No.
LIBRARY OF
NATHAN BILLSTEIN
PRACTICAL TEXT BOOK
OF LITHOGRAPHY
A MODERN TREATISE ON THE ART OF
PRINTING FROM STONE
BY
WARREN C. BROWNE
AUTHOR OF "METAL PLATE PRINTING."
Price, $2.50
NEW YORK: A:^
THE NATIONAL LITHOGRAPHER rf" ,/\ A
1912 ^*
COPYRIGHTED, 1912
BY
WARREN C. BROWNE
PREFACE
THE object of the following treatise is to furnish both
the amateur and professional with a comprehen-
sive text book which can be understood by the workers in
lithography whether they have enjoyed a college education
or not. There are several lithographic text books on the
market, but most of them are so technical that the layman
cannot understand them, and even the technical worker
has, at times, to consult a dictionary in order to be able to
grasp the meaning of the author. The writer has under-
taken in the following pages to use only plain, understand-
able English. Wherever possible, where technical phrases
have been called for, there have been substituted equiva-
lent phrases of the plainest English. In this way has the
Practical Text Book of Lithography been made as lucid as
it is possible to make a work of this kind.
In offering this book to the lithographic workers the
writer believes that he is benefiting the art. He makes
no pretense of originality, because the process was dis-
covered and perfected before he was born, but there has
always been a demand for a concise, clear and practical
text book to which the worker could turn when a question
arose as to the best mode of procedure. We believe that
this book will meet that demand.
WARREN C. BROWNE
New York City, 1912.
TO ALL
WHO SEE IN LITHOGRAPHY
Art
AND DESIRE ITS DEVELOPMENT
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED
INDEX
PAGE
CHAPTER I Definition and Principles of Lithography 7
CHAPTER II Preparing the Stone 11
CHAPTER III Ink Drawing on Stone 22
CHAPTER IV Chalk Drawing on Stone SO
CHAPTER V Taking Impressions for Transferring 66
CHAPTER VI Methods of Transferring 73
CHAPTER VII Lithography on Paper; or, Transfer Lithog-
raphy 79
CHAPTER VIII Proving, Rolling Up and Printing 85
CHAPTER IX Inks, Varnishes and .Dryers 94
CHAPTER X Printing Preparing Ink for Use 107
CHAPTER XI Printing Defects and Remedies 113
CHAPTER XII Chromo Lithography The Key-Stone Or-
der of the Colors 120
CHAPTER XIII Registering Application of Principles 127
CHAPTER XIV Tints 139
CHAPTER XV Chromo-Lithography Printing Treatment
of Colors, Dryers 150
CHAPTER XVI Photo Lithography Modified Processes... 162
CHAPTER XVII Tracings Autographic Transfers Re-
versing Transfers 169
CHAPTER XVIII Labels Bronzing Gilding Dusting
Dabbing Styl.e 174
CHAPTER XIX Engraving on Stone 178
CHAPTER XX Zincography; Its Principles Scraping, Pol-
ishing Etching Recipes 187
CHAPTER XXI Cylinder Press Printing The Selection and
Care of a Press Inking and Damping Rollers
The Cylinder and Its Covering 192
CHAPTER XXII Preparation of the Stone Preparation of
the Work Etching for Machine Printing Inking
Distribution Refreshening the Roller's Surface
Quality of Ink How to Reduce the Tenacity of
Ink Setting the Stone 197
CHAPTER XXIII Proper Choice of Paper Registering-
Setting a Stone for Register Color Printing-
Composition and Glazed Rollers The Ink-duct
Defects in Ink-ducts 204
CHAPTER XXIV Miscellaneous Processes and Recipes 211
CHAPTER I.
DEFINITION AND PRINCIPLES OF LITHOGRAPHY.
THE word "Lithography" is formed by a combination
of two Greek words, the first, "Litho," meaning
stone, and the second, "Graphy," meaning to write,
and the free translation is "to write on or from stone."
Lithography, then, is the act of writing or drawing on
stone and the process of reproducing such writings or
drawings on paper or other materials.
There are two separate and distinct methods of pre-
paring the writings or drawings for reproductions by the
lithographic process. The first, which is used in prac-
tically all commercial or black and white work, con-
sists of the work of the artist, which is generally done
on paper in the regular or "positive" way, and then re-
produced on an engraving stone by the engraver, who en-
graves or scatches the image or lettering into the smooth
surface of the stone in reverse or "negative" for the stone
press or the direct printing rotary. For the rubber
blanket offset press the engravings are made direct or
"positive."
When the engraving is finished another mechanic, >.
known as the transferrer, takes it and pulls a transfer im-
8 Practical Text Book
pression from it, which is laid down on the printing stone
or plate, ready for the pressman to put on the press and
run the edition from.
Another method, which is employed very largely by
poster printers, and color lithographers in general, con-
sists in having the image to be reproduced made directly
on the printing stone or plate by means of crayons or
pencils made expressly for the work. As this method
of lithography requires no transfer to get it ready for
the press it has to be drawn on the stone or plate in
a negative position reversed from the position it is ex-
pected to occupy in the printed matter. This is neces-
sary because in printing from such an engraving or
crayoh drawing the image or other matter to be printed
comes from the stone to the paper in exactly the oppo-
site position it occupies in the original drawing.
To get a clear idea of this reversing process, write
your name on a card, using plenty of ink. Immediately
press a blotter over the words. Pick up the blotter and
you will see your name written in reverse where it comes
into contact with the ink on the card. Now hold the
blotter before a mirror and you will see your name re-
flected "direct" as you wrote it on the card. Hold the
card before the mirror and you will see your name
reversed as on the blotter. Draw the reverse signature
on a white card, using plenty of ink as before, and press
the blotter upon the fresh ink. The impression upon the
blotter will then show your signature direct, as you al-
ways write it. Upon this principle of reversing impres-
sions, together with the known properties of certain
of Lithography. 9
substances to retain or reject grease and water, is based
the whole principle of lithography.
It is this printing from the stone or plate that really
constitutes lithography. It was the discovery of Alois
Senef elder, of Munich, made in 1796, that the smoothed
surface of a closely grained limestone, found at Solen-
hofen, Bavaria, was so sensitive that it would absorb
either grease or water, but that the water would not, of
course, penetrate any part of the stone that was covered
by the grease. Taking advantage of this fact Senefelder
drew designs with greasy crayons on the stone and then
dampened the entire surface with water. Then, when
printers' ink, to which a little grease had been added, was
applied to the surface of the stone it was found that the
ink only adhered to those parts covered by the crayon de-
signs, while the wet surface repelled the ink. Pressing
a sheet of paper on the surface of the stone he received
a reversed impression of the original design which was
on the stone, in the same manner as the blotter showed
your name, in reverse. Now, if the design on the stone
had been reversed, as on the blotter, the impression on
the paper would have been direct.
It is found most practical for commercial lithography,
therefore, in printing from a stone, to first draw the
design on paper, then engrave it in reverse on stone, and
then transfer it to the printing stone by the use of trans-
fer paper.
Not all stones will absorb ink like the blotter, nor will
they reject the ink when they are wet. Practically the
only stones ever discovered with these peculiar charac-
10 Practical Text Book
teristics are those fine limestones found in Solenhofen.
While the discovery or invention of lithography is
generally and rightfully ascribed to Senefelder, it is
agreed among historians that Simon Schmidt, of Ger-
many, and William Blake, of England, used a somewhat
similar process nearly twenty years previous, but Sene-
felder was nearer the quarries of Solenhofen and he
developed the art to a high state of perfection. Through
pupils and apprentices the business soon spread through-
out Germany, France and England, and was later brought
over to America.
For many years after its discovery lithography was
done by hand. The hand press is still used for proving
and occasionally for short runs, but mechanical ingenuity
has devised fast running, steam driven presses, on which
many thousands of impressions per day can be printed.
The most modern of these steam driven presses is
known as the Rubber Blanket Offset Press. The process
used on the offset press is practically the same as for the
stone press, except that the image is put down on a metal
plate from which it is transferred in the operation of
printing to a rubber blanket and thence to the paper.
CHAPTER II.
PREPARING THE STONE.
LITHOGRAPHIC stones are compact homogeneous
limestones, sawn at the quarries into slabs of 3 to
4 inches in thickness and in area from 6x8 inches to
44x62 inches. They are mostly imported from Solen-
hofen, Bavaria, Germany, and vary in color from a light
cream, dull yellow, drab or gray to darker shades of the
same colors. The light tints are softer than the dark,
and the gray are harder than the cream-colored stones.
Some are uneven in color, having light and dark patches,
which render them unfit for drawings of which the artist
requires to see the effect he is producing during the
progress of his work; but for ordinary transfer work
this appearance is usually unimportant, as also in show-
card and other simple ink-work. Chalky stones have
light spots scattered about in patches, or these may occur
all over the stone; these places are soft, and render the
stone unfit for any but the commonest work, and should
never be used for chalk work, because the acid used in
etching attacks those parts with greater energy, and pro-
duces similar spots in the impression. For the same
reason they must not be used for etched tints.
Among the ordinary defects of stones may be men-
tioned holes, and specks, termed pins. The latter are
12 Practical Text Book
hard points, usually of a dark color, but are not of very
frequent occurrence, nor of much disadvantage in use.
Neither chalky stones nor those having holes will do for
engraving upon.
Veins are frequently found, some of which are
scarcely visible, while others are not only broader but
sometimes contain patches which distinctly show their
crystalline character.
While any stones of the description before mentioned
will do for common purposes, great care should be exer-
cised in selecting those required for particular work.
This advice pre-eminently applies to chalk-work, in select-
ing stones for which preference should be given to those
of an even gray or drab color; and though these are not
of so agreeable a tint to the artist as the lighter ones, yet
experience has shown them to be the best for the purpose
of chalk drawing.
No other surface yet discovered fulfils the necessary
conditions of lithographic drawing and printing so com-
pletely as the Bavarian limestone, yet other substances
are in use, possessing advantages peculiar to themselves ;
the most important of these being zinc plates, and the
chromatized gelatine films used in the Albertype and
other kindred photo-mechanical printing processes.
