JPS5916931B2 - Method of manufacturing printing plates - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a printing plate.

A wide variety of techniques are already known for producing printing plates for intaglio printing, such as woodblock printing, etching, lithography, aquataining, and direct engraving, for example.

Such techniques can be distinguished into two broad groups. One group includes techniques in which the artist thoroughly examines the materials for the stereo version. Therefore, the printing plate material in this case is handcrafted by the artist in some way. Plates manufactured using such printing plates are generally called original graphics. The other group includes photoengraving technology. Printing using the 5 printing plates produced in this way is generally called reproduction. Original graphics, also called art graphics, are often
It is used for printing relatively small editions, so-called art paper,
Printing in that case is done using a hand printing press. Such printing requires the highest level of skill, as the artist's handcart must be reproduced as completely as possible. What is required of the best possible printing is that it be as faithful as possible to the original.

Although today's common photocopying methods can reproduce original paintings with great precision, such reproductions still lack the texture of the original. The original painting was finished with paint, so it has a unique surface structure. That is, the surface has irregularities and roughness. today,
Printing this type of reproduction requires a considerable amount of time and effort until the printing plates are manufactured.

Printing plates can be made of a wide variety of materials, such as wood, zinc, lead, stone, and steel. Artwork can be created by carving, scratching, scraping, or other manual cutting processes. In addition to such treatments, chemical treatments by corrosion can also be applied. In order to make the unevenness as fine as possible, chemical processing can be added to manual processing, and photo processing such as in gravure can also be added. Using this extremely time-consuming technique, it is possible to create extremely detailed irregularities in the image being created. Therefore, for artists,
This means that there is a great possibility of giving the painting you want the expression you desire. Naturally, this highly labor-intensive technique is also correspondingly expensive. Therefore,
The aim is to develop a method for producing printing plates in such a way that such drawbacks can be avoided.

According to this method, it is possible to produce a printing plate that completely retains the artist's handwriting, and therefore, a plate produced using such a printing plate can be called an original plate. The method according to the invention has the following characteristics.

The image to be printed is created by applying paint onto a base, and covering the paint with a layer of powder. In this case, the applied paint is in a state in which powder particles can be trapped. A printing plate support material is applied onto the substrate supporting the paint with the powder layer in such a way that the powder particles can also be incorporated into this material. Thereby, after solidification of the printing plate support material, the powder particles become embedded within the material. The substrate is then cut away from the solidified printing plate support material, after which any paint that may have adhered to the printing plate is removed. The printing plate produced according to this method is characterized by a plate having portions with different depths and whose surface is formed by dotted protuberances and depressions arranged side by side.

Such printing plates are thus formed by particles juxtaposing one another.

It has a shape determined to be printed. Such particles are thereby held in place when the remaining plate material solidifies. The printing plate, which is formed from adjacent particles, is coated with some kind of printing ink during printing. Such a printing plate is particularly suitable for intaglio printing, but can of course also be used for printing in a combination of intaglio and letterpress printing.

In the case of the latter combination of printing, printing ink is also applied to the part of the plate surface that has a base that is later removed during printing plate manufacture. The present invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings. The drawing shows an embodiment of the subject matter of the invention on a greatly enlarged scale.
The following describes the process of manufacturing a printing plate using plastic foil as the substrate 1, glass powder 2 as the powder, and casting resin 3 known by the trade name "Araldite" as the stereo plate support material. shall be.

