Part 18
The quality of the paper is of great consequence in fine printing; but it is frequently overlooked by the printer’s employers, who are apt to pay more attention to a showy appearance and a low price than to quality.
The best paper for printing on is that which is made of fine linen rags and moderately sized, without the use of acids in bleaching, and without being adulterated with cotton rags: this paper takes water kindly, is easily got into good condition, receives a good impression, is durable, preserves its colour, and does not act upon the ink.
The use of cotton rags, the introduction of gypsum into the manufacture of fine and other papers, the application of acids and bleaching powders to improve the colour and produce apparently good paper from an inferior staple,—these form the grand hinderances to the American printer in his efforts to equal or excel foreign productions. Hence it is that works printed in this country are less valued than those from the English press, which are printed on paper of fine fabric, made mostly of linen rags, and sufficiently strong to bear a fine ink.
A pressman should, as a matter of course, be well acquainted with the entire routine of presswork; in addition to which, to form his judgment, he should examine the most splendid productions of the press, and study them as patterns of workmanship.
In making ready, it must be evident that, when a clear, sharp impression is wanted, the pressure should be on the surface only. Of course the tympan ought not to be very soft, neither should a woollen blanket be used: the most perfect impression will be obtained when fine thick paper alone is placed in the tympans; and even of this article but few thicknesses should be employed.
After an impression is printed, the pressman examines if it be uniform throughout; if it be,—which is very rarely the case,—he goes on with the work; if not, he proceeds to overlay, in order to produce regularity of pressure and of colour over the whole form. Wherever the impression is weak he pastes a bit of thin, smooth paper, of the size and shape of the imperfect part, on the tympan-sheet; he then pulls another impression, to examine the effect of his overlays, and continues to add to them where wanted, till the pressure of the platen is the same in every part and the impression is of a uniform shade of colour.
If the impression come off too strong in parts, or at the edges or corners of the pages or on the head-lines, it will be necessary to cut away the tympan-sheet in those parts, and, if that does not ease the pressure sufficiently, to cut away the same parts from one or more of the sheets that are within the tympans.
It is generally preferable to overlay on a sheet of stout smooth paper inside the tympan, particularly where the same press does the whole or great part of the work: this sheet is cut to fit the interior of the tympan, so as not to slip about, and has overlays pasted on it where wanted, to bring up the impression till it is very nearly equal. In all succeeding sheets it saves the pressman a great deal of time, as he will be certain that when he pulls a sheet of another form of the same work it will be nearly right, and he will only have to place thin overlays on occasional parts to make the impression perfect.
It is necessary, where short pages occur in a form, to have bearers to protect their bottom lines and the edges of the adjoining pages. These may be of double pica reglet, pasted on the frisket, so as to bear on some part of the furniture or chase; but bearers made to the height of the types are better, when they can be used.
It happens occasionally that the tympan causes the paper to touch the form partially on being turned down, and occasions slurs. This may occur from the parchment being slack or the paper being thin and soft. To prevent this inconvenience, it is customary to roll up a piece of thick paper and paste it on the frisket adjoining the part. Many pressmen prefer pieces of cork cut to about the thickness of double pica, and pasted on the frisket.
In working the white paper, instead of pins stuck into the tympan, to prevent the paper slipping, a duck’s bill (a tongue cut in a piece of stout paper) is frequently used: it is pasted to the tympan at the bottom of the tympan-sheet, and the tongue projects in front of it; indeed, the tympan-sheet appears to rest in it. The bottom of each sheet is placed behind this tongue, which supports it while the tympan is turned down.
The rollers should be kept clean, but should not be too moist, as this will prevent the ink from distributing equally over them, and from covering evenly the surface of the types or engraving; nor should they be too dry, as in that case they will not dispose of the ink smoothly enough to produce a fine impression, neither will they retain particles of dirt on their surface, but it will part with them to the form, thus causing picks.
The ink ought to be rubbed out thinly and equally on the ink-block, so that when it is taken it may be diffused smoothly over the surface of the rollers. It is advisable to keep rubbing the ink out on the block with the brayer, and to distribute the roller almost constantly; the continual friction produces a small degree of warmth, which is of advantage, particularly in cold weather.
As uniformity of colour is requisite for beauty in printing, where the form is large the pressman should take ink for every impression: this may be thought troublesome, but it is advantageous in producing regularity of colour. It is unpleasant to see in a fine book two pages that face each other differing in colour,—the one a full black, surcharged with ink, the other deficient in quantity and of a gray colour; yet this must happen when, as is frequently the case, three or four sheets are printed with one taking of ink.