Grinding. Before the stone can be used it requires to
be ground and polished. For this a stone trough is used
as a convenient rest for the stones during the operations
of grinding, polishing, and graining, and as a receptacle
for the waste sand, water, etc. It should be emptied at
least once a week. Many jobs are spoiled through want
of care in using clean water.
of Lithography. 13
The trough may be made of wood, 1^2 to 2 inches
thick, and about 1 1 inches deep, and about 4 feet by 3 feet
in area. It may be lined with zinc or lead, preferably
the latter, but if well jointed it will do without either, as
the water will keep the wood swollen. It should be
placed on a strong stand about 18 inches high, and if the
trough be ledged at the bottom, the ledges may be so con-
trived as to keep the trough in its place on the stand. It
is better to have the trough and stand made separate, as
the trough is then easily lifted off the stand if required,
while it can be made equally firm as when constructed
as one piece. Four or five cross pieces about 4x2 inches,
notched two inches deep at the ends on the under side to
keep them in place, and a groove across on the upper side
about 2^/2. inches from their ends to prevent the water
running over the trough, will serve to hold the stones
during the operations of grinding, polishing, etc. Where
convenient, the water should be applied from the main or
a tank, terminated nearly opposite the centre of the
trough by two or three feet of india-rubber pipe, to which
should be attached a three-inch nozzle. Where this cannot
be done, a shelf must be provided for a bucket of water,
and a jug or other handy vessel kept for pouring the
water over the stone. A tap should be placed in a con-
venient position about two inches above the bottom of the
trough, by which the water can be drawn off, and the
sediment may be taken out afterward with a small hand-
shovel or similar tool.
Emery and flint sand are both used for grinding, but
for a finer surface French red sand, an importation from
the Mediterranean, is used. It is of a warm creamy
color.
14 Practical Text Book
The Levigator or "Jigger" is an instrument of cast
iron about ten inches in diameter, with holes passing
from the top through it. It is surrounded by a rim, and
has a handle placed eccentrically at about one-fourth the
toors diameter from its edge. It is used for grinding
purposes by strewing sand and water over the stone and
on the top of the levigator, which is then set in motion by
grasping the handle and performing rapid circles all over
the stone to be ground.
Sieves are used for sifting the sand previous to grind-
ing and graining. They are of fine woven wire gauze,
preferably of copper, but usually of brass, mounted in
wooden hoops. They must be carefully kept in a dry
place, as they are very easily injured. Damp air corrodes
the brass and makes it rotten. If a few broken places
occur, they may be repaired by gumming over the holes
with small pieces of paper, or otherwise preventing the
sand passing through such faulty places. Sieves are
numbered according to the meshes per lineal inch. No. 60
will answer well for ordinary grinding purposes, pre-
ceded, if necessary, by No. 40, when much grinding has
to be done. No. 120, the smallest size made, will be
necessary for ordinary fine grains, and No. 100 for
coarser grains.
A straight-edge will be necessary for trying the sur-
face of the stones. A very useful article may be made
by selecting a piece of iron three or four feet long, two
inches wide, and one-quarter inch thick, and sending it to
an engineer to be planed along one edge, so that it will
stand upon it. A stone may be considered true enough if
a small piece of writing-paper is held by the straight-
of Lithography. 15
edge at each of several places along its edges and middle
when the straight-edge stands upon it.
The back of the stone should be tested also, and made
generally level, if found not so. Breakages are the result
of inattention to this, as stones break in most instances
by reason of the backs not fitting the bed of the press.
If the upper and lower surfaces of a stone are two
parallel planes, no amount of pressure applied in printing
will break it. The press may be broken, but not the
stone. Any lumps may be taken off the back with the
chisel and mallet, and if necessary, finished by the leviga-
tor. Yet, when every care is taken with the back, if the
face is not parallel to it, the printer may by clumsy pack-
ing reduce it to the condition of an uneven back, and
break it in consequence.
The grinding may very satisfactorily be done without
the levigator by grinding smaller stones on larger ones,
moving them about with a circular motion, and keeping
them fed with sand and water, having first one side
towards the grinder, and then another, going over the
edges and corners of the under stone to prevent the latter
becoming hollow, and being careful not to allow the
stones to rest for an instant in one place. If not kept in
motion the cohesion may become so strong, owing to the
exclusion of the intervening air and the vertical pressure
of the atmosphere, that there will be difficulty in separat-
ing them. Rub the last lot of sand down finer than the
previous ones and that will save time in the next opera-
tion. Two stones containing one square foot each should
be ground on a stone containing two square feet, and so
on in proportion; but if the under stone has been lying
16 Practical Text Book
with the ink upon it longer than those to be ground above
it, a proportionate number may be done upon it as a com-
pensation. After completing one upper stone, try the
under one with the straight-edge, and use the next stone
in such a manner as to render the under one level. This
will be found an excellent and practical method; but
where the stone is too large to be easily moved by hand
the levigator may be resorted to.
In large establishments stone-grinding machines
driven by steam-power have been adopted. These do
their work in a very satisfactory manner, but they must
not be expected to keep the stone perfectly level without
care and intelligence on the part of the stone-grinder.
The stones will require testing with the straight-edge the
same as if they were ground by hand. Stone-grinding
machines usually work on the levigator principle, the
chief difference between them and hand-work being that
in the machines the stones are kept moving as well as the
levigator ; while in hand-grinding they are stationary, and
the levigator only is moved. In a machine recently
introduced the levigator principle is omitted, the stone
being ground face downward upon a revolving iron table.
No doubt these self-acting mechanical movements are
well designed for keeping the stones as level as machinery
is likely to accomplish; but, as before stated, they must
not be relied upon entirely. These remarks apply very
forcibly to stones for machine-printing. The cylinder of
the printing-machine cannot be adjusted to the stone as
the scraper of the hand-press may be, so that it is essen-
tial for equality of pressure that the stone be true on its
face, even if its upper and under surfaces are not strictly
parallel.
of Lithography. 17
Polishing succeeds the grinding, and is commenced by
taking a large piece of pumice-stone, riling a flat piece at
right angles to its fibre, and rubbing the stone with it and
with water from end to end, or, if the stone be too large,
across it. Take the pumice-stone in both hands and press
firmly on it from the shoulders, exerting the principal
pressure as it is pushed from the person, which should
accompany the motion of the hands. Light, quick rub-
bing has very little effect. The use of the pumice-stone
must be continued until the sand-holes have disappeared.
The scratches caused by the pumice are then taken out by
the snake-stone, known also as Scotch stone or water of
Ayr stone, which is used in a similar manner ; but instead
of keeping a flat face, a kind of rocking motion is applied
in using it, thereby forming a curved rubbing surface that
cuts more quickly. More water is necessary in using the
snake-stone than the pumice requires, because the ad-
hesion is so great that the fluid is pushed before it, while
the pumice-stone is porous, and carries the water with it.
A finer polish may be given by using a woollen pad
and finely powdered pumice-stone ; but the other method,
when well done, gives a sufficiently good surface for all
kinds of work. For fine ink-work, engraving, chalk
transfers, and transfers from finely-engraved plates con-
taining tinting, there should be no scratches seen under a
magnifying-glass of such a power as is ordinarily used
for viewing photographs, etc. ; but for the general run of
commercial lithography the scratches commonly met with
are of no importance. The same remarks apply to sand-
holes, which, for the delicate styles of work before men-
tioned, should be carefully looked for.
18 Practical Text Book
Subsequent to the grinding, a rasp, followed by a fine
file, is necessary to give the stone a curved edge for
about half an inch all round, finishing with pumice and
snake-stone, which should be kept for the purpose, be-
cause the edges will spoil the flat surfaces of those used
for the flat-polishing. In stones for the machine, this
part requires great attention, and more of the edge should
be taken away, especially on that side that comes nearest
the grippers.
After polishing, it is very essential that the stone be
thoroughly washed.
In cases where a stone is wanted immediately after
polishing, it may be warmed and dried very rapidly by
pouring hot water over its surface, taking care not to
apply too much at a time at one place. The water soon
parts with its heat; and when the stone is sufficiently
warm the water may be struck off with the squeegee.
The stone will then dry rapidly, because little moisture
remains upon it to be evaporated.
The squeegee consists of a piece of india-rubber a
quarter of an inch thick, about two inches wide, and any
convenient length, set in a frame with about one inch of
its width projecting, being mounted just in the same
manner as the modern ink-erasers and paper-cleaners.
When a stone is polished and washed, one or two strokes
of this instrument will denude it of all surface water
more effectually than any other method, and it is far
superior in every way to either the use of blotting-paper,
rag, or setting the stone on end to drain.
This is all the preparation needed for that kind of
lithography usually called "ink" or "line work," which is
of Lithography. 19
executed on polished surfaces, but for chalk or crayon
work the stone must be grained.
Graining. Take a stone free from all veins, marks,
and chalk-spots, and, if for best work, of a clear gray or
dark drab color. Grind it and pumice it free from any
deep scratches. Now take a piece of stone similar to the
one to be grained, about three or four inches square, with
the corners and edges well rounded off with a file. From
a sieve (No. 100 or 120, according to the grain) sift
sufficient graining-sand to lightly cover the surface;
sprinkle a few drops of water over it, and place upon it
the graining "muller." Move this about with a motion
describing small circles along one edge; then return at
about three inches from the edge ; back again at about six
inches from the edge, and so on, until the stone has been
gone all over. As the work is proceeded with, more
water will be required ; and as the sand wears out, more
of that will be needed. If the stone be finished off with
sand that has been but very little worn, it will probably
produce a grain too coarse and sharp, while a contrary
result will follow the using of the sand for too long a time,
the grain then being "flat."