The foil 1 has a shiny side 4. On this surface, the artist applies paint and draws the picture he or she desires. The paint applied in this way becomes the paint mass 5. Next, glass powder 2 is sprinkled on the surface of the foil 1 to which the paint mass 5 is attached, in such a manner that it can also be incorporated into the paint mass 5. Such a spreading can therefore be carried out as long as the paint mass 5 is still moist. however,
If the paint mass 5 is to be softened again by some suitable treatment before applying the glass powder 2, this can also be done after the paint mass 5 has already dried.
In this example, a commercially available glass powder containing particles of different sizes was used. When the glass powder 2 is sprinkled onto the still wet or softened paint mass 5, the glass powder 2 is able to penetrate into the paint mass 5. Only tiny glass particles can remain in areas where the paint is extremely thin. In areas where the paint is thickly applied, there is sufficient penetration depth to allow relatively coarse glass particles to remain. Of course, if the fine glass particles are sprinkled onto a thick layer of paint, they will be completely swallowed up by the thick mass of paint. When the foil finished in this way is then blown clean or lightly swept,
All the glass particles not attached to the surface of the paint mass 5 fall off. What remains behind is a paint mass 5 covered with countless glass particles as shown in FIG. The surface where the paint is applied thickly is formed by relatively coarse glass particles, and the surface where the paint is applied thinly is formed by relatively fine glass particles. Apply Araldite 3 in a fluid state to the surface of the painting finished in this way.
Apply as shown. Then, the exposed portions of the glass particles 2 that had previously entered the paint mass 5 are covered by the araldite 3, and as a result, they also enter the araldite mass. When the araldite 3 solidifies, the glass particles 2 are held therein with almost no movement. The foil 1 is then peeled off from the entire mass of FIG.

When the foil 1 is peeled off, there is a possibility that a portion of the paint mass 5 may also be peeled off along with it. In the case of large and low paint, the paint mass 5 is broken up, so part of it is peeled off from the foil 1 and part of it remains attached to the remaining parts (2 and 3). Therefore,
The paint lumps 5 remaining attached to the glass particles 2 are dissolved, for example, by washing, and then removed. Therefore, the paint 5 may be water-soluble, for example. However, the removal of paint from the crow particles 2 can also be carried out using other liquids. When the paint 5 is completely washed off, a printing plate ready for printing as shown in FIG. 3 is completed. Such a printing plate has a glossy surface 6 created by the glossy surface of the foil 1. When printing ink is poured into such a printing plate, the printing ink fills the valleys between the relatively coarse glass particles and the valleys between the relatively fine glass particles. That is, more printing ink remains between the coarser glass particles than between the finer glass particles. When printing in this manner, areas with a large amount of printing ink and areas with a small amount of printing ink are again formed. Because the amount of printing ink that stays on the printing plate differs depending on the location of the printing plate, and therefore the amount of printing ink that is applied to the printing paper also differs, it is possible for the artist to
As shown in the figure, the brightness selected when applying paint can be reproduced exactly as it is when printed, with very subtle nuances. Printing plates such as the one shown in Figure 3 can be used to create very subtle halftones that cannot be achieved using aquataining or the extremely laborious gravure technique.

Experiments have shown that artists sometimes use very thin paint when painting.

Moreover, by doing so, the watercolor painting can be made into a printing plate as shown in Figure 3. Artists freely select the type of paint based on the viscosity of the paint. Artists may paint with common lithographic touches, for example, but they may also use slime paints or dilute paints. Therefore, there are no restrictions on the viscosity of the paint used when painting, and the choice is at the artist's discretion. Artists may also use chiyoke. The only thing that is important is that you apply the mass as a base when painting. "Applying paint" here means applying a lump in this way. However, it goes without saying that there is no problem with such a paint block being colorless as long as it is possible to draw a picture with it. As a result of the gloss of the paint lumps disappearing, the paint lumps appear to be floating above the glossy surface of the base. In such a case, the picture will be drawn using colorless blocks. The artist corrects the orientation and draws on the base 1.

