![intaglio plate intaglio plate](https://itotd.com/files/2018/08/28649537830_4e980f1f54_o-696x463.jpg)
The print run from a Zinc plate is small as it’s a soft metal to work with. Zinc – this is the students metal but you can get great and quick results from it.The print run is not half as good as steel. Copper – this is apparently and historically the best metal to use and the most expensive, it gives excellent lines, good tones and very good whites.Aluminium – this is a soft metal that gives good line and tone quickly but not good for long print runs.Clean your edges of your plate by filing them so they are not sharp and make sure the metal you are using is clean with no blemishes where you don’t want them as these will hold ink and print. Prepare your plate to ground and then draw your image. Make sure the size of your plate is the same size of your drawing.Ģ. If you are tracing a photograph the same applies. If you are tracing your image from your own drawing it is simple to retrace onto the plate by turning the tracing paper upside down so you’re ready to inscribe it onto the plate. Use Photoshop and rotate it horizontally so it’s backwards (as it will print backwards) either use carbon paper or scribble on the back of the paper so that you can draw and transfer the lead across onto the metal grounded plate. Find your drawing, design or photograph that you would like to make a plate of. Intaglio Etching Printing Press Blankets.
![intaglio plate intaglio plate](https://21stcenturyrenaissanceprintmaker.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/intaglio-plate-half-wiped-wm.jpg)
I nking Rollers either spindle or hand rollers.Scrim for printing if you like to use it.Printing papers such as Somerset or Bread and Butter.Aquatint powder, pepper pot or Aquatint box.Mordant or Acid depending on what metal you have used.Hard, soft or clear, Ball or Liquid ground.Intaglio Etching needles and a burnisher.Metal plate, of your choice including, Aluminium, Zinc, Copper or Steel.Once you have made your intaglio plate it is ready to print. The deeper these crevices the more ink they will hold and the darker the tone will print. The longer the plate is in the acid the deeper the acid etches around the aquatint powder which creates very small crevices that the ink can sit in. Each tone from white to dark is painted out and each time the plate is put into the acid bath for a period of time. An Aquatint is then sprinkled onto the surface of the plate either by hand, pot or box and melted using a hotplate, oven or blow torch. The mordant or acid will etch the intaglio line into the etching plate either as variations or the same depths of line. Working from an original drawing, the line is drawn backwards onto the plate through the wax ground that has been dabbed or rolled onto a degreased plate. Intaglio Etching is a traditional and amazing way to make plates and print from them. Intaglio Steel Etching Printed and Framed by Jenny Gunning