When dry, place it obliquely at a window, and with a
magnifying glass seek for any scratches. A scratch or two
may be of no importance in some jobs ; in such case con-
sult the artist, who will know. If they prove vexatious,
the stone must be gone over again. The stone should
now be of a vellum-like texture all over, and the artist
may try the grain with a crayon at various parts of the
stone, making little patches of light tinting. These will
not often interfere with the work, because they will
20 Practical Text Book
either be absorbed in deeper tints, or may be scraped out
in the finishing. If the artist is satisfied with the grain,
the grainer's work is done; if not, it must be sought to
know what the defect is.
This grain is most essential, not only in giving clear-
ness of texture and transparency in the impressions, but,
by reason of its hardness and sharpness, acting as a
rasp to take off a sufficient quantity of crayon to give
blackness and body to each dot. If the crayon be drawn
over a polished stone and over a grained one, it will be
found that the stroke in the former case is poor and gray,
while in the latter it is bold and black. The former is
nearly destroyed by an etching that the latter will stand
well ; for this reason, it is desirable to have a sharp grain.
Good results have been obtained by a method of grain-
ing which was introduced a few years ago. In this
process the grain is produced by sprinkling the surface of
the stone with sand and rolling it with small glass balls.
These balls having a limited area in which to work exert
a continuous cutting power without any tendency to pro-
duce scratches. Some mechanical arrangement is neces-
sary to impart this continuous rolling movement to the
glass balls and to maintain a uniform speed. It is quite
easy to understand that with such a process, carried out
under favorable conditions, very fine results might be
produced with great rapidity.
It is often profitable, instead of using new stones, to
grind off a design which has been printed and which is
not likely to be wanted again. A list of these "dead"
designs should be in the hands of the foreman grinder,
and when wanted it will be well for him to scratch a
of Lithography. 21
cross deeply into the stone, making the scratch deeper in
those stones that have been standing the longest with
work upon them. This gives the stone-grinder to under-
stand that the cross must be ground out. It is a simple
matter that will save the printer's temper and the master's
pocket by insuring the thorough grinding of the stones.
It is astonishing to what a depth the stone is affected
by the greasy particles of the ink without being percept-
ibly greasy. The residuum of the ink acts also by pre-
venting an equal absorption of water and gum with the
rest of the surface, so that this part, drying soonest and
being less protected by gum, favors the spreading of any
work that might have been drawn or transferred over it.
It is very annoying to the artist to see a nice even chalk
tint spoiled by the influence of the old job causing every
speck of chalk to become thicker at that place; very
vexatious to the master who has perhaps to pay for a
new drawing, and very discreditable to the stone-grinder,
whose carelessness has been the cause of it.
CHAPTER III.
INK DRAWING ON STONE.
WORK IN REVERSE. The principal difficulty ex-
perienced in drawing and writing on stone arises
from the necessity of reversing the work, and this, con-
joined to the drawbacks of always having to trace work
to the stone, and the great bulk and weight of the latter,
places working on stone at a disadvantage in comparison
with transfer-paper; on the other hand, the accidents to
which transfers are liable cause stone to be more gen-
erally used in most establishments.
For drawing upon stone and transfer-paper, the artist
will need all the usual appliances of the draughtsman's
office, but he will require to have the ruling and circle
pens in more than usually good condition. In addition,
he will require brushes and pens of a finer character than
those required in any other kind of drawing.
Transfer-paper is more suited to the use of the writing
pen than stone ; but for the brush, crayon, and mathemati-
cal work, the surface of the stone is to be preferred, and
it will hereafter be shown that it allows of a greater
variety of work than the transfer method.
Transfer-papers are prepared by coating the surface
of paper with gelatine, starch, or gum, either singly or in
combination, or united with other substances. The object
of Lithography. 23
of this coating is to interpose a soluble film between the
writing or drawing, in lithographic ink or chalk, and the
paper. Paper being more or less porous, would, if used
alone, absorb some of the ink, instead of permitting the
whole of it to be transferred to the stone. Hence the
necessity of covering it with some substance which, during
the process of transferring, can be moistened through the
back of the paper, which is then peeled off, and the work,
with the whole or part of the mucilaginous film, left upon
the stone.
There are two distinct kinds of transfer-paper for
drawing in the ink style arid writing, one prepared on
ordinary paper and the other on transparent or tracing-
paper. These have smooth surfaces ; but the transfer-
paper for chalk drawings has a finely granulated surface
adapted for receiving the lithographic crayon. There are
also transfer-papers for taking impressions from copper-
plate, type, and designs upon stone, to be transferred to
stone for the convenience of printing more impressions at
once than that obtainable from the original alone.
Water is used for dissolving the ink for writing or
drawing on stone or paper ; and inasmuch as soap is used
to render the other materials of the ink soluble, it is im-
portant that hard water should not be used, but distilled
or rain-water filtered through blotting-paper. A four-
ounce bottle ful, with a nick cut in the side of the cork so
that it may be shaken out a drop at a time, will last for a
long while if kept for the purpose.
Tracing-Paper for making clean and neat copies of
the work to be done, and red tracing-paper for transfer-
ring the same to the prepared paper or stone, will be re-
24 Practical Text Book
quired by the artist. The qualities and uses of transfer-
paper are fully described on page 219.
It is well for the student to devote a certain number
of hours per week to a definite study of lettering, orna-
mental designing and freehand drawing. In the first in-
stance it will train the perceptive faculties and draw out
such talent as may exist. A thorough knowledge of
forms, shapes and values can only be obtained by close
training. In lettering, the Roman, Old English and Script
forms should be studied and practiced, and in ornamental
designing small forms, such as flowers, leaves and chain
work, are highly useful and decorative. In drawing from
life, the ideal proportions of the human face and figure
should be thoroughly impressed on the memory of the
student, and each slight variation from those ideal values
or standards should be immediately noticed and recorded.
A study of the ideal, as exhibited in the casts and
statues found in all art rooms, can not but be of great
service to the student. The public demands art in all
forms of lithographic work, but with the artistic value
thoroughly evident, the public also demands that all work
be pleasant and attractive to the eye.
This can only be accomplished by a thorough study of
ideal forms, and a subsequent training to that of the art
school can be found in all outdoor life. The step here
should advance from black and white to colors. A great
assistance to a knowledge of proper color mixing can be
obtained by the use of a simple box of water-colors ; six
colors with white and black are ample for this purpose.
The Tracing. In proceeding to work upon stone, the
student must bring himself to acknowledge and appreciate
of Lithography. 25
the value and importance of a good and correct Tracing,
and feel assured that nothing can be gained by neglecting
so essential an aid to success. It is made either in pencil
or ink, placed in the reversed position upon the stone,
and the red chalk tracing-paper with its prepared side
downward, is interposed between it and the stone. The
corners are now gummed, pasted, or held down by paper-
weights (avoiding the use of wafers), and the work
traced over with a 3~H pencil, or other hard tracing point,
until a facsimile, in red, of the tracing, is transferred to
the stone. In this manner all kinds of work are put
upon the stone in faint red outline for whatever purpose
it may be required, and whether the stone be polished for
drawing, or grained. Other methods of tracing, applica-
ble to photographs, pictures, and subjects requiring great-
er transparency than ordinary tracing-paper possesses will
be found in the chapter devoted to Miscellaneous Proc-
esses.
The tracing having been made, the student may pro-
ceed to apply the ink by which the stone is made capable
of multiplying the artist's ideas. This ink may be applied
either by the brush, steel pen, or the mathematical pen.
To Prepare the Ink. Take a small white delft or
china saucer or a small tin patty-pan about three inches in
diameter, and having warmed it at the fire or over the gas
until it is as hot as it can well be borne in the hand, rub
the stick of ink round and across it so as to cover it thinly.
Then out of a bottle shake a few drops of water, and with
the second finger of the right hand rub it until the ink is
dissolved. Then add more water cautiously, until it is
brought to a proper consistency for use, which can only be
26 Practical Text Book
learned from an adept, or by experience. If it is very
pale and flows too freely, it is too thin and may not trans-
fer properly; if too thick it will not work pleasantly, and
will spread in transferring. As a rule thinner ink may
be used with the writing-pen than with the brush. When
the brush only is used, put a small bit of ink in the
upper part of a saucer placed upon a slope, and a little
water in the lower part. The brush may then be dipped
in the water, rubbed upon the ink, and tempered upon the
dry portion of the saucer until it becomes fit for use.
Tusche. The most useful of all inks for writing or
drawing on stone come under the name tusche. This
ink was originated by Senefelder and has now been
brought to great perfection by Lemercier, of Paris, and
Korn of New York. The proportions are, practically
speaking, standard, and contain four parts wax, four
parts shellac, four parts tallow, four parts soap, and one
part lamp-black. In the making of this ink great care
must be exercised, as an improper combination or an ex-
cessive burning would ruin the mixture. The purpose
of these different ingredients is to make an ink which can
be rubbed down with water and used with either the
brush or pen, and it is of such a nature that it will pene-
trate the stone, changing its composition to oleo margarate
of lime, and at the same time drying with a firm, glossy
surface which will perfectly resist the action of the first
etching solution.
Lithographic Brushes are good red sable crow-quill
pencils, with a portion of the hair cut away all round, so
as to allow only the central part to be used. If any single
hair protrudes beyond its neighbors, the brush will not be
of Lithography. 27
good, but this may in part be remedied by wetting it and
passing it rapidly through a gas flame to burn it off, the
wetting protecting the rest and exposing the single hair
only to the flame. It is not every pencil that will make
a good brush, so that when one is obtained it should be
treasured. It is well to possess some half-dozen or more,
as a brush that will not do for one purpose may do very
well for another. Brushes are made that are intended to
be used without cutting, but they are generally made of
too fine hair, and are not sufficiently springy and elastic.
Some artists make up their own brushes by cutting off
portions of a larger red sable pencil and tying them to
suitable pieces of cedar-wood and then mounting them
by any convenient means. A practical method of prepar-
ing the brush is to dip it in gum-water, draw it to a fine
point, and let it dry hard, remove the outer hair with a
sharp penknife to the degree thought necessary and wash
out the gum. This often produces a first-class brush,
but the method has the disadvantage of not permitting it
to be tried at intervals during the operation. No more
hair should be removed than is necessary to produce a
brush suited to the particular work in hand.
