Contents What is Print?
1-2
Printing Devices
3-4
Monoprinting
5-6
Linocut
7-8
Screen Printing
9 - 10
Laser Cutting
11 - 12
Embossing
13 - 14
Foiling
15 - 16
Flocking
17 - 18
What to Print on?
19 - 20
What is print ? Oxford Definitions Verb
produce (books, newspapers, etc.), especially in large quantities, by a mechanical process involving the transfer of text or designs to paper. Noun
an indentation or mark made on a surface or soft substance.
The term print is difficult to define and you will find many different definitions from various sources. However, here are some individual opinions on what print means to other people.
Print Is . . . • • • • • • • • • 1
Everywhere Tactile Fun Personal Fabulous Messy Alive Ink Real
Print is what you make it and what you do with it. Through making and appreciating print you will form your own opinion on what print is.
Touch Print
Display Print
Wear Print
Smell Print
Make Print 2
Printing Devices These are the pieces of equipment that you may need to find access to in order to carry out some of the processes in this book. There are printing facilities around the country that you can pay to use.
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1. Relief Press This press is ideal for printing lino cuts as the press exerts even pressure onto the lino and paper when you pull the lever.
2. Etching Press This press is ideal for pressing monoprints as it exerts pressure evenly onto the plate as it is rolled through, it is also used in the embossing process to prepare the copper plate.
3. Exposing Machine This machine is used when screen printing as it exposes the light sensitive emulsion to light to leave the image on the screen. This is also used when preparing copper plates for embossing.
4. Screen Printing Bed This holds your screen in place and the machine has a vacuum that secures your stock so it does not move when printing. You can screen print without a bed but this gives you more control.
5. Hydraulic Nipping Press This is great for pressing embossing plates as it exerts a large amount of pressure onto the plate and material you are embossing.
6. Laser Cutter These are expensive machines but if you do not have access to a laser cutter you can send your design to certain businesses who will cut the design for you.
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Monoprinting What is it? This method of printing refers to the transfer of ink from a plate on to another surface that will hold the design. Monoprinting is a special kind of printing as no two prints are identical. This is classed as a more painterly method of printing due to the finish given.
You will need . . .
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Difficulty Level
Hints & Tips You do not need to add to the plate to print from it you can also draw onto it or place paper over it and draw onto this. Through experimenting you can create a wide range of effects from this simple method of printing. To add texture to your design try layering materials such as lace or leaves to your plate. After you have printed once with your plate you can send it through the press again and reprint with it to achieve a different effect, this often gives a more textured finish. If you don’t have access to a printing press you can simply roll out a thin layer of ink and place paper over this and then draw onto the back of the paper. When you peel the paper off it will have printed on the reverse. However, remember to blot the ink before you start to draw.
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Linocut What is it? Linocut printing involves cutting into a piece of linoleum to create a relief surface to print with. The image cut into the lino shows a reverse of how the design will print. The lino is then inked and pressed to transfer the image. Simple graphic images work well cut and printed in this way but more elaborate designs can also be created with some practice.
You will need . . .
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Difficulty Level
Hints & Tips To make the lino slightly easier to cut you can heat it for a bit with a hair dryer or heat pad if you have one. Always cut away from yourself when carving lino and use a bench hook if possible. Linocutting tools can be very sharp. You can create and print with a colour blend by adding two different coloured inks to the table and blending together when rolling out onto your surface. Try and select colours that will work well when mixed together.
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Screen Printing What is it? Screen printing is a printing method that allows you to print an image through pulling ink through a mesh, of which acts as a stencil after you have exposed your image to it. This process allows you to build up layers of colour to produce more complex designs and even print photographic images. Fabric screen printing is also very popular. To screen print onto fabric a you will need to use a textiles screen which has a slightly different mesh.
You will need . . .
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Difficulty Level
Hints & Tips You can screen print onto almost any surface meaning the process offers great creative potential. Many different inks can be used to screen print such as metallic ink, glow in the dark ink and cracking ink that gives a tactile finish as it cracks when drying. Screen printing is a method you will get better at with practice as you will improve your technique, so don’t be disheartened if a few of your prints have faults to begin with. Try to keep printing whilst your screen is still loaded in the bed as the ink can clog up the screen quickly.