This is extremely important, as you should not draw the picture upside down. Therefore, symbols such as signs should not be written upside down. If you finish the drawing on Base 1 as shown in Figure 1, you can easily make corrections and supplements at any time. For example, if a water-soluble paint mass 5 is used, it is a matter of course that the paint mass can be easily removed later. Therefore, the artist has the leeway to finish the painting in the style of expression that looks best to him/her. If it is only after the paint mass 5 has dried that it is desired to continue producing printing plates, the paint mass 5 must be placed again in such a way that the glass particles 2 can be introduced into it. Here, various methods can be used depending on the type of paint mass 5. Examples include heating and the impact of water vapor. The powder incorporated into the paint mass 5 may be made of various materials. However, heated glass powder 2 seems to be appropriate in that it can create more subtle halftones when stamped. Glass particles are also extremely hard, so even after several peelings, the particles remain unchanged. It is therefore advantageous for the particles 2 to consist of a relatively hard material. Similarly, various materials can be used for the base 1 in various thicknesses. It has already proven that thin-walled foils are very suitable for this, in which case it is particularly advantageous if the surface 4 is glossy. This is because a printing plate with a glossy surface 6 as shown in FIG. 3 is thereby obtained, so that undesired halftones can be avoided during printing. Instead of foil, other elastic materials such as flexiglass or plexi rubber can be used as a substrate.
May be used for. Of course, what material to choose for the base 1 depends on
It also depends on what printing support material 3 is chosen.
This is because the material must be separable into both. The printing plate support material 3 may be a synthetic resin.

Casting resins have proven suitable here. Particularly suitable are epoxy resins for casting;
It is known by the trade name ``Araldite''. Moreover, polyester resin for casting can also be used. It is particularly advantageous if the printing plate support material 3 is reinforced, for example with glass fibers. Printing plates produced in this way are less likely to tear and are also easier to handle. The paint mass 5 may be water-soluble or may be soluble in other liquids.

Once the printing plate is ready for printing as shown in FIG. 3, the artist can now make corrections and additions in any known manner.

That is, the printing plate can be scratched, scored or scored, and its surface layer can be peeled off. Further printing plates can also be produced from such printing plates in a manner that is also generally known, for example by galvanizing. This is done, for example, when printing a large number of images on a printing plate side by side, or when printing on fabrics. Therefore, the printing plate shown in FIG. 3 is suitable not only for printing individual reproductions, but also for printing on fabrics when using a hand printing press, for example. If an image is created by applying a thick layer of paint 5 on the base 1, or if the image is created using sticky paint, extremely deep spots will appear on the finished printing plate. Therefore, a large amount of paint can be deposited at desired locations on the printing plate, and as a result, extremely detailed fabric patterns can be printed. The printing plate manufacturing method described above is such that, for example, when transparent base 1 is used, one motif is drawn in the first color on the first base, and another motif is drawn in the second color on the second base. It is extremely advantageous for fabric printing because it allows you to draw a motif, then draw another motif in a third color on a third base, and so on to create a pattern. .

In this case, if the three bases mentioned above are combined into one, a total of three three-color motifs can also be combined into one. In this way, the artist can easily determine whether the visible composite motif matches the image of the fabric sample he or she is trying to create. The artist can combine all the bases into one, see through them, and change the layering at will until the desired motif is achieved. In this example, three printing plates are produced in this way. In this way, the artist can create any motif for multicolor fabric printing. Intaglio printing plate according to the present invention/
When used in letterpress combination printing, therefore, when printing ink is applied to the recesses and another printing ink is applied to the surface 6, relatively fine glass particles 2 are present near the surface 6. The result is a soft, uninterrupted blur of colors.

Therefore, in this case as well, it can be said that it is advantageous to create subtle halftones. The same applies if the printing plate is used only for letterpress printing, and therefore only the surface 6 is coated with printing ink. In this case as well, subtle halftones can be printed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of the base on which the artist applied paint to create the image to be printed. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the base and the paint-applied surface, on which a powder layer has been applied, and on top of which a printing plate support material has been applied. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a printing plate ready for printing. 1...
Base, 2... Powder, 3... Printing plate support material, 5... Paint lump.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Spreading powder consisting of fine particles of different particle sizes onto an image to be printed drawn with paint on a smooth surface in a state where the paint can push the powder, and does not bind with the paint. The powder is removed, a curable material is applied onto the carrier supporting the paint to which a layer of the powder is applied in such a way that the powder can be forced into the material, and the curable material is cured to form the curable material. The powder is deposited in the material, and then the printing plate made of the hardened material is separated from the carrier supporting the paint, and if the paint is attached to the printing plate, it is removed. A method for producing a printing plate characterized by the following.