A ready mode of mounting brushes is to attach them
to pieces of wood in such a way that a quill may be used
as a cover to protect them when not in use, and to form
the handle when required. This is similar to some pocket
penholders, which, by the way, may be adapted to the
same purpose.
In addition to the brushes used in drawing and writing
with the lithographic ink, others of a coarser kind (duck
and crowquill red sables) will be required for various pur-
28 Practical Text Book
poses, such as "stopping or gumming-out," making col-
ored sketches, etc.
A flat camel-hair brush about two inches wide will
also be wanted to remove any loose particles of dust or
dirt from the surface of the stone or transfer-paper while
at work.
Lithographic Pens. All ordinary pens are useless for
any of the finer purposes of lithography, such as circular
and ornamental writing and drawing.
If the work is not very fine, Perry's pens will be found
to answer the purpose, and they may be further im-
proved by delicately sharpening them on Arkansas oil-
stone.
The use of steel pens was known in the early days of
the lithographic art, and the mode of making them is
thus described by M. Bregeaut in a work published in
1827, and by Senefelder in 1819, in his "Complete Course
of Lithography." The language differs, but the descrip-
tion is even fuller.
"Take a watch spring, and get rid of any grease that
might have adhered to it, by rubbing it with some fine sand
or a soft piece of pumice-stone; place it in a dish, and pour
on it equal parts of nitric acid and water; allow the acid
to act on the steel, until it has lost three-quarters of its
thickness, and is reduced to about the substance of a sheet
of paper.
"During the action of the acid, the spring must be taken
out occasionally and wiped with a rag, to render the action
more equal.
"When of the proper thickness, the spring must be well
washed and wiped, and cut into lengths of about one inch
and a half. Each piece must now be rounded in the shape
of a gouge, by placing the steel on a piece of cardboard
laid upon a lithographic stone, and striking the steel with
the small end of a hammer, lengthways; by this operation
the steel will take a curl.
of Lithography. 29
"A small and sharp pair of scissors must now be taken
and the slit made with them at one extremity of the piece
of steel; each side of the pen must next be shaped with the
scissors: the difficulty of the operation consists in forming
each nib perfectly equal and with a very fine point: great
practice is required in making a good steel pen."
Steel of the proper thickness for such pens may now
be obtained of dealers in lithographic supplies. It is a
good plan to put the steel between a wooden holder and a
quill, so that when a new pen is required the steel may be
drawn down, the old nibs cut off, and new ones made.
In forming these pens a pair of small forceps will be
found useful in setting the nibs in their proper position.
With these instruments almost any kind of work may
be accomplished that partakes of a freehand character.
To use them properly requires considerable practice; but
a few hints may assist the tyro who is making his first
attempts. The brush must be dipped into the ink, the
superfluity removed by drawing it over the edge of the
saucer, and a point finally given to it by patting it, as it
were, upon a piece of smooth paper, the thumb-nail, or
other similar clean surface. It may now be applied to
the stone to produce what the draughtsman requires. It
must, to produce fine lines, be held so that only the ex-
treme point touches the stone. At first the student may
content himself by placing the stone in such a position
that he can make the lines by drawing the brush towards
him. He will soon find, however, how far this system
may be departed from, and that some brushes will permit
of much greater freedom of manipulation than will
others. Thicker lines may be drawn by greater pressure
upon the brush, more being required as the ink in it
30 Practical Text Book
approaches exhaustion. On account of the delicate struc-
ture of the brush, the ink in it will require frequent
renewal, and much patience will be wanted on the part of
the young artist, who will in all probability be tempted to
work faster than consistent with the object aimed at, this
manipulation of the brush to bring it into working condi-
tion occupying a considerable amount of time.
In tinting, the student should not endeavor to make a
long line at once, but to effect his object by a series of
short ones. In doing this, however, he must avoid making
ugly gaps between each set, though good effects are some-
times produced by leaving such places, 'and afterwards
stippling them. The study of good bold etchings by some
first-class engraver on copper will do much towards form-
ing a good style ; but the peculiarities attending this style
of drawing should never be lost sight of. The etcher on
copper and steel has this advantage: he can re-bite his
work, and make it darker if his first proof is not satis-
factory; but the lithographer must get the effect he de-
sires before he passes the stone to the printer for proof.
Nevertheless he has the advantage of easily getting heavy
masses of black, which he can lighten either with steel or
diamond points, and thus produce effects similar to wood-
cuts.
Tinting by means of irregular waved lines is easier to
perform than by straight lines, and the effect is good if
suitable to the subject. Mathematical precision of course
must be avoided, but it must be done with some amount
of regularity to look well. The convex side of any curve
in a line must not be opposite the convex side of its
companion line, but opposite its concave side, so that
of Lithography. 31
though the lines may be really irregular, yet the general
effect may be that of parallelism.
The steel pen spoken of in a preceding paragraph
may also be used, and will be found especially useful in
foregrounds, near foliage, etc.
The mathematical steel pen will at first require much
practice and attention to master it so that very fine lines
may be made with it; but this tool, as also that for
making circles, is of the very greatest importance in all
branches of lithographic drawing; therefore it is quite
essential to master any difficulties that it may present.
It is usual among lithographic draughtsmen to put in
any dotted lines with a continuous stroke of the pen,
and afterwards to scrape them in such a manner as to
make dotted lines of them. While fully admitting the
neatness of this method, we must be permitted to point
out some attendant defects.
1. The scraping is liable to be omitted.
2. If insufficiently scraped, the lines roll up again;
and, if deeply scraped, the proofs show an unpleasant
embossing at that part. And
3. They often look too thin and ineffective when one
half the line is thus taken away.
In consideration of these points, we rarely make use
of the method, as we find no difficulty in dotting them as
we proceed, with good ink of proper consistency. If the
ink be too thin, all ruled lines have a tendency to run
thick at the end of the stroke when using the ruling pen,
and this is aggravated when making the short strokes of
dotted lines. The student may therefore make this a test
when preparing his ink.
32 Practical Text Book
The learner may find it useful to have the margin of
the stone to practise upon, but it is not to be recom-
mended to the practical lithographer. If the edges are
gummed over with thin gum before commencing it will
save the printer a good deal of trouble.
To assist the student in reversing his drawing, he will
require a looking-glass of any convenient size. It should
have a piece of wood or other contrivance attached to its
frame, by which it may be made to stand pretty securely
on its edge. A finely polished steel or silvered copper
plate, or a piece of glass silvered by the chemical method
will be found superior to ordinary looking-glass, as there
is then only one reflection, while when the ordinary mer-
curial silvering is used there are two one from the me-
tallic surface and another from the outer glass surface.
Writing on Stone -for Circulars must of course be
reversed, and the first essays of the learner may be
assisted by tracing; but, as tracing for this purpose is
inadmissible for real work, the sooner it is laid aside for
the next stage, the better.
Proceed by sketching out rapidly in pencil, or paper,
the words of the circular, so as to see how much space it
will occupy.
Now lay out and mark a space on the stone, and, hav-
ing fixed upon the size of the letter, rule the stone with
the before-mentioned tool into a series of double lines, to
correspond to the sketch. Across these rule any conven-
ient number of single lines at an angle with them, of from
45 degrees to 50 degrees, as a guide for the slope of the
letter. Now, having first obtained a good specimen of
copper-plate or lithographic writing, by the help of the
of Lithography. 33
mirror consult its reversed position, and carefully copy
each letter by means of a fine lithographic brush. It will
be as well to sketch them out, but more especially the
capitals, by the help of the pin-points, and, as confidence
is gained, sketch the capitals only. It will be found that
both the up and down strokes of the writing must be
made with down strokes of the brush ; make the down
stroke, and then add the up stroke. Much practice will
be necessary, and, as the plan-draughtsman on stone must
be able to letter backwards, it will be only a further
extension of his skill to be enabled to write a circular.
When the lithographic student has mastered the diffi-
culty of writing backwards, and is able to produce a
decent circular, he may proceed to do without such of the
before-described helps as his skill will permit of.
It is not necessary always to write directly on the
stone.
In this case we will first take up a prepared sheet of
transfer paper No. I, fasten it with thumb tacks to a
drawing board and rule in straight, equal lines, about
one-half inch apart. Use a good grade of writing paper.
Using a new, clean pen in a suitable holder, and with
a bottle of autographic ink. A stone should be prepared
by grinding with emery or flint and then Schumacher
stone, then pumice stone and Scotch stone. When thor-
oughly cleaned with pure water and put on end to dry, it
is fit for use.
The press being ready, cleaned off, oiled, and in
thorough order, a good black roller, scraped, and freshly
mixed ink easily at hand, the stone should be put in the
press.
34 Practical Text Book
A suitable scraper, which has been made to size of
stone, is tested by laying the edge of same on stone. By
looking between the surface of the stone and the edge of
the scraper, any inaccuracies of the scraper will be
readily seen. The surfaces can be made to fit by rub-
bing the edge of the scraper on No. 3 sand paper.
A good way is to place a clean sheet of paper on face
of stone, then the sand paper, and, by moving the scraper
backward and forward using moderate pressure, a fairly
true edge will be obtained.
A piece of scraper leather about an inch wide and
about two inches larger on each end than the scraper, is
soaked in water and then tightly stretched over the face
and tacked at either end, the smooth side being placed
toward wood and the rough side out. Two sheets of
super paper used as a backer, and a sheet of thin zinc
used as tympan, will complete the preparation.
A suitable pressure having been obtained by lowering
or raising the impression screw, the surface of the stone
should be dampened with spirits of turpentine, using
only a clean rag for that purpose.
With the sheet dampened, and the turpentine spirit
evaporated, the circular should be placed face down on
the stone in a suitable position, either for hand or power
work, and ptulled once through the press with stiff
pressure.
It will then be found adhesive only in a slight degree
to the stone, and should be lifted off and the stone
"gummed in" with gum arabic solution.
