Polyester plates
Digitally created polyester plate lithographs
Printing techniques for polyester plates
Drawing materials for polyester plates
Surface printing drawing materials and relief printing of polyester plates

 

 

Photo Lithography using Pronto Plates
Photo Lithography using pronto plates as the matrix. A digital image is printed from a laser printer and then printed as a lithograph using conventional lithographic printing methods.

explain how an image can be rendered or transferred to Pronto (or similar) plates to make the matrix.
Explain How to process the plate.

The plate can be secured, on the press bed, in the
usual ways (with water and/or tape) for printing.

Calvin sponges the plate and rolls it up in the
usual (litho) manor, and then pulls a print.

Voila!
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Polyester Plates are an inexpensive, efficient and low toxic method of making lithographic prints. Plates can be made from heat fused hand drawn images, photocopying images, and laser printing digital images directly to the plate. The plate is ready to print immediately after the image has been fused with heat and processed with a universal fountain solution.
PRODUCING A PLATE: Leave at least a 1” margin around the border of the plate and apply “t” and “bar” registration marks (if possible) to the plate.
Photocopy a photomontage and/or drawing to the plate. The image must be light and have contrast (not too middle value gray). Flat back areas may chip if not fused well to the plate. Check quality of image and warm up copier by proofing on paper first.
Laser print a scanned image or digitally manipulated image. Again proof on paper first then go to plate. Only the laser printer in B43 may be used for this process.
Draw directly on the plate with waterproof media: black ballpoint pen, sharpie, paint pens, china marker, stones crayons etc. Make sure these materials go into the grain of the plate. They may need to be heat set before processing for them to be durable for printing.
Draw directly with a 50% lighter value toner wash or with Duva toner crayons. Heat fuse these materials with the heat gun then process. Check adhesion with a moist q-tip.
 
LITHO PRESS SET-UP: See attached sheet on press operation - plates. Place on table next to press: a glass palette, large brayer or small roller with stand, ink, ink-knife and razor scraper. Place a bowl of clean water, an empty bowl and fountain solution on the table in front of the press. The bowl of water may have a squirt or two of fountain solution added to it. Too much fountain solution and the image will not take ink, or it will start to lift, too little and the plate will start to scum. The ph of the sponge water should be between 4.5 to 5.5 for printing.
PEPARE PAPER: Tear/cut paper to size and apply registration marks to back of paper. Put in booth over press.
PROCESSING PLATE: With plate adhered to plate-backer, clean the plate before use with the Universal Fountain Solution full strength using a small clean sponge or small rag, rinse with water and dry. Do not over use of fountain solution it can damage image and plate grain.
ROLL UP: You only need a small amount of ink; work the ink if it is too stiff on one side of the palette. Add a drop or two of oil or a tiny bit of setswell to make it loose. Roll it out on your ink slab. The ink has the proper viscosity when it is rolled out smoothly, has the look of satin and makes a whooshing sound when rolled. Dampen plate with a clean sponge and roll up with ink quickly, 6 to 8 double passes with each inking. The plate must be kept damp during inking.
As you dampen the plate with your sponge each time try not to use excessive water, as this will emulsify your ink and cause difficulty. Re-ink and repeat the process again until the plate is properly inked. This may take 3 to 4 sets of passes. Make a newsprint proof first; it is good to good paper.
PRINTING: register the paper to the plate, cover with two sheets of newsprint lower and grease tympan, move bed into place and print. Generally smoother lighter weight paper will print w/o dampening. Paper that is heavy or textured may need to be dampened with a spray mister or clean water and sponge.

PRINTING WITH AN ETCHING PRESS: Lower the top roller until it touches the press bed. Lay out three sheets of newsprint or one sheet of 100 lb. paper on the bed, run under the roller and test for slight pressure. Lay the paper on which you wish to print on top, the inked Pronto Plate face downward on this and crank, no blankets!

TROUBLE SHOOTING
PLATE SCUMS clean with undiluted Universal Fountain Solution and rinse with water.
PLATE NOT PRINTING- Ink too stiff - add oil or litho varnish. Too much fountain solution in dampening water.

 

Clean Up

Clean up is simple and solvent free. Vegetable oil, liquid detergent, fountain solution and rubbing alcohol are all that is necessary. Clean the ink off the roller and ink slab with a rag and vegetable oil. Clean the vegetable oil and ink residue off the ink roller using liquid detergent and water. The rubbing alcohol is used to finish cleaning the ink slab. To clean the plate, print it on newsprint three times without inking it. Now, clean it lightly with fountain solution and a sponge. If you are cleaning a drawing plate dilute the fountain solution with water so it won't remove the drawing.

To clean the plate, print it on newsprint three times without inking it. Wash with non-diluted universal fountain solution and a soft cotton rag, rinse with water and let dry. The plate may be sorted and printed again. The other side of the pronto plate may be used after the original side is completely clean of ink and residue.

Scrape ink off palette and roll out roller on palette (slab). Put wet-wash on palette, roll roller around in it then lay newspaper on it roll out the roller, then clean up the slab with newspaper. Use a rag and roller wash to do a final clean up on the roller. Use a rag and wet wash to clean everything else (scrapper bar, tympan, etc) and put away!

 

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I have just read about pronto (polyester) plates which work like litho plates but are cheap and can be printed by laser of photocopier. they sound amazing and easy, much like solvent transfers which I have sworn off due to toxicity...

I have used Pronto Plates with pretty good results. Students still have problems with rolling up and printing but this is true of learning litho period.
Lithocoal will image well on the plates as does ball -point pen, laserjet prints, Epson inkjet with pigmented inks (the 2000P is great), and Xerox.

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If one is not accustomed to adjusting the viscosity of ink and the general roll-up paterns of lithography, the printing process can be difficult to master. Just difficult but no where near impossible. Otherwise the Pronto Plates are a breeze.

http://home.mindspring.com/~innes/

Pronto plates are also reusable! Try cleaning them, if they scum, with toothpaste. Clean with a dab of toothpaste and buff with water whe your done and you can use them again.

 

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