RE: Photopolymer Plate Options
Thanks John for providing the good summary. Thanks for clarifying about the plates and an explanation about depth and dot/holes. I'm going to be ordering some plates and giving them a go with your curve. -----Original Message----- From: Jon Lybrook [mailto:jon@terabear.com] Sent: Monday, February 12, 2007 12:03 PM To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca Subject: Re: Photopolymer Plate Options Hi Mark, The "EcoEtch" plate from Box Car Press I mentioned is the Toyobo (model KM73) plate. "EcoEtch for Photogravure" is their internal name for it at Box Car Press. I believe it is the same plate Keith was talking about too. We discussed different sources for the plate, Box Car Press being the most affordable I've found. I've read references to other Toyobo plates here too, but I'm not sure what they are about or how they differ from the KM73. That plate has come recommended by several people on this list besides me, and in at least one book I've read. Thickness of the plate impacts the depth of the dot/holes one can create in the plate. Presumably the deeper the dot, the more ink one can wipe in to the plate, and the more ink that gets in the more comes out, on to your print. If you're into relief printing, or the effect of open bite, the thicker the polymer, the deeper the relief lines can be as well. I probably wouldn't use the KM73 for that kind of work, since the polymer is relatively thin. I've not had problems getting deep, rich blacks once the exposure time has been established (and using Charbonnel Carbon Black ink), however. Hope that helps clarify some of the confusion. Cheers, Jon D. Mark Andrews wrote: > Was just reading through my stockpile of list emails on this topic and found > myself a bit confused. It I'm following correctly, I have these options for > making photopolymer plates that are "developed" using water: > > Solarplate (This is the plate I've been toying with) > Dan Welden > > Printight (Keith Taylor's recommendation) > Toyobo > > Printight DF > Toyobo > > EcoEtch KM73 (Jon Lybrook's recommendation) > Boxcar Press > > Also, I get that the plate base thickness factors into the depth of etching, > but not sure how. Can anyone enlighten me? > > Mark > > > >
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