Making your own plates is very exciting because it allows
you to letterpress your own designs, and negates the need for tedious type
setting and manual press lock ups! We began by printing a negative of our design on a piece of
pictorico film which is like acetate.
This can be done with an ink jet printer. Since our films were printed the
same day we made the plates, we sprinkled the ink side with talc to make sure
the ink was as dry as possible.
Next, we used a 3-in-1 polymer plate makers machine to
expose, wash, and dry our plates. This process is a little tedious (it reminded
me a little of my high school photography class) but unlike photography film,
these films and plates can be exposed to dim light, which makes the process less
nerve racking. (This is why many of these pictures look yellowish.)
The plates have a metal backing with a layer of light
sensitive polymer on top. By placing the film negative on the light sensitive
surface and then exposing both in the UV light drawer, the areas of the plate
that are exposed through the clear areas on the negative will harden, while the
areas that are covered by the black areas on the negative will remain soft.
The plate is exposed for about 45 seconds, and then placed
in an automated water bath for a series of 3-minute washings. The plate needs
to be manually rotated every 3 minutes to expose the plate to a new brush
angle. After the plate has been thoroughly washed, it is then
placed in a drying drawer for 10-20 minutes, and then re-exposed to the UV
light for about 3 minutes to ensure everything is hardened.
These plates are magnetic, so they are simply placed on a
large press magnet, inked, and then ready to print!