In fine books, particularly where the paper is large and heavy and the type large, set-off sheets are used to interleave the whole impression while working: these remain till the printed paper is taken down from the poles by the warehouseman. These set-off sheets are put in when the white paper is working, and moved from one heap to the other during the working of the reiteration. They prevent the ink from setting off from one sheet to another while they are newly printed, from the weight of the paper.
To secure uniformity of impression, the pull should be so adjusted in the first instance as to give a proper degree of pressure on the form when the bar is pulled home; then, checking the bar, it should be allowed to rest in that position during a short pause.
It will be perceived that, to produce presswork of a highly superior character, great expense and much time are required; and that it is requisite to have a good press in good condition; to have new types, or types whose faces are not rounded by wear; to have good rollers in good condition; that the ink should be strong, of a full black colour, that it will not fade nor stain the paper, and ground so fine as to be impalpable; the paper should be of the best quality, made of linen rags, and not bleached by means of acids or bleaching powders, which have a tendency to decompose the ink; the rolling should be carefully and well done; the face of the type should be completely covered with ink, without any superfluity, so as to produce a full colour; and the pull should be so regulated as to have a slow and great pressure, and to pause at its maximum in order to fix the ink firmly upon the paper. These particulars observed, with nothing but paper in the tympans, perfect impressions of the face alone of the type will be obtained, and a splendid book will be produced in the best style of printing.[20]
PRINTING WOOD-CUTS.
A single block, when imposed in a large chase, may spring out of the chase while being inked, from the quantity of furniture about it. A good plan is to impose it in a job-chase, and to impose this chase in a larger one: this will cause it to lie flatter on the press and firmer in the rolling, the large chase being secured firmly on the press by quoins and the corner irons.
Before pulling the first impression, the workman should see that the surface of the cut is perfectly clear from particles of dirt, and that no pin or lump of paste is on the tympan. He ought then to pull very gently, or he may injure some of the fine lines of the engraving.
Neither the pressure nor the impression of an engraving on wood should be uniformly equal: if it be, the effect intended to be produced by the artist will fail; and, instead of light, middle tint, and shade, an impression will be produced that possesses none of them in perfection: some parts will be too hard and black, while other parts will have neither pressure nor colour enough, nor any of the mildness of the middle tint, which ought to pervade a large portion of an engraving, and on which the eye reposes after viewing the strong lights and the deep shades.
To produce the desired effect, great nicety and patience are required in the pressman: a single thickness of thin India paper, (the best for overlaying,) with the edges scraped down, is frequently required over very small parts. The overlay should never be cut at the edges; but, even where great delicacy of shape is not required, it should be torn into the form wanted: this reduces the thickness of the edges, and causes the additional pressure to blend with the surrounding parts As particular parts of the impression will frequently come up too strong, and other parts too weak, it will be necessary to take out from between the tympans a thickness of paper and add an additional tympan-sheet, cutting away the parts that come off too hard, and scraping down the edges. Scraping away half the thickness of a tympan-sheet in small parts that require to be a little lightened will improve the impression. The light parts require little pressure; but the depths should be brought up so as to produce a full and firm impression.
If a block be hollow on the surface, underlaying the hollow part will bring up the impression better than overlaying it, at least so nearly that only a thickness or two of paper will be needed as overlays. If a block be too low, it is better to raise it to the proper height by underlays than to use overlays; as the latter act in some measure as blankets, and are pressed into the interstices, rendering the lines thicker than in the engraving.
It will be necessary sometimes, when the surface of the block is very uneven, to tear away parts of the paper in the tympan, to equalize the impression where it is too hard.
The pressman will find it convenient to pull a few impressions, while he is making ready, on soiled or damaged India paper. Out of these he can cut overlays to the precise shape and size wanted, which are always necessary when great accuracy is required in overlaying particular portions. He should be provided with a sharp penknife and a pair of good small scissors. A fine sharp bodkin and a needle or two, to take out picks, are also needful; but he should be particularly careful so to use them that he do no injury. The best way is, to draw the bodkin or needle point cautiously in the direction of the lines.
Engravings in vignette form require great attention to keep the edges light and clear, and in general it is necessary to scrape away one or two thicknesses of paper in order to lighten the impression and keep it clean: the edges being irregular and straggling, they are likely to come off too hard. Bearers type-high placed beside the block will be found advantageous; if they cannot be used, pieces of reglet, pasted on the frisket in the usual way, and taking a bearing on the furniture, must be substituted; but the high bearer is to be preferred where it can be adopted. The bearers equalize the pressure on the surface of the engraving, and protect the edges from the severity of the pull, which is always injurious to the delicacy of the external lines. They also render the subject more manageable, by enabling the pressman to add to or diminish the pressure on particular parts, so as to produce the desired effect.
