An investigation on printability of different solvent based inks by gravure printing onto various substrates

Gravure printing is an intaglio printing process, the image to be printed is engraved on the surface of the gravure cylinder, so that the image to be printed is embedded into the surface. The places engraved in the cylinder during printing are filled with ink, surplus of ink is stripped by a blade and separated for reuse. Print quality consistency and efficiency is high in gra-vure printing. It is also possible to print on different substrates. Ink systems, viscosity, surface properties of substrate material and dot structures on the gravure cylinder are the main factors that determine the print quality. Appropriate inks can be chosen depending on the material to be printed and finished product used area. Mostly solvent based inks are used. The aim of this study is to determine the solvent that can enable higher quality printing on different substrates, which are frequently used in the gravure printing system, and to investigate the conditions under which the ink-sub-strates interface relationship can be the best in terms of printability.In this study, IGT F1 laboratory type gravure testing machine was used. Polyethylene and polypropylene printable films are used as the substrate materials. Three different solvent-based inks are used, prepared with ethyl alcohol, ethyl acetate and isopropyl alcohol. Density, contact angle, surface energy and gloss properties of the printed materials were examined. The printability properties of selected substrates and inks have been determined.

Retrieving the ancient colours: artistic practice as a tool for heritage reconstruction

The frieze of the Palace of the stuccoes, dated between the 5 th and 6 th century BC, was a polychrome Maya relief discovered in the 1907 in Yucatán, Mexico. It was documented in watercolours and hand tinted photographs by Adela Breton. After years of exposure to the harsh environmental conditions of the Maya area, the colours and the stucco relief disappeared. The aim of the project is to develop a hybrid digital-analogue printing method for reconstructing the appearance of the original polychrome relief based on digitised hand-made records.<br/> A description of the process to produce full colour images combining digital and photomechanical printing is provided. Using photopolymer plates, an intaglio printing process has been used to produce colour images, whilst inverse relief plates have been created based on height maps to transfer a positive embossing on paper when applying pressure on a printing press. The influence of physical parameters related to the appearance is studied. Reflectance Transformation Imaging was carried out to record the colour and surface shape of the prints. Measurements of gloss were made on relief inkjet prints and intaglio prints on paper to compare the outcomes of commercial 2.5D print and the method proposed here.<br/> By modifying an analogue process with digital technology, it is possible to incorporate ancient materials to the printmaking process and therefore approach naturally the appearance of the original. On the other hand, incorporating imaging techniques and quality measurements enables to improve the quality in analogue printing techniques.

What Else Is a Comic?

Comics studies has taken a comparative turn to global culture, which challenges claims in favor of Richard F. Outcault, Rodolphe Töpffer, or William Hogarth as the originators of comics. The synthesis for each claim is founded in the proliferation of image and text in the printing press. The printing press standardized visual tropes such as the panel-strip convention which is fundamental to comics. Examples of the panel-strip convention are found in the early period of print, where it might have begun as a side effect of intaglio printing. Alongside the panel-strip convention are several alternative conventions for organizing sequential images: processions, curtains, staircases, calendars, wheels, and decks. Each possesses affordances not found in the panel-strip convention. Furthermore, these conventions represent the way that visual metaphors were used to scaffold meaning, a method virtually erased by Hogarth. Rather than being an early artist of sequential images, Hogarth radically simplified an existing tradition that included direct predecessors to Rake’s Progress.

Joseph Berres’s Phototyp

Following Alfred Donné in Paris, the Austrian Joseph Berres was the second person in history to convert unique daguerreotypes into intaglio printing plates by etching them in acid and then printing them in ink on paper. Berres’s experiments culminated in the booklet Phototyp nach der Erfindung des Professors Berres in Wien (1840), which is considered the first photomechanically illustrated publication. Today, Phototyp is recognized as a key work in the pioneering combination of photography and traditional printmaking as a means of disseminating visual information in the mid-nineteenth century. In this study, the four prints in the Rijksmuseum’s copy of Phototyp, one of only three known remaining copies worldwide, were compared to prints found in other collections. The survey revealed that far fewer prints exist today than were originally produced. The Rijksmuseum prints were also analysed by microscopy and both X-ray and Infrared Spectroscopy. These findings were helpful in the ensuing re-creation of Berres’s process using newly made daguerreotypes. In practical terms, Berres’s process turned out to be far more complex to carry out than his recipes implied. Nevertheless, this endeavour resulted in a better understanding of the materials and methods involved, knowledge that may help in identifying more Berres prints in other collections in the future.

Depth Profiling of Diffraction-based Security Features in Authentic and Counterfeit Banknotes

High printing quality of banknotes and the variety of security features implemented in banknotes make a big difference between the genuine notes and high-quality forgeries. The counterfeiter cannot reproduce or imitate the printing quality and all security features embedded in every banknote, such as Optically Variable Ink, Optically Variable Diffractive Images, or intaglio printing. The present research focused on the examination of optically variable devices embedded on 50Îbanknotes. The altered banknotes were examined using different techniques.