When dry, the gum can be washed from the stone,
using a clean sponge. Then by means of dampening the
of Lithography. 35
stone and inking up with the black roller, previously pre-
pared, the written lines will have shown themselves to be
capable of taking up the ink from the roller.
As the gum has penetrated the stone where there was
no writing, these parts will remain clean, and so long as
properly dampened will repel ink.
When the written part has been firmly inked, it may
be dusted with finely powdered resin to protect it from
the action of the acid solution, which is next applied to
the whole surface of the stone.
The gum itself is sufficient preparation to keep the
stone clean for possibly five or six impressions. The
addition of nitric acid makes this preparation more sure,
and, with careful working up, five hundred impressions
can be made from the single etch.
The use of a camel's hair brush for the purpose of
etching is to be commended, as camel's hair can withstand
the acid for a longer period than any other brush we
know of, and at the same time is always soft and will not
harm the most delicate lines of drawing, if properly
taken care of.
The acid solution should now be removed from the
stone by washing with clean water, and stone gummed in,
when it is ready for printing.
The purpose of this repeated gumming is to prevent
any grease from coming in contact with and soiling the
surface of the stone.
The gum not alone penetrates the stone but also
forms a coating on its surface retentive of water.
When dry, the gum may be again washed from the
surface with water, the ink washed out from the trans-
ferred circular by turpentine.
36 Practical Text Book
A little water is then added, and the rag used to wash
the ink out lightly moved over the stone, thereby impart-
ing a little of the ink to the drawing.
The roller may now be smartly passed over the stone,
and as long as the stone is kept slightly but uniformly
dampened the gummed surface will refuse to ink, and
the transferred part will take it.
Suitable marks being then drawn on, or scraped in
the stone, as a guide to the correct position of the sheet,
the paper may now be laid to those markings, the backer
placed over same, the tympan placed over the backer, the
press pushed forward, pressure applied by bringing
down the lever to a proper position ; then, by placing the
left-hand palm uppermost and the right-hand palm down-
ward on handle, press may now be pulled through for
the making of the print or impression.
Experience shows that the more uniformly the stone is
dampened, and that the more rapidly it is rolled, the
better are the results.
After three or four sheets have been made, the work-
man should as nearly as possible count the number of
times required in passing roller over the stone to get good
results. The same holds good of dampening by hand.
With respect to the question as to which method
(stone or transfer) is best in practice, it will usually
happen that the subject is practically beyond the control
of the employer. He may have a clever general hand, and
must be guided by his attainments, while if he engage a
circular-writer the probability will be that he will be a
transfer-writer. The general question may be disposed of
by saying that the transfer method is quickest, but more
of Lithography. 37
liable to accident ; while the writing upon stone is usually
more firm, will yield perhaps more impressions, and is
liable to no accident that is not equally likely to happen to
a transfer after it is upon the stone.
Ornamental lettering may be practiced in a similar
way, but all large letterings, etc., should be treated as
drawings, a complete sketch being made and traced to
stone. They are to be outlined, in their straight parts,
with the ruling pen, and the large letters on show-cards,
etc., may advantageously have the compass-pen employed
upon their curved portions.
White letters upon a black ground are produced by
using a mixture of gum-arabic solution and vermilion
acidulated with a little nitric acid. It must be made as
wanted, because when once dry it cannot be properly re-
dissolved by reason of a chemical change in the gum pro-
duced by the action of the nitric acid. The more acid is
added to the solution the more decided is the subsequent
insolubility. Experience must be the guide for the pro-
portion of gum, pigment and acid.
Perfection will be attained in the mixture when it
works pleasantly, and shines upon the stone after drying.
The letters are to be made with this preparation. If the
letters are of a kind to admit of the proceeding, it will be
found very advantageous to first rule a strong line at the
top and bottom of the line of lettering, in litho. ink. The
gum mixture not dissolving, the ink will not penetrate
through it to the stone, and the result will be a straight-
ness and definition which could not be hoped for without
such assistance. When dry they are to be covered over
with litho. writing-ink dissolved in spirits of turpentine or
38 Practical Text Book
other convenient fatty matter. When the job is complete
and put into the hands of the printer, the water will dis-
solve the gum and leave the letters clear upon a black
ground, the result being not only more rapid but more
satisfactory than when the ground is painted in and the
letters are left white upon the stone.
Stopping out for transferred machine ruling is ef-
fected in a similar manner, but no acid must be used,
because it would partially obliterate the drawing over
which it was necessary to put it. It is useful in plan
and other work where lines, &c., are required which
would involve great skill and occupy much time to put
in by hand, but are easily and expeditiously transferred
from machine ruled and dotted plates. Vermilion and
gum, free from acidity, is painted over all parts of the
drawing that are not to be covered with the machine
work in question, and when dry, and a mark put upon
the stone to indicate the direction of such lines, dottings,
&c., it is handed over to the printer, who transfers a
suitable impression, which unites with the stone in those
parts only that are uncovered. When the stone is washed
with gum-water, if the operations have been properly
performed, the effect will be that the gummed portions
remain quite clean, and the transferred lines, &c., will
almost equal copper-plate, and be very far superior to
what hand-work could possibly accomplish.
The Sprinkled Method is effected by taking a quantity
of litho. writing ink in a tooth, nail, or other similar
brush, and drawing it across the blade of a table-knife
or other like instrument, over that part of the stone to be
sprinkled. The sprinkling is confined to proper limits by
of Lithography. 39
having all other parts "gummed out." When the first
light tint is sufficiently strong, the parts required to be
kept at that strength are "gummed out," and, after dry-
ing, the process may be repeated until the desired effect
is obtained. The operation requires care, and trial should
be made (at each renewal of ink in the brush) upon a
piece of paper, to be sure that the dots are of the desired
size and distance apart. The less ink in the brush the
finer the dots, and the nearer it is held to the stone the
closer they will be together. The ink for this process
should have the minimum quantity of soap to render it
soluble, and therefore less tendency to dissolve and pene-
trate the gum protection.
The cases in which this style may be used must be*
left to be decided by the taste and discretion of the artist..
One grave defect of the process is, that though a trans-
parent gum solution may be used, yet the effect cannot
be observed during the operation, because all is covered
alike with the dottings, the gum protecting the several
stages. It is only when the gum is washed away that the
effect is seen ; if then it is not what is desired, it may be
remedied by going over again where necessary first
preparing the stone.
Stippling is a species of engraving which is ef-
fected by a series of dots instead of lines. The word has
a similar meaning in water-color painting. Though a
process more peculiarly adapted to chromo-lithography,
it may be occasionally employed in the more modest ink-
style now under consideration. It yields a very soft and
pleasing effect when introduced to tone the harshness
of unhached line-shading by stippling minute dots be-
40 Practical Text Book
tween the lines. The dots should be in proportion to
the lines among which they are placed, never thicker if
possible. When the dots are desired to be very fine,
they may be done with the brush ; but the pen, of various
degrees of fineness in the nibs, will be found a most
efficient tool for the medium and larger one.
When a graduated effect is to be produced by stip-
pling alone, the dots must be fine and open, followed by
others larger and more close, until they approach a solid
black.
Roundness of dot and succession of them in lines are
to be avoided, as producing hardness of effect. If a
good stippled engraving be examined by a magnifying
glass, it will be seen that the dots are triple ones, which
conduces much to the softness of effect observable in this
style.
Corrections on Polished Stones in Process of Work
are almost invariably made with a sharp mezzotint
scraper. Sharpness of the knife is essential to taking the
work perfectly out without going deep into the stone,
which must not be done, because the pressure would be
taken off at that part in the printing. The part scraped
out is certainly not so pleasant to work upon as before,
but yet when neatly done the work may be put in again
in such a manner as to draw no attention to it as a cor-
rection. The over-running of lines at corners and junc-
tions is removed by this means, and lines are usually
dotted by the scraper after being drawn continuously.
Where the alteration required occupies much space,
and the nature of the work will permit, the best way will
be to take the snake-stone and polish the stone where
of Lithography. 41
necessary, when of course it may be treated in the
same manner as if no work had been upon it. Small
snake-stone pencils, one-fourth of an inch square, will
be found useful in getting at small portions, and by means
of a file they may be made of any convenient size and
shape at point. Such pieces may also be used for finally
polishing the stone after scraping.
A lithographic nap-roller facilitates the work of de-
velopment of original drawings on stone, and becomes an
absolute necessity when crayon drawings on grained
stones are operated upon. The preparation and preserva-
tion of a roller of this description require a more than
average amount of care and attention. The best rollers
are covered with French calf-skin with a soft, velvet-
like nap, and may be prepared as follows. Run the
roller in crude castor oil for a short time until the leather
becomes soft and pliable, then work out the superfluous
oil by repeated rolling in medium varnish, occasionally
scraping off the varnish with a broad blunt knife. Con-
tinue this for a day or two, then gradually work into the
skin some good non-drying black printing ink. The roller
thus prepared may be somewhat harsh, but a few days'
use will bring it into condition. An occasional applica-
tion of tallow or lard, say about once a week, will keep
the roller skin soft and pliable, and counteract the harden-
ing effect of constant contact with the damp surface of
the lithographic stone and the oxidization of the printing
ink.
Proving the work of the lithographic artist, though
not always an absolute necessity, is a helpful and most
important function. In its progressive stage it enables
42 Practical Text Book
both designer and lithographer to observe the realization
of their color schemes, and to amplify or minimize if
necessary the effects they desire to produce. Errors of
judgment or of detail can be rectified before the work
reaches a more advanced stage. Again, a finished proof
offers something of a tangible character for an expres-
sion of approval or disapproval, and serves as a useful
and helpful guide to the printer throughout the subse-
quent operations.
