Print Test with Black and Blue + Problem Solving

After I finished carving the blue block it was time to run some tests to see if it lined up with the black. The first step in this process was to roll out the blue ink and print a few sheets, making sure to line up the corner in the registration keys.


As a side note, I have to say I really dislike the blue ink. It has a very low viscosity, is very messy getting out of the can and prints inconsistently. In the future, when I need a similar blue, I will try a different brand.



After printed three sheets of paper with the blue, I switched to printing on the black block. Like the blue block, I made sure the paper corner fit into the registration key before letting the paper fall into place. Here's what came out:

Oh the horror!
When starting this project I feared that I would have problems getting all the colors to line up correctly. Seeing this was disheartening because it could be caused by a multitude of reasons. The one I feared most was that the transfers somehow became distorted when transferring the xerox copies to the Sintra, which in turn would cause me to carve in the wrong places.

My next step was to determine what the problem was. I ran some more prints with the blue block, paying close attention to how the paper was falling after being placed in the registration key. I measured the margins in a few prints and discovered that some were off as much as half an inch while others weren't off much at all! This led me to believe that despite being aligned in the corner, the paper was shifting when it was supposed to be falling into place.

To double check to see if my transfers were an issue, I cut the margins off one of the blue prints. Instead of using the registration key to line up the print, I used the block itself. This picture was taken after being printed, hence why the black is already on the paper.



Oh what a relief!
Seeing that the transfers were not a problem I then proceeded to figure out a way to keep my margins. A flush image would be acceptable, but I planned for margins, so margins is what I want.

I used a ruler to measure and draw a line on the top and side margins.


While trying to use the drawn line to align the blue prints with the black block I noticed that sometimes the top and side of the paper would not lay on the line as they were supposed to.


This led me to believe that I was sometimes tearing my paper crooked. I don't know how this is possible since I am using a paper roller with a straightedge bar to tear with.


At any rate, I began focusing on aligning my paper on the top margin since that side of the paper was not being torn. This picture was taken after the image had been printed and dried:


In the future, I may end up gluing some extra registration keys further down on the block, but for now I will stick with the lines for aligning my paper. It may slow the printing process down a little, but I am not really concerned with time and I worry that the keys may become more of a problem than a solution. Also, while running my last print, I accidentally had my block crooked and the registration keys were scraped off by the press.

I think it's a sign that I shouldn't bother with the corner keys


There were a few places in the blue block that I want to go back into. Two places in particular stood out to me as needing to be fixed. One was the peacock's feet and the other was the arm of the scout standing behind the peacock.




These are very minor fixes and like the black block, I will wait and come back to them after the yellow block is carved and tested.

Tranfering Images and Creating Registration Keys

Sorry for the delay in updating. Work keeps me busy and editing photos and writing a blog are not on my list of "fun" or "relaxing" activities.

In this post I will go through how I transfer images onto my matrices so that I don't have to redraw what I've already drawn on the computer and also how I set up my registration keys so that when I print multiple colors they will all (hopefully) line up properly.

For this edition I wanted to try carving on a material called Sintra, which is a dense PVC foam board. I discovered this material while working at a sign shop and assume that it can be bought at most other sign shops. It comes in many colors, but since I will be transferring a dark image, I bought a light color (cream). After trimming the Sintra down to the image size, I cleaned it with a rag and some Simple Green.



As for the transfer sheets, I converted each color layer to a black and white file. Then, I went to Kinkos and had them printed. It is important that the images are printed from a laser jet or xerox machine. The toner on the paper is what transfers to the block. Below is the transfer sheet for the yellow block. Regular printing paper is fine. No need for fancy paper stock.



To transfer the image to the block I used gloves, tape, a rag, and Acetone.



I taped the transfer sheet face-down to my clean Sintra, being careful to line up the corners.



Dampening the rag with acetone, I begin rubbing the back of the transfer sheet. This can be tricky. Too much acetone will ruin your image and too little acetone will also ruin your image. With these blocks I started rubbing from the middle working out. I think in the future I will start from one end and work towards the other.



Here is the finished transfer. I am not sure why it came out so spotty. In the past, my transfers have come out clean and consistent. Perhaps it was the Sintra, perhaps something else? As ugly as it looks, closeup, I can still see all the details to carve by.



Ok. After transferring all my images, I mounted each of them on a Masonite board. I did this for two reasons. One, Sintra can break and warp. Two, I glue my registration keys on them. To place the Sintra, I measure out my margins at the top and one side of the Masonite then add .5'' to each. I use contact cement to glue the Sintra down.



The .5'' are added because I cut rectangular pieces of linoleum floor tile that are .5'' wide by 1.5'' long. I just happen to have the floor tile. If I did not have that, scrap Sintra would do.



I then arrange and glue two pieces in the corner so that they make a right angle. This raised area will allow me to place the corner of my printing paper in the same place every time I print. I've seen some people carve their registration marks into their board (like Japanese printers), but I prefer this raised method.



Here are all three blocks ready to be carved. The top one has a shorter piece of Masonite, but it should not interfere with printing:

I am hoping by the time I am ready to do another relief print, my local print shop will have a printer that can reliably print on Sintra. This would save a good deal of time and create a cleaner image to carve by.