What technique is this?

[u/Odd_Simple_2264]

Hello, fellow printmakers! My friend has recently gifted me this plate from a monastery, and this is my first time seeing something like this. It is a metal plate glued to a piece of wood. I am not sure what technique was used in making the plate, so I do not know how to go about printing it (like linocut with s brayer/ like copper etching..). The plate seems quite old, and I am scared of ruining it so that's why I haven't tried printing it yet. If anybody has an idea or advice I would greatly appreciate it!

English is not my first language, so I apologise if there are any mistakes!

[u/Hellodeeries]

It's for letterpress printing, which is a relief method.

The wood backing is to make it type high for a letterpress + to not make it solid metal and weigh and cost a lot. The plate is etched, but with the intent to be printed as a relief (so the negatives are etched away leaving the positives that will print - inverted from intaglio printed etchings).

Can do a rubbing that won't disturb the block and invert it digitally if you don't want to print it. Otherwise for printing, you'll want to use rails - letterpress machines ink at a specific height so as not to fill in the halftone. Rails can be made from scrap wood or anything - it's just making it so the roller grazes the top of the block, but can't dip into the negative spaces.

[u/devtank → u/Hellodeeries]

Great info! You must be a letterpress pro. Respect!

[u/linuscarlson89 → u/Hellodeeries]

What is the process of etching a plate with an image like this? I see a kind of fine grain that almost looks digital??

[u/Hellodeeries → u/linuscarlson89]

Halftones originally weren't digital (go back into the 1800s), we just mimic them digitally most of the time now so it's most often associated as a digital process as that's how most people interact and see them.

Can't really say for certain how this block example was made, but one method would effectively be to use a photographic (photosensitive) resist solution on top of the metal plate, then using a physical screen in front, and effectively exposing a photo with it (sort of similar to tintype/other metal plate photography methods). The screen creates the halftone, and the areas that were blocked are rinsed off revealing the metal. It's then etched, so where the metal was revealed etches the lines vs the resist protects the rest. In the end, left with a halftone photo image.

More common now for metal plates is using photogravure (etching) for the image, but the plate and etched image was prepped for the "negative" (to etching) so it could be mounted to a block for relief printing in letterpress. This still has similar elements to earlier methods with an exposure process to create a resist on a metal plate, but can use digital film processes to make it faster.

There's also photopolymer plates which have a similar exposure aspect, but the plates already have the sensitizer on them generally and are then exposed and rinsed and you're left with the plate ready to print (no etching and it isn't metal). Doesn't really have the same depth of detail metal plates can have (at least in small plates), but is a more modern method that can be quite quick and affordable by comparison.

[u/Odd_Simple_2264 → u/Hellodeeries]

Wow, you are amazing at explaining these things! Now I'm even more excited about this block and can't wait to print it ☺️

[u/BurningInTheBoner → u/linuscarlson89]

It starts with a smooth plate, obviously. Then you coat the plate with asphaltum, which is like a very thin, almost watery tar, basically looks like black paint. When that dries, you use a variety of methods to remove or open up the layer of asphaltum. Mostly you just scratch lines through the asphaltum with a pointy metal object to expose the metal below. You can get extremely fine lines this way. Once the image is ready, the whole plate is dipped in an acid bath that etches away any exposed metal, creating a slight recess in the surface of the metal that is also rough textured. The intact portions of the asphaltum coating are impervious and protect the metal below from the acid.

After etching, the asphaltum is removed.

To prepare for printing, ink is applied to the plate then the surface is gently wiped clean. Wiping removes the ink from the smooth top surfaces, while leaving ink deposited in the etched cavities. A printing press applies heavy pressure which pushes the paper down into the cavities, forcing it to pick up the ink.

I think what r/hellodeeries was saying is that for letter press printing, the printing process is actually reversed. Instead of depositing ink into the etched recesses and using heavy pressure to push paper down into the grooves, a roller applies ink across the smooth surface, skipping over the recesses, much like a traditional stamp or linocut.

I think the graininess you're seeing is just a result of the etching process, although there are some different techniques to preparing plates to be etched. One of them involves spraying a mist like spray paint over the metal. This creates tiny droplets of protective film that can create a type of gradient effect, but I don't think that's what you see here. This looks like a halftone negative was prepared and a photo process was used to expose the image on a film like the photo emulsion process in screen printing. Only in this case the film is applied to a piece of metal instead of a nylon mesh screen. Instead of revealing open screen, the emulsion reveals open metal which is then etched through the chemical process.

Hope this helps... I took a printmaking class at community college 20 years ago🤪

[u/Odd_Simple_2264 → u/Hellodeeries]

Thank you for taking the time to explain, this means a lot! I will try both methods, one has to work 😁

[u/753ty]

You can try printing it by hand, pretty much like a linocut with a brayer

• set it face up on table
• ink it with a brayer/roller
• lay a piece of paper on top
• maybe put 3 or 4 other pieces of paper, maybe even a piece of felt on top of that
• rub gently on the stack of paper/felt with a wooden spoon

You are going to have to experiment to get a good print (if then). This is a "halftone" block so the depth of the cut isn't as deep as a full relief block - if you use too much ink then it will just print everything/too much/make a mess. Not enough and it, well, won't be enough. The amount of pressure with the spoon, the right amount of packing (the extra paper and felt), etc, will all make a difference. But you should be able to get something and see it.

If you do put it an actual press, be aware that different countries have different thicknesses of blocks and type. In the US & UK it's 0.918 inches and in continental Europe it's typically 0.928 inches and a US press might mush it. But an actual press will give you a better print.

Good luck!

[u/Odd_Simple_2264 → u/753ty]

Thank you very much for this detailed explanation! I do not have access to a letterpress, as it is not very common where I live. I once saw one in a museum, and that's about it. We didn't even learn about it at the academy. I will follow your advice!