This will show clearly the importance of the prover's
work, and though it is not by any means an unusual
proceeding to prove up even the most elaborate designs in
the lithographic printing machines, it is, for obvious
reasons, more convenient to confine such work to the
press. It may therefore be regarded as an intermediate
operation, distinctly apart from the preparation of the
original drawing which precedes it, and the arrangement
for machine printing which follows. The distinctive and
pre-eminently the most important feature of proving is
the manner in which one color is registered with another ;
and although the methods usually adopted are of the
simplest possible character, the most scrupulous care is
requisite for their successful application. It appears to
be an almost ridiculous plan, so simple is it, to cut away
the angles formed by the register lines after the first
printing, and then to place them to corresponding lines
on each color form, or to pierce the register lines pass-
ing a fine needle through each puncture into correspond-
ing holes drilled in the stones and allowing the sheets to
fall into position yet these operations demand constant
care and attention.
of Lithography. 43
Corrections and additions after rolling up. When
an addition is to be made in a place where there is
room to use the scraper, remove the surface with that
instrument and put in the addition with litho. ink.
When previous work has to be removed polish it
out with the snake-stone if there be room; if not, use a
sharp scraper, and be sure the old work is well cleared
away.
When additions have to be inserted among the work
and none is required to be removed, a mode altogether
different had better be employed. Without entering into
the subject of printing, to which it properly belongs, it
will be advisable to lay down the theory on which the
method depends.
a. In all lithographic printing the stone is varnished, as
it were, with a solution of gum arabic which dries not only
on but in its surface, and is there held so tenaciously that
no amount of washing with plain water will remove it.
b. This coating of gum, filling up the pores of the surface,
prevents the absorption of ordinary litho ink unless it con-
tains an amount of soap more than usual. This is some-
times added to make work "stand," but it spoils the good
working qualities of the ink.
c. It is evident this coating must be removed, and any-
thing that will dissolve carbonate of lime (of which the
stone principally consists) and will not dissolve the ink,
may be used for preparing the stone previous to retouching,
because if the surface of the stone be dissolved the thin
gum coating dissolves with it.
Most acids, and some salts, will effect this purpose,
but choice is given to the weaker acids of vegetable
origin, which form soluble salts with lime. Acetic acid
is an old favorite, but citric acid is preferable, and may
be used as follows:
Roll up the job as for an impression, wash it well to
44 Practical Text Book
free it of all gum that can be removed by that means,
using hot water by preference; dry, and apply with a
camel-hair brush of a convenient size the solution of
citric acid of such a strength as to taste a little weaker
than lemon juice; watch it, and if bubbles of gas arise
at once it is too strong, and must be washed immediately
with clean water. If of the proper strength it may
remain about a minute, when it must be washed with
clean water. The ink must now be removed by pulling
two or three impressions from the one inking, so that the
artist in working upon it shall have no superfluous ink
to attach to his "hand paper" to be carried about and soil
the stone. Any touching-up or additions may now be
done with ordinary lithographic ink, which will now be
found to work nearly as pleasantly as upon a newly
polished stone.
All sponges, &c., used in this process must be scrupu-
lously clean, or success can not be expected.
Solutions of alum and common salt, or sal ammoniac,
or both combined, form very good washes for clearing
the stone from gum, and they probably act not only by
dissolving but by bringing away the gum as the salts
crystallize. A very practical method for the printer who
requires a job touched up, is the following: After clean-
ing the work, roll it up pretty full, and etch with per-
fectly clean nitric acid and water and clean sponge,
which will remove the gum at the same time ; well wash,
and take off a couple of impressions without re-inking.
When dry, send it to the artist to have the corrections
made. Gum the stone, and allow it to dry, when the
job may be proceeded with.
of Lithography. 45
Precautions to be Observed in Drawing on Stone.
All the cautions given regarding the handling of transfer-
paper apply equally to the stone; but the stone being
a better conductor of heat than paper, and of greater
bulk, condenses the breath of the artist upon it in cold
weather, causing him to waste time in drying the stone.
It is recommended to place the back of the stone to the
fire the first thing in the morning, and allow it to get
moderately warm through, when it will be found to keep
free from this peculiar annoyance for the rest of day;
whereas if the face had been warmed to the same degree
only, it would have rapidly cooled again. If it is incon-
venient to warm the stone in the manner described, a piece
of cardboard, about 4 in. by 3 in., of an oval shape, and
a bit of twine passed through two holes in it about 1^2
in. apart, and by this held between the teeth in such a
manner as to cover the mouth and nostrils, will effectu-
ally prevent the condensation of the breath upon the
stone.
a. In drawing upon stone, remember that friction is pro-
portionate to pressure: therefore, let ruling pens glide over
the surface, free from the weight of the hand and arm.
b. The parallel ruler must not rest on the stone, but on
pieces of cardboard or folded paper. If the work is small,
take a piece of cardboard and cut a circular, square, or
oblong hole in it, and use it as a shield and rest for the
ruler, &c.
c. Keep the side of the pen that slides against the ruler
scrupulously free from ink, and for fine lines the outside
also, so that the space between the nibs only may, if pos-
sible, determine the breadth of the line.
d. To set the ruling and compass pens, rub them on
Arkansas oilstone ; examine them carefully with an eyeglass
after wiping off the oil, holding the pen in such a manner
that the light from the nib ends is reflected to the eye:
when each nib is reduced to an equal thinness and equal
46 Practical Text Book
length, they may be polished on a piece of leather having a
little crocus on it. The nibs being already comparatively
thin, care muse be taken that they are not rubbed too
violently, or an unequal length and breadth will be the result.
If this happens, bring them to an equal length by a motion
on the oilstone, as if ruling lines, previously to bringing them
to an equality of thinness. The Arkansas oilstone should
not be mounted, because on such a one it will not be possible
to get at both nibs of a spring bow pen. A useful stone for
the work may measure about 4 x i l / 2 x ^ inches.
Lettering and Drawing on Paper. It is advisable
that the student should cultivate his judgment and also
bring about the necessary skill needed in his business
by a proper co-relation of the eye and hand. For this
purpose the simplest form is the drawing, enlarging or
reducing of the approved alphabets on paper.
For this purpose Roman, Old English and Script and
the book of alphabets, old and new, showing about one
hundred and fifty varieties from Greek, Egyptian and
Hebrew to modern German, French and English forms,
will be found of much value.
Having mastered these forms, word-grouping should
be practiced, and with diligent application harmonious
forms will be created, which will not only be of practical
value, but will also prove of benefit to the student and if
special ability is shown will open the path to promotion
in the engraving and designing departments.
Gelatine Shading Films. In connection with alpha-
bets and lettering as a whole, the shading machine is of
valuable aid. In its principle the shading machine con-
sists, first, of a plate, generally of gelatine, sewn into a
frame of wood, on which are impressed a series of dots
or lines, as many as 250 different patterns being available
made by one maker.
of Lithography. 47
This frame is set into a plate with adjustable, pivoted
hinges, these hinges being set into a steel rod of the width
of the artist's table, the rod being held up, and adjustable
in height, by a pair of small cast-iron posts.
The gelatine film is placed over a pad, and the up-
raised design on the surface is inked up by means of
small composition rollers.
A good grade of transfer ink, or an especially quick
drying ink may be used.
The place where the dots should be impressed can
easily be seen through the gelatine film, the stone being
generally "stopped out" with a gum solution previous to
putting in the shading.
A more simple way is to outline the desired portion
with gum and acid, a small piece of twisted paper, a
bone folder, a piece of wood or the point of the finger
may be used to rub down the pattern at the pleasure of
the artist.
Where two rulings are wanted to cross one another
this can be done by powdering the first ruling with soap-
stone powder, then impressing the second ruling in the
desired position.
Should rosin be used instead of soapstone powder,
the gelatine film on the second application will be found
to have removed some of the rosin and ink as well.
Should neither soapstone nor rosin be used, the sec-
ond application of the film will be found to have left
the second pattern strong and the first pattern weak,
which would cause an unequal effect to the completed
design when etched and prepared.
Soapstone powder is best where more than one ruling
48 Practical Text Book
is being put to the stone, for the reason that it takes
away any suction or adhesiveness that might exist be-
tween the freshly printed ink and the gelatine, and at
the same time acts as a fair resist to the etching acid.
By means of using two or more varieties of these gela-
tine films, nice results may be obtained.
In many establishments the mechanical films as they
are termed are used almost exclusively on calendars,
show-cards and label work. Many cigar and perfume
labels, except for a little hand work in the darker shad-
ing colors, are made entirely by means of this apparatus.
We do not wish to convey the impression that the
mechanical films are superior in artistic results or fine-
ness of execution to the diamond point of the ruling ma-
chine, to the engraving needle, to fine stippling, or to
the air brush, but for practical utility, clearness and sure-
ness of printing results and technic, the gelatine films
have a large place in the lithographic trade.
Great care should be taken in the keeping of the
films clean and clear; no water should be allowed to
touch them, as at that point they would swell and pos-
sibly break. The best way to cleanse them without in-
jury is to wash them carefully with either turpentine
or benzine, using a tooth brush to carefully cleanse the
ink from between the dots or lines of the embossed de-
sign, and drying carefully with a soft linen rag; a cotton
rag would answer, except that linen will not be as liable to
catch on the rough design, and so cause smutting in the
subsequent inking up.
A slab and roller used to ink up the film should
always be kept covered with a suitable material. A
of Lithography. 49
simple cover can be made from cardboard, and a more
durable one from either wood or zinc. This will keep the
dust from settling on the ink or roller, and so tend
to decrease the annoyance caused by finding white specks
in the work after having been rubbed down.
Drawing from Still Life, Casts, etc. A step in ad-
vance from the work on the alphabet is the drawing of
still life, etc., and then the drawing from casts, first in
simple, then complex forms, and thence to the ideal
and antique sculptures.
While the student may have no natural aptitude in
this branch of work, the persevering and striving for at-
tainment cannot but prove beneficial, while to the person
of natural ability this will be but a step in the direction
of artistic perfection.
Even the ability to draw the simplest forms can be
utilized in the making of decorative design, many of
the best designs owing much to their simplicity of execu-
tion. While this training is not expected to turn out a
Michael Angelo, Rubens or Millet, still any talent which
a person may possess may be made profitable, if devel-
oped.