When great delicacy of impression is required in a vignette, it will be found beneficial, after the engraving is inked, to roll the extremities with a small roller without ink: this will not only take away any superfluity of ink, but will prevent picks, and give lightness and softness to the edges, particularly where the effect of distance is required.
If the extremities are engraved much lighter than the central parts, underlays should be pasted on the middle of the block, which will give a firmer impression to the central parts of the subject. It would save trouble and aid in getting a good impression if the block were engraved a little rounded on the face.
When highly finished engravings on wood are worked separately, woollen cloth, however fine, should never be used for blankets, as it causes too much impression; a sheet or two of hard smooth paper between the tympans is better; sometimes even a piece of glazed pasteboard is used inside the outer tympan. The parchments ought to be in good condition, stretched tight, of a smooth surface, thin, and of regular thickness, so as to enable the pressman to obtain an impression as nearly as possible from the surface only of the engraved lines.
The rollers must be kept in perfect order; and the pressman should be very particular in taking ink and inking the block. He ought to use the best ink that can be procured.
When a wood-cut left on the press all night has become warped, lay it on its face upon the imposing-stone, with a few thicknesses of damp paper underneath it, and place over it the flat side of a planer, with sufficient weight upon it: in the course of a few hours the block will be restored to its original flatness. This method is preferable to steeping the block in water; as the steeping swells the lines of the engraving, and, consequently, affects the impression. To preserve the original effect of the cut as it came from the hands of the artist, the block should never be wet with water; and, when it has been worked in a form with types, it should be taken out before the form is washed.
To prevent warping during the dinner-hour or the night, turn the tympan down upon the form, run the carriage in, and, pulling the bar-handle home, fasten it so that it will remain in this position during the interim.
However long boxwood may be kept in the log, it will always twist and warp when cut into slices for engraving, on account of fresh surfaces being exposed to the air. Large blocks may be restored to their flatness in the course of a night by laying them on a plane surface, with the hollow side downward, without any weight on them.
A fine engraving on wood should never be brushed over with ley: the best method is to wipe the ink off with a fine sponge damped with spirits of turpentine, and, if it get foul in working, clean it with a soft brush and spirits of turpentine; then wipe the surface dry and pull two or three impressions on dry waste paper. Spirits of turpentine take off the ink quicker, and affect the wood less, than any other article. The facility with which the block is again brought into a working state more than compensates for the trifling additional expense incurred.
When a few proofs only are wanted from a small engraving, good impressions may be obtained with little trouble on dry India paper, with about six thicknesses of the same sort of paper laid over it, and pulled without the tympan. If proofs are wanted from large ones, it will be found advantageous to put the India paper for a few minutes into a heap of damp paper.
To do full justice to an engraving, the pressman should get a good impression from the engraver and place it before him as a pattern, and then arrange the overlays, &c. till he produce a fac-simile in effect. Better still is it for an unpractised hand to obtain the assistance of the artist at the press-side, to direct him in making ready the cut.[21]
CARD PRINTING
Has, since the introduction of enamelled or polished cards, made rapid strides toward perfection; the fine absorbing quality of the enamel, under proper management, producing the most beautiful results,—in many cases scarcely discernible from copperplate. A card, to be well printed, requires as careful treatment as a wood engraving, (see p. 280,) so far as making ready is concerned, and in working without blankets and using the finest ink. Having made a light impression on the tympan-sheet, place the pins so as to bring the impression as nearly as possible in the centre of the card, one pin at the lower side and two at the off side, taking care that the head of the pin does not come in contact with the types. The impression should be exceedingly light until properly regulated,—at no time more than is actually necessary to bring up the _face_ of the type. Cards are now mostly printed on small card-machines, at the rate of one, two, and even ten thousand per hour. All cards should be printed dry.
A small quantity of varnish put on the rollers and well distributed will prevent the enamel from peeling. The addition of a little ultramarine blue will beautifully intensify the black ink used in printing enamelled cards.
The patent extension feed guides, or tympan gauge pins, shown on page 310, will be found very convenient and useful.
GOLD PRINTING.
