used
used a lot by large
companies as there are
other methods of
printing out higher
quality prints.
18. Laser Printing
Laser printing was first discovered or thought of by Gary Starkweather. He came
up with this idea in the late 1960's & early 1970's. Laser printers work in the same
way as a photocopier, with a laser beam charging specific parts of a cylinder which
then allows the powdered ink to stick to the negatively charged sections. Heat and
pressure is then used to stick the ink to the page. The price of laser printers is
around the £100 mark, which is inexpensive when you look at what it can do.
19. Laser Printing
Laser printing is incredibly cheaper compared to it's revivals like the photocopying
machine. You can get a laser printer for around £100. They are perfect for home
office use as they are relatively small as well.
On the right, you can
see a laser printing
machine. Laser printing
is still very much used
today to produce easy
prints in offices. Cost
efficient as they are
very cheap to purchase
& usually do not break
easily. It is also
available with added
on features like faxing
& photocopying.
20. Comparison
• You can tell that the technology behind a
laser printer is similar to the technology
in a photocopier
• A laser printer gives you colour copies,
whereas the photocopier only gives you
black on white printing.
• A laser printer is also a lot cheaper than a
large photocopier.
• Both can be incorporated into the same
product.
22. To Do
• For each of the following scenarios, you
need to decide on the best printing
method to use.
• You need to explain your choice of
method considering technical and
aesthetic qualities, cost, speed and the
skills and knowledge required.
23. 100 high quality wedding
invitations.
• Your client wants very high quality
wedding invitation and is prepared for
them to cost a lot of money and take time
to produce. The invitations will be on high
quality paper. The invitations will only
have text on them.
24. Decision and justification
For the invitations, I would recommend letterpress. The letterpress takes a long time
to get right, especially if there are going to be 100 needed. Because there is only
text, letterpress is perfect for this. The letterpress can also work on the high quality
paper the client has requested. I would recommend paying someone that is familiar
with the equipment to do this work for you, this may cost more but the client states
they are willing to pay a lot of money. This will also save time. Pricing is around the
£300/400 mark if you were to pay for this online.
25. 50 special edition greetings cards.
• Your client, a talented local artist, wants
to produce small print runs of greetings
cards. They do not want to use electronic
printing methods. They need a cheap and
simple method of printing so they can
produce small runs of different designs
but it needs to look arty and handmade
when it’s finished.
26. Decision and justification
I would recommend linocutting. Linocutting gives a very handmade & arty look as no
cards will look exactly the same, which is what the client is asking for. It's cheap
which is what the artist wanted. Linocutting is also easy once the artists knows how
to use the tools. It's not electronic which is also one of the points made in the brief.
To get the tools needed, I would recommend this inexpensive Essdee Lino Cutting
and Printing Kit by Essdee, which costs £24.27. The set Includes 6 different lino
cutters, waterbased ink, hand guard, ink roller & tray, lino blocks. Which should
allow the artist to do what they want to do. If any equipment runs out e.g. they need
more Lino, they can just buy it individually.
27. 3000 flyers for coffee shop.
• You client has a one week only special
coming up and wants 3000 basic, single
colour flyers to promote it. As the flyers
will be given out in the street they only
need to be cheap, in fact, the cheaper
the better. They also need to be produced
quickly.
28. Decision and justification
I would recommend using a photocopier. They can do single colour by putting in a
colour piece of paper into the machine instead of white. They give you cheap copies
& are very fast to produce. Most people have access to a photocopier somewhere
e.g. a public library. One print usually costs 3p, so the overall cost would be £90 if
you did it this way. This is still cheaper than most copying methods e.g. Laser
printer. You would have to buy the machine and all the other equipment that comes
with it, which would be of a higher price of £90.
29. 100 copies of the village news
letter.
• The parish council want to produce a
monthly news letter for the village. It will
be a single side of A4. It will mostly
contain text but might occasionally have a
black and white picture. It will be given
away for free so should be cheap. The
council would be interested in printing it
themselves to save money.
30. Decision and justification
Photocopier if the pictures only have to be in black and white. I would assume that
the council already have a photocopier machine available to them, so they would
use that. They could also find a photocopier machine from elsewhere like a library
which usually costs around 3p for one print. This will also be a very fast way to get
these copies of the news letter, as one copy would typically take 15 seconds (on
average) to copy.
31. 10,000 copies of a fashion
magazine
• WM Fashion want to produce a new
catalogue to send out to its current
customers as well as its existing ones. It
needs to be high quality colour printing
but it needs to have a low per copy cost.
32. Decision and justification
Rotogravure. 10,000 copies using a rotogravure machine will allow you to produce
overall very cheap copies of the catalogue. The rotogravure also prints with a very
high quality, which is something that the client is asking for. The pricing for this
varies depending on what company you use. It would be more cost effective if you
rented out or outsourced to a company that owns a rotogravure or specializes in
printing for other companies. A rotogravure printer also uses colour which is perfect
for what you need.
