Description
Copper Plate Photogravure describes in comprehensive detail the technique of traditional copper plate photogravure as would be practiced by visual artists using normally available facilities and materials. Attention is paid to step-by-step guidance through the many stages of the process. A detailed manual of technique, Copper Plate Photogravure also offers the history of the medium and reference to past alternative methods of practice.
Copper Plate Photogravure: Demystifying the Process is part of the current revitalization of one of the most satisfyingly beautiful image-making processes. The range of ink color and paper quality possibilities is endless. The potential for handwork and alteration of the copper plate provides yet another realm of expressive variation. The subject matter and the treatment are as variable and broad as photography itself. This book's purpose is to demystify and clarify what is a complex but altogether "do-able" photomechanical process using currently available materials. With Copper Plate Photogravure, you will learn how to:
· produce a full-scale film positive from a photographic negative
· sensitize the gravure tissue to prepare it for exposure to the positive
· prepare the plate and develop the gelatin resist prior to etching
· prepare the various strengths of etching solutions and etch the plate to achieve a full tonal scale
· rework the plate using printmaking tools to correct flaws or to adjust the image for aesthetic reasons
· use the appropriate printing inks, ink additives, quality papers, and printshop equipment to produce a high
quality print
A historical survey and appendices of detailed technical information, charts, and tables are included, as well as a list of suppliers and sources for the materials required, some of which are highly specialized. A comprehensive glossary
introduces the non-photographer or non-printmaker to many of the terms particular to those fields and associated with this process.
Table of Contents
PREFACE
PHOTOGRAVURE: WHAT IS IT?
Brief Process Description
History Context
Origins
Practitioners
Safety Issues
21st CENTURY METHOD
Making the Positive
Sensitizing the Tissue
Making the Resist
Selecting and Preparing the Copper
Exposing the Tissue with Positive Screen
Using Screens or Applying Dust- Grain Aquatints
Adhering and Developing the Resist
THE ETCHING PROCESS
Preparing the Ferric Chloride
Staging the Plate
Etching the Plate
THE PRINTING PROCESS
Making the First Proof
Reworking the Plate
Editioning the Print
ALTERNATIVE AND HISTORIC METHODS AND MATERIALS
Making Positives
Mixing the Sensitizer
Preparing the Copper
Exposing the Tissue
Applying an Aquatint
Dry Lay-down
Staging the Plate
Adjusting Baumé
Etching
Printing and Creative Explorations
Steel Facing the Plate
APPENDICES
Trouble-shooting Charts
Making a Random-patterned hard-dot Screen
Testing Procedures
Exposure Calculation Table
Flashing as Contrast Control
Note-keeping Charts
Step Scale Density Charts
Converting Specific Gravity to Baumé
Recipies and Formulae
Paper Chart for Photogravure Printing
Suppliers
REFERNCE MATERIALS
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
INDEX