The types being made ready for press in the usual manner, the surface is covered in the ordinary way with gold size instead of ink, and the impression taken upon the paper. For a large job, remove only the back from a book of leaf-gold; for a small one, lay a straight edge across the book, and cut it through, of the size required, with the point of a sharp penknife. This must be done before using the size. Slightly wet the end of the forefinger of the right hand, and, placing the thumb of that hand on the pile of gold, raise the edge of the paper with the forefinger sufficiently to dampen it with the moisture of that finger; then press the moistened edge of the paper on the gold, and it will adhere sufficiently to enable the fingers to lift gold and paper together and place it on the impression. Proceed thus until the size is entirely covered; gently pat the gold with the balls of the fingers, or any soft, pliable substance, until it is set; then, with a very soft hat-brush, remove the superfluous gold, when a clear and beautiful impression will appear. Its sharpness will depend on the judgment of the printer in applying the size to the type.
BRONZE PRINTING
Is used more extensively than gold printing, being attended with far less expense in the cost of the material. The method of printing is the same, except that, instead of laying on the gold-leaf, the impression is rubbed over with the bronze, by dipping a small block, covered with a short, fine fur, or a small wad of raw cotton, into the powder, and brushing off the superfluous bronze with a soft brush, as in gold printing. Bronze can be procured of various colours, and when laid on with judgment the effect is beautiful. The palest bronze is best. To produce a finished effect after bronzing, take finely-powdered soapstone, and apply in the same manner as bronze.
PRINTING IN COLOURS.
When red and black are to be printed on the same sheet,—the same process being applicable to all other colours,—the form is made ready in the usual way, and a chalk-line is traced around the outside of the chase on the press-bed, to show the exact situation in which the form must be replaced after having been lifted. The form is then laid with its face downward on a letter-board covered with the press-blankets. The words marked in the proof to be printed red are then forced down, and Nonpareil reglets nicely fitted into the vacancies, which raise the red lines and words an equal distance from the other matter. A sheet of paper is then pasted on the form, to keep the Nonpareil underlays in their proper places. The form is again laid on the press, observing the utmost care in placing it in its original position as indicated by the marks before made on the bed.
It must then be made perfectly fast to the corner irons, as it is highly important that it remain firm and immovable during its stay on the press. The frisket (which is covered with strong paper) is then put on, the form rolled over with the red ink, and an impression made on it. The red words are then cut out with a sharp-pointed penknife, with so much nicety as not to admit the smallest soil on the paper from the other matter.
The red being finished and the form washed, the compositor unlocks it, (this should be done on the imposing-stone, as the pressman can easily lay it agreeably to the marks made on the press,) and draws out the red lines, filling up the space with quadrates. When this is done, the pressman cuts out the frisket for the black. An extra pair of points are used to prevent the black from falling on the red, or, as it is technically termed, _riding_. Generally, when a great number is to be printed, as many forms are used as there are colours to be printed. Another method of placing the underlays is adopted for broadsides, &c. with large letter and with but two or three lines of red. The red lines are taken out on the press, and underlays are put in, upon which the lines are placed, and the frisket is cut out as before mentioned.
A more expeditious method can be employed for forms in which the lines of one colour are not too numerous to be easily lifted. After the form is ready, and the various colours are marked on the proof, a skeleton form is made up, with labour-saving quotation furniture or wood furniture fitted into the spaces of all the lines except those of the colour to be first printed. When the first colour is printed, its lines are lifted from the form, and the spaces filled with furniture, and the lines for the next colour are set in their proper places and printed; and so on till the job is completed.
The custom of printing broadsides, &c. with several colours is so common that ink-makers generally now manufacture coloured inks; consequently the printer can be supplied without the delay and labour of making. We give the following particulars, however, for the benefit of those who wish to prepare their own colours.
Varnish is the common menstruum adopted for all colours in printing. Red is the colour generally used with black. Trieste or English Vermilion, with a small portion of lake, produces a beautiful red, which should be ground with a muller on a marble slab till it be perfectly smooth. If it be in the smallest degree gritty, it clogs the form, and consequently produces a thick and imperfect impression; no pains should, therefore, be spared to render it perfectly smooth; it may then be made to work as clear and free from picks as black. A cheaper red, but not so brilliant, may be prepared with orange mineral, rose pink, and red lead.
Prussian blue makes also an excellent colour, but will require much time and labour to make it perfectly smooth. It is also ground with the best varnish, but made considerably thicker, by allowing a greater portion of colour with the same quantity of varnish than the red; it will then work clear and free from picks. As this colour dries rather rapidly, the rollers should be frequently washed.