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Laser Cutting What is it? Laser cutting machines use a high-powered laser to cut through or engrave materials giving a high quality finish. Using a laser cutter is far more accurate than cutting by hand and allows you to cut through multiple materials at once if you wish. The engraving option allows you to apply a design through removing some of the surface, this is ideal for materials such as wood that are more difficult to print on.
You will need . . .
11
Difficulty Level
Hints & Tips Laser cutters can cut almost anything so be experimental, but be careful and make sure you use the correct settings before proceeding with cutting. You cannot cut mirrored material in the laser cutter as the machine uses mirrors to direct the laser and so the beam will reflect off any mirrored surface you are trying to cut. If you are rastering an image on the laser cutter consider your material and how this will look. The laser burns at a higher or lower power in correspondence to the tone of the image. If you are rastering wood a darker area will be appear where the image is darker, however if you are rastering acrylic the mark will be lighter than the material. To avoid this you can press the negative button which will swap the power bands.
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Embossing What is it? Embossing involves stamping a brass or copper plate onto a surface to produce a raised surface. Debossing is very similar although this leaves an indent in the material. Embossing can be blind which means there is no ink involved, but it can also be used with foil to add colour. Embossing adds a tactile element to a design.
You will need . . .
13
Difficulty Level
Hints & Tips You can emboss cut out designs produced on the laser cutter for a quicker result than that of the copper plate production. Consider what you are going to emboss before you produce your plate as you may end up with a border from the plate itself. It is therefore best to produce a plate bigger than the material you are going to print on. Thinner stocks can hold more detail than thicker stocks, although intricate detail is difficult to reproduce at all when embossing or debossing.
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Foiling What is it?
Difficulty Level
Foiling gives a high-end, shiny finish to a print. It is often seen on book covers and business cards due to the high quality finish this can give. It also adds a tactile element to a print. Foil blocking is a process carried out in industry and this involves stamping a heated die onto stock. You can however apply foil by screen printing adhesive and pressing foil onto this and this is a much faster method of foiling.
You will need . . .
A D H E SI V E
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Hints & Tips Make sure the foil is facing upwards, with the shiny side up, before you heat press. You can also foil using a laser printer and heat press the foil onto the print as the foil sticks to the toner, however this is not as reliable as printing adhesive and foiling this. You can apply the adhesive with a paintbrush giving a thin layer, rather than screen printing. Remember to clean your screen after one or two pulls of the adhesive as this will clog up the screen quickly.
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Flocking Difficulty Level
What is it? Applying flock to a design gives a highly tactile finish. It is often used when printing patterns such as wallpapers but can work well in other designs. This finishing method can be produced using the screen printing process in a very similar way to foiling, this will improve your screen printing skills and give you a fun, textured finish.
You will need . . .
A D H E SI V E
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Hints & Tips Make sure the flock is facing down onto the adhesive before you heat press. You can apply the adhesive with a paintbrush giving a thin layer, rather than screen printing. Remember to clean your screen after one or two pulls of the adhesive as this will clog up the screen quickly. You can also flock by sprinkling flock fibres onto an area of adhesive, this sometimes requires heat but the process can be can be carried out without the use of heat.
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What to print on ?
If you are printing onto paper consider the qualities of your chosen paper. What it feels like will have a huge impact on your final printed product. Such as when printing on gloss or coated stocks images often look sharper. Also consider texture, how do you want the product to feel? Think about what the product will be used for, is the stock appropriate for this use? Weight can also be a factor you need to consider, for example if you are making a book with several pages you may need to think about folding or binding methods. The examples to the right show the three key types of paper, gloss, silk and uncoated. Feel the difference in texture and think about appropriate uses. 19
Using the printing processes and finishing techniques in this book you can print on just about anything. Think about print in the broadest sense and be creative. Screen print onto fabric and wear your prints, make lino cut greetings cards, print onto wood, plastic, glass and more. You can even laser cut items such as fruit and vegetables (but make sure you run appropriate tests first). With some extra research and experimentation you can print on just about anything.
Uncoated