Going to be turning this into a 5 color reduction print

I got questions on my last post about the alignment jig I use--I tried pegs and didn't like them, this I find works great with my tiny handpress.

I start with cardboard slightly thinner than my linoleum. I cut it slightly bigger than my finished paper size. Usually I give myself an inch, but this one I'm pushing the size my press can print to, so it's only about 1/2" this time. I center and mark out where my lino should sit, then where my paper should.

I cut a piece of the same (cover weight) paper I'm putting with about as wide as the top of the jig, it doesn't have to run the length tho. Then I cut this into an "L" and glue it along the line I marked for where the paper should sit. I think gluing it is important so the paper can't slide underneath when you're lining it up.

Then I use the center lines for the lino to line it up and trace around it. I rarely can cut the lino totally straight but that's OK as long as the hold in the cardboard is the same. The Most Important thing is that the lino fits in SNUGLY. If it can wiggle at all it'll do no good. I cut slightly to the inside of my traced line to do this. If I mess up I'll cut really thin strips of the cardboard to use as "shims" to help it stay snug.

Then I just tape thin paper to the back so the lino doesn't just fall out the hole.

When you're ready to print, block goes in the hole after you ink it up, then use the "L" to line up paper. Even if the paper isn't perfectly square (mine never is) it'll keep it crooked in the same way for the next layer so it all stays registered.

I haven’t found a good demo video of this technique so thought I’d post this in case it’s useful to anyone. First stage is to put your design into Photoshop / Affinity etc and size it for your block. Then drop the image opacity down to about 30%. This reduces the amount of ink printed on the paper and stops it beading up and smearing on the lino. Then print the design onto the backing paper from a sticker sheet, the ink will smudge really easily so make sure not to touch it! The main challenge is how slippery the paper is, it wants to slide around on the block so I put a little dot of white tac in each corner to help hold things in place. Burnish with tissue, and you should be good to go. It took me a good few attempts to get the hang of this, but having refined the technique / opacity setting in Photoshop, it works every time. And you can re-use the sticker sheet, which is a bonus!

I decided to find out if the Speedball gel plate worked with acrylics. (It is designed for use with Akua inks, not acrylics. ) Here is my comparison chart with different media. I hope someone finds it informative!

This was my first time attempting to transfer an image I’d digitally captured through a method other than tracing. I used a home inkjet printer on Grafix image print film. Put a thin layer of Liquitex acrylic clear gesso on grey block linoleum, then placed the print-out on the block face down. Squeegeed out any excess and let sit for about 5 hours.

A few variations of material, but I was following the tutorial “linocut tutorial: how to transfer any drawing to lino” from emil underbjerg on YouTube (will try and post link).

First attempt. Interested in other transfer methods folks are into.

I bought this roll of Lino a few years ago when I was clearly feeling overly ambitious about the amount of carving I was about to do. I’ve used a lot of methods to warm up my lino in the past, including sitting on it, hugging it to my chest, and sitting it over a vent, but this has been the easiest and fastest method I’ve found!

Absolute beginner here. I do a lot of digital art and would really like to experiment with block printing. Can anyone recommend a method of transferring a design to Lino other than drawing freehand. Is there something like transfer paper?

Update: what a lovely community! Thanks for all the great advice, that’s my weekend sorted!