Fig. 23.
Where the results desired need not be of as high a grade as those made by the Collotype processes, or where there is not time to make a zinc etching, this method will serve a good purpose and produce satisfactory results. The zinc plates used for etching will serve to hold the transfers. The methods for cleaning the plates, already given, will serve here also. The machine should be securely fastened to a table and the bearings must be kept well oiled.
Write, draw, or trace the original with a steel pen and the ink, on well calendered paper, not too thick. For drawing, a fine pen is the best. Then lay it, written side up, in a shallow dish, cover the paper with the transfer solution, leave it from four to five minutes. If the writing is several days old, leave it longer—about ten minutes. Lay it between blotting paper and dry gently by rubbing with the hand or a cloth. Then lay it, written side down, upon the polished plate, pass it from four to six times under the iron roller, having first placed a pasteboard over it. To prevent slipping, it is well to cover the original with a sheet of blotting paper before putting the pasteboard {179} over it. If you are not sure your press is screwed up evenly, run the plate through two or three times, then turn it end for end and pass it through as many times the other way.
Place upon the small distributing roller as much printer’s ink as will go upon the point of a knife, then holding the handle with the left hand, press it upon the inking roller, and turn the crank, moving the distributing roller from side to side, until the ink is evenly distributed.
See that the rollers are an equal distance apart at each end, so as to print evenly. The original is now carefully removed.
After washing the plate gently with a sponge and water and drying it, also gently, with a clean cloth, rub the whole printed or written side of the plate, by means of a cloth or sponge, with mixture No. 1, not pouring the mixture directly upon the writing, but upon an unprinted place upon the surface and rubbing over the whole plate. Wash off immediately with sponge and water, and dry gently; then pour about twenty drops of No. 2 upon the plate, not directly upon the print, and rub over the whole surface, so that there is a thin coating of it over the whole surface. This prevents the ink from sticking to the part of the plate not covered with writing or print. If there is too much, the paper of the copies will be yellow, and the negative may be injured.
Now lay the plate upon the pasteboard and pass it under the inking roller (the pressure does not need to be strong); it falls before the iron roller; place a sheet of clean paper upon the negative, lay a pasteboard over it, and pass it under the roller. For the first impression it is well to pass it under several times, until the negative comes out clearly and distinctly. From time to time, after every ten or twelve impressions, apply No. 2; if the paper used for printing is very coarse or porous, it may be necessary to apply No. 2 oftener.
As soon as the impressions become faint, apply a little more ink in the manner described. After applying fresh ink, apply No. 2. Only when too much ink is put on or unevenly distributed, or when the plate is not covered with the thin coating of No. 2, or not properly cleaned, can the negative or plate become soiled. If this should happen from any of these causes, remove the spots carefully by means of a cloth wet with preparation No. 2.