CHAPTER IV.
CHALK DRAWING ON STONE.
IT will be observed that heretofore our work has been
executed on polished stones and has been done in
ink or line work. We now take up the more artistic
branch of lithography, sometimes known as crayon work.
By this means the expert artist on stone is enabled to
reproduce the works of the great painters in a manner
equal to the original conceptions, and they may be multi-
plied so cheaply that the most unpretentious cottage
may be supplied with a copy of the life work of an
artist painted to embellish a temple of worship or adorn
the walls of a monarch's castle.
Instead of being polished, the surface of the stone is,
for this kind of work, broken up into minute points,
technically called "a grain," which, when drawn upon,
receives the lithographic chalk in proportion to the pres-
sure employed. This is called graining and is fully de-
scribed in the chapter devoted to the preparation of the
stone.
Crayon Drawing on Stone. By this manner fine ar-
tistic results are achieved. By crayon in combination
with pen and ink and stipple work, many of the colored
lithographs now produced in the United States are exe-
cuted. Its advantages are in the freedom with which the
artist can work on the grained stone, which also permits
of Lithography. 51
the super-imposition of various colors, blending them
harmoniously when thus printed, without any apparent
mechanical texture, allowing many varieties of tone to
be produced from a few plates and printings.
In distinguishing this method from pen and ink work
which is uniformly executed on a polished or smooth sur-
face, the crayon manner is worked on a grained or rough-
ened surface ; this is produced by selecting a stone of good
quality, free from chalk spots or veins, which is pol-
ished in the usual manner, and treated as follows:
French sand, flint sand or a finer grade of emery
(according to the quality of grain required) are sifted
evenly over the surface, using a sieve of not less than
sixty meshes to the square inch, a sufficient quantity of
water sprinkled over the sand and a small stone called
the graining stone placed thereon, which is carefully
worked in small circles completely over the surface of
the stone to be grained ; while performing this operation,
the sand must be kept moderately wet, by sprinkling the
surface, and the graining qualities of the sand maintained
by fresh additions, the purpose required being an even and
uniform texture to the whole stone.
A stone finished with comparatively fresh sand will
be sharp and open grained, if finished with worn out or
slushy sand, will be flat and shallow in grain, for all
medium sized work, a grain which is sharp, clean and
even without being deep, is best; when finished it should
be regular and as clear on the edges as on the center
of the stone. With practice, and by combining French
and flint sands in different portions, grained surfaces for
the purpose intended can readily be produced.
52 Practical Text Book
When finished, the stone should be thoroughly washed
with running water, taking great care that all sand is
removed, then tilted upon its side to drain and dry
the quality of the grain should then be tested by the
artist, trying the corners with the flat side of a crayon,
when if satisfactory, it is ready for the outline or offset
to be placed thereon; this is done in the same manner
as for engraving or ink work, and is then ready for
working by the artist.
All the precautions in regard to moisture, humidity
and cleanliness in the engraved manner apply to crayon
drawing, and in addition, much trouble can be caused
by dandruff from the hair falling on the stone. These
fine scales are often imperceptible, yet being intensely
greasy, are absorbed by the stone, will resist acid more
than the crayon drawing and make their appearance in
dark spots when the roller is used and so spoil what
would otherwise be a creditable piece of work.
The crayons used for drawing are composed of simi-
lar ingredients as "tusche," are soft and brittle and must
be sharpened from the point in the same manner as
charcoal. They are made in five qualities No. I is soft,
No. 5 is hard the variation in firmness is caused by the
proportion of wax and soap in the soft crayon and the
excess of shellac in the hard, they must be selected for
the work in hand. Generally, where flat surfaces and
shadows are to be drawn, No. i is most suitable, and
where much detail is necessary, the hard crayon will be
best suited. In small portrait work, No. 3 and No. 5
will give the best results. The graduations from the
lightest tint to deep shadow will require careful working
of Lithography. 53
up a decided manner of working will give the clearest
prints, and clear, clean graduation will only be produced
by persistent painstaking practice. Those parts which are
to print in full color are termed solids, and must be put
in with tusche. Either pen or brush can be usecl for
this purpose; the latter is preferable. All solids should
be put in previous to drawing, as the pen would pick up
the crayon. A little stippling with the pen is permissible
to increase the depth of shadows, and upon the good
judgment of the artist much will depend. In the treat-
ment of the work for effect, few rigid rules can be laid
down.
Upon inspection, tints which have been drawn too
light, can be worked over with the crayon until the de-
sired strength is attained, while parts that are too dark,
must be picked down with a fine needle point, and in
large work are sometimes reduced by ripping down with
a knife or file. In using this method, a knife with a firm
spring is held in the hand in a similar manner to a
pencil, the cutting edge is drawn lightly (broadside on)
towards the operator, the blade is thus caused to bounce
at short intervals, making a minute regular cut at each
bounce, it requires dexterity to accomplish this properly.
This method is much used on large work on account
of its quickness and the bright effects which it can pro-
duce.
Rub tints are generally combined with crayon work
and are used for the lighter colors, such as yellow, pink,
light blue and gray, in color work where this method is
to be used, a heavy offset is required (the reason there-
for will follow), a special block crayon is used for
54 Practical Text Book
rubbing in the tint, called rubbing ink. (It is softer than
No. i crayon, having a greater proportion of wax and
soap in its composition.) To apply the rubbing ink
a piece of cheese cloth, or chamois leather, is tightly
stretched over the forefinger, so that a perfectly smooth
surface is presented on the fleshy part, this is then rubbed
on the cake of rubbing ink and with an even, dexterous
movement, applied to the grain of the stone. In work-
ing rub tints, the outline will often be overrun; fitting
of the colors, and opening of high-lights, must be ac-
complished by scraping away the surplus parts with a flat
scraper. The use of a heavy offset, is now apparent,
as it will be seen through the rub tint whereas a faint
offset would be obliterated.
Tracing the outline to stone will be the first opera-
tion. Proceed as instructed in Chapter II., but observe
that the red tracing-paper must have but little color upon
it, because the grained surface takes off a greater quantity
than the polished stone. Try it first, and if too red wipe
it off the paper with a dry cloth, until the necessary color
is gained. It should be borne in mind that liquid ink
will penetrate # strong line of the tracing, while the dry
chalk might be kept from the stone by the interposition
of the red chalk line; and hence the advisability of hav-
ing the tracing very faint.
A tracing may also be made in soft red or black
conte crayon. When this is put upon the stone and a
piece of hard writing-paper laid upon it, it may be trans-
ferred to the stone by rubbing with some smooth hard
substance, taking care that it does not shift.
Having got the subject traced to the stone, remove
of Lithography. 55
the tracing-papers and substitute for them a piece of
plain paper fastened round the edge of the stone. Tear
a piece out of the upper left-hand corner and proceed to
work there, removing the paper as necessary until the
whole is completed. The hand board must be used to
keep all pressure from the newly-deposited chalk, because
if the chalk be partly removed from the surface it will
have less power to withstand the action of the etching,
and the result may be spots and patches of lighter color.
Lithographic chalks are pointed with the knife, like
conte crayons, by laying the point on the left forefinger
as a guide, and cutting -from the point. It is unnecessary
to use the knife every time the crayon requires pointing.
As long as it remains nicely tapered, it may be brought
to a good working point by rubbing it gently turning
it between the thumb and finger at the same time on a
piece of coarse printing-paper or other similar surface.
This will give a better point, and more expeditiously,
than the knife, and will usually be found to be less liable
to break.
The outlining should be all complete before com-
mencing to shade, or lay in the "tinting" If it is an
architectural or other subject requiring fine detail, it may
be put in with copal chalk with a firm touch, as it will
then better resist the etching. This chalk is made as
hard as possible consistent with the quality of rolling
up, but is not so strong as No. I, and should not be used
at all for tinting, nor for outlining, when No. I will
answer the purpose. No. 2 is softer and stronger, and
may be used for bolder drawings and deeper shading;
while No. 3 is to be reserved for very deep parts, or
such subjects as large, bold portraits.
56 Practical Text Book
Where precision of outline is of more importance
than artistic effect, where it is more minute than the
chalk point can well accomplish, and where the nature
of the subject permits or demands it, ink may be used,
either with brush or ruling-pen. It must be strong enough
to permit of etching, and black enough to enable the
artist to estimate his effect.
For the first tint take a light crayon-holder and No. I
crayon; hold the porte-crayon, in a slanting direction, as
far from the chalk as can conveniently be done, and lay
in the tint with light and regular strokes, taking care not
to commence or leave off heavily, as that would make
it spotty. In this way cross and recross it until the de-
sired effect is obtained.
Having completed the drawing with the crayon, little
bits of pure black may be put in with ink to give effect
where necessary ; lights may be removed with the scraper ;
transparency given to the shadows by the judicious use
of the needle-point; figures separated from the back-
ground by the same instrument; and many little things
done that taste and experience may dictate, previously to
the drawing being handed over to the printer to prove.
In giving effect by means of ink, it should be applied
with a brush, as it is possible that a pen may scratch
the stone, so as to leave white marks in the impression.
If an error be committed of any large extent, the
part must be grained out with dry sand and a muller
proportioned to the surface to be removed. The sand
must then be carefully and thoroughly brushed away,
and finally wiped off with a perfectly clean dry soft cloth,
until nothing remains to prevent the proper adhesion of
the chalk subsequently to be applied.
of Lithography. 57
Suppose the drawing finished, and a proof submitted
to the inexperienced artist, his feelings on receiving it
will be those, probably, of disappointment. He will per-
haps find that his light tints have become more light;
his dark shades too heavy and opaque; and the general
keeping of the subject altered for the worse; the result
being aggravated by the substitution of white paper for
the pleasant neutral grey of the stone on which it was
drawn. The remedy is obvious. The light tints, to
stand an etching sufficient to keep the deep shades clear,
must be drawn more strongly; the middle tints as de-
sired; and the deep shades a trifle lighter than they, are
intended. Then, by printing the subject on a tint some-
what of the color of the stone, with the addition of white
high lights, now at command, it is possible to produce
an effect more in unison with the wishes and expectation
of the artist.
