A technical dictionary of printmaking, André Béguin.
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Contact Photogravure
A photomechanical process used in making plates.
The first
contact photogravure was made by Niepce in 1827 and was a portrait of
Cardinal Amboise of which he made several impressions. Niepce used a
tin plate covered with
Syrian
asphalt* which has the property of
becoming white and insoluble when exposed to light. The plate thus
had to be prepared in darkness to then be exposed to light either
after being covered with a design whose blacks stopped the light or
then was exposed in a darkroom. The exposed parts of the plate then
became insoluble while the black parts were easily dissolved with
some gasoline. All that was then left to do was to bite the plate in
the same way used for etchings*. Thus contact photogravure was not
only one of the first photographic experiments, it was also the first
attempt at photochemical engraving
[*
photogravure].In 1853 Niepce's cousin, Niepce de Saint-Victor, and Lemaître presented a paper to the French Academy of Science concerning a method they called "heliogravure" which, however, was not the reproductive technique used at present which is known by the same name. In fact the paper concerned a tranfer method on metal, stone, and especially wood which were then engraved or cut by hand or prepared chemically. Later on heliogravure became a more precise term and heliographic engraving came to denote all engraving done on metal or wood which was done by means of a photographically transferred design.
[autotype, photographic processes, transfer].
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