Etching: printing

Copperplate prints are made using a sticky kind of ink, with the plate being warmed on a stove. The pictures below show the eight basic stages of copperplate engraving.

spreading of the ink

daubing the ink

removing the excess ink

cleaning and burnishing the plate

cleaning the corners

immersion of the sheet of paper

The paper for the intaglio process of engraving is of a special kind: it contains little glue and no wood fibres. It is similar to blotting paper and must be wet in order to adhere better to the inked depressions.

positioning of the plate

The printing process

The plate is inked before the printing of each sheet of paper. The printing process is done with a hand press on a movable plane passing between two metal rollers.

Between the cylinders pass :

a) the plane

b) the inked plate

c) the wet sheet of paper attached to the plate

d) d) a blotter to absorb the water from the paper squeezed out by the cylinders.

By pulling a lever, the entire rolling process is set into motion.

the hand press

These information come from the site: www.acquaforte.it