A technical dictionary of printmaking, André Béguin.


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Printing Litho plates on an etching press
Taken from "on line discussion, printmaking" http://frank.mtsu.edu/~art/printmaking/wwwboard
Place a litho plate on the press bed (with registration pins in place, if desired) and tape the plate to the press bed with duct tape at the lead end. Ink up the plate and when it is fully inked, then place a sheet of printmaking paper over the image. Next put a piece of newsprint on top of the printing paper and on top of that place a piece of an offset rubber blanket (slightly larger than the image on the plate). Top all this with a piece of 1/4" masonite (the masonite should not be over the registration pins). It will help to rig a device or stop at the tail end of the press bed to keep the masonite from "crawling"
The above advice sounds good but there is a much simpler way. Ink your plate, lay it in the press bed (or for a neater way, a piece of mat board covered with clear "Con-Tac" paper). Lay the print paper on top, the off-set blanket face down and a couple of sheets of cheap thick paper board on top- and roll your print! If you are rich you can use felt blankets but you will find most print shops eager to give you used off-set blankets. Do what you will about an inking surface but I would suggest an untempered masonite board covered with several layers of silicone.

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