A most important point in chalk lithography is to keep
the point of the crayon proportionate to the tint sought.
Fine points make fine tints, and coarse points coarse
tints. If it be desired to produce a rough effect, as on
old walls, roads, shingly beach, and such like, the point
must be broad, and held at an acute angle to the stone ;
or a piece of broken chalk may be cut to a flat surface on
its side, and rubbed in the direction required over the
stone, on which it will produce a marvellously rough
effect.
Care and cleanliness are essential here, as in other
styles of lithography, and the artist should be cautious
in permitting persons unacquainted with the art to ex-
amine his work during its execution, as he thereby runs
58 Practical Text Book
the risk of scurf from the hair, spittle-spots, and other
similar accidents occurring to the stone.
Etching the Drawing. This operation is usually per-
formed by the foreman-printer. It is an intermediate
process to be gone through before the stone is ready to be
printed from, which is very important, as affecting, in a
very marked degree, the good quality of the impressions ;
but as it does not essentially belong to printing, and might
with advantage be done by the artist, it will be described
in this place.
The term "etching," in lithography, is no doubt bor-
rowed from the practice of etching on copper, but it is
somewhat improperly applied. The etching process on
copper consists in producing an effect by drawing with a
point through a wax surface spread upon a metal plate,
and afterwards fixing or deepening such work by "biting
in" with dilute nitric acid. In lithography the term "etch-
ing" is applied only to the acidulation of the stone by
dilute nitric or other acid, the effect of which is rather to
make the work lighter than stronger, and is thus dia-
metrically opposed to similar operations on metal.
When nitric and most other acids are brought into
contact with the carbonate of lime, of which the litho-
graphic stone principally consists, decomposition ensues;
the nitric acid seizes upon the lime, and sets the carbonic
acid free, which then passes off rapidly in minute bubbles,
producing the phenomenon known as effervescence. The
necessity for etching chalk drawings may be understood
by studying the following conditions :
a. Lithographic crayon is soluble in water by reason of
the soap it contains, and would spread under the operation
of Lithography. 59
of damping the stone in printing, unless means were used
to restrain it.
b. Soap is, from a chemical point of view, a combination
of fatty acids with caustic alkalies, which latter render those
fatty acids soluble in water.
c. When any mineral acid is brought into contact with
the soap, it unites with its alkali, to the exclusion of the
fatty acids, which then become again insoluble in water.
The lithographic chalk, being acidulated in the etching
process, has its saponaceous character destroyed, and is
rendered insoluble in water, and thereby prevented from
spreading under the influence of the damping process.
Some good practical printers doubt the action of the
etching on the alkali of the soap ; but any person may try
the experiment for himself in the following simple man-
ner : Rub some of Korn's chalk in two places on a
clean stone (a polished one will answer the purpose).
Acidulate one with dilute acid sufficient to cause effer-
vescence, but leave the other free. If a clean sponge and
soft water be now taken, it will be found that the un-
etched chalk will be partially washed away, and become
grey, while the other remains black and unmoved. Mr.
M. Hanhart, in an article on "Chemical Printing" in
Watt's "Chemical Dictionary," thus speaks of the prob-
able nature of the etching and gumming processes :
"The action in this part of the process is somewhat ob-
scure, but it is probable that the nitric acid dissolves the super-
ficial particles of the stone, and the resulting solution forms
with the gum an insoluble gummate or metagummate of cal-
cium. One thing is certain, that the gum becomes firmly fixed
on the stone, and cannot be removed even by repeated wash-
ing with water. The nitric acid also acts upon the chalk by
laying hold of the alkali and setting the fatty acids free.
"The stone, thus prepared, is next washed with water, to
dissolve off the excess of gum and the nitrates of sodium and
calcium, and afterwards with oil of turpentine, which removes
60 Practical Text Book
the excess of grease from the drawing, and renders it nearly
invisible. The fatty calcium salts formed by the action of the
soap on the carbonate of calcium are, however, insoluble in
the turpentine, and remain untouched ; and on subsequently
wetting the surface of the stone with water, and passing over
it a roller covered with printing-ink, composed of linseed-oil
and lampblack, the ink adheres to those parts of the surface
where these fatty salts are situated, while the remaining por-
tion, which has been acted on by the gum, does not take up
the printing-ink, because the fatty acids of the linseed-oil are
incapable of decomposing the compound of lime and gum with
which those portions are covered, and mechanical adhesion is
prevented by the film of water on the surface.
"This view of the lithographic process represents it as
altogether depending on a series of chemical actions. It is,
however, more commonly supposed that the fatty matter of
the lithographic chalk simply adheres to, or is partly absorbed
by, the porous surface of the limestone ; that the parts thus
penetrated readily take up the printing-ink, and that the adhe-
sion of the ink to the other portions of the surface is pre-
vented by the interposition of a film of water. But if this ex-
planation were correct, a piece of alabaster, or sandstone, or
porous earthenware, or any other stone capable of receiving a
granular surface ought to be available for lithography as well
as limestone ; whereas it is well known that carbonate of cal-
cium is the only kind of stone that will answer the purpose :
moreover, the mechanical theory of lithography takes no ac-
count of the peculiar action of the gum, which appears to be
an essential feature of the process."
Our own views are somewhat different from those of
Mr. Hanhart, and are founded upon experience and ex-
periments. Our object not being the discussion of ob-
scure phenomena, but rather the production of a prac-
tical treatise, we will allow our readers an opportunity of
forming their own opinions, when they have mastered
the manipulative details in which we shall have the pleas-
ure of instructing them.
In practical lithography there are two different ways
of applying the acid; firstly, flooding the stone with acid
diluted with plain water ; and secondly, brushing it with
acid diluted with gum-water.
of Lithography. 61
First method. Provide a shallow wooden or other
suitable box, of at least the full width of the stone, and
sufficiently water-tight to answer the purpose. Into this
box put sufficient etching solution to completely flood the
stone, which must be fixed over a trough, sink, or other
convenient place, at an angle of about 45 deg. Now take
the etching-box, place its edge so as nearly to touch the
upper edge of the stone, and pour its contents over it, so
as to make, as near as may be, an uniform wave from
top to bottom. The stone should now be reversed, and
the operation repeated, because the acid in descending
will, of course, remain longer on the lower portion than
on the upper; but if the stronger part of the drawing be
at the bottom, keeping it in the one position may be better
than reversing it.
Second method. Gum the clean edge of the stone
with weak gum-water, and allow it to dry. Set the stone
level, but in such a manner as to be able to give it a
rocking motion. Convert the surface into a kind of tray
by means of some engravers' bordering-wax, and pour
the dilute acid into it, and as the bubbles of gas arise,
rock the stone to detach them from its surface.
In these two methods, as soon as the etching is com-
pleted and the water drained off, the stone is to be
gummed by a soft sponge or brush, and allowed to dry,
when it may be put into the hands of the printer for
proving.
Third method. This is, perhaps, the one most gener-
ally employed, and has been found to give good results
in most cases ; by it additional etching can be applied to
any darker parts that require it ; but in this respect it is
62 Practical Text Book
not so perfect as the method to be described in the fourth
method. According as the drawing is composed of
strong or delicate chalking, and the stone is of a hard or
soft nature, the preparation is to consist of from 40 to 60
parts of gum-solution, of the consistency of linseed-oil,
to one part of acid (nitric or muriatic). This is to be
poured into a dish of convenient size, and well mixed.
Now take a flat, soft brush, of not less than four inches
in width, saturate it with the solution, and apply it to the
stone in bold strokes from right to left, and left to right,
until the stone is covered. Repeat the operation, and if
there are dark parts requiring it, have ready a smaller
brush to further etch them with the same solution. Now
rinse off the etching-fluid, and gum in as before described,
and dry. It is better thus to wash off the etching prepara-
tion, because all further action is stopped, which may not
be the case if the gum and acid were allowed to stop on
till dry.
Fourth method. This is founded on the desirability
that exists for etching the darker parts of a drawing more
than the lighter, and if carried out by a man of experi-
ence, on a suitable subject, cannot fail to give satisfaction,
though a little more troublesome. Prepare an etching
preparation as for method one, suitable to the lightest
tints, and with that etch the whole of the drawing. After
drying, instead of gumming the whole, apply the gum to
the lightest tints, and etch again in the same manner.
Wash well with plain water, and dry. Now stop out with
gum the light and middle tints, and etch for the third
time. The etching, in each case being momentary, will
not dissolve the gum, which, for the short period the acid
of Lithography. 63
is on the stone, may be fully gummed and put aside to
dry. It must be noted that subjects having a continuous
gradation from light to dark cannot be etched on this
principle.
While treating of the nature of acids and their uses
in lithography, it may be desirable to notice another appli-
cation of them viz., to retouching and correcting after
printing.
Etching Crayon Work. This part of the process re-
quires both experience and care, as an injudicious etch-
ing would entirely change the effect intended in the draw-
ing. For all crayon drawings it is advisable to make
fresh etching solution. Gum solution carefully strained
through cheese-cloth and of the consistency of cream, to
which two per cent, of nitric acid has been added and
well mixed, should be tested on a clear part of the
stone on which the drawing has been made. In etching
crayon work, the strength of acid should be such that the
lightest tint made by the artist can bear without injury.
Experience is the best guide, for if the etch is not strong
enough, the work will roll up heavily, and have a thick
and foggy appearance, while if the etch is too strong the
fine tints will have suffered and be weak and rotten if they
do not disappear entirely.
When the etch is tried on stone, it should show a
slight effervescence in from three to four seconds. When
dry, the surface gum should be washed off with clear
water, using a well saturated, clean, soft sponge for that
purpose. The crayon may now be washed away while
the stone is damp, by a soft rag on which sufficient tur-
pentine has been sprinkled, the rag charged slightly with
64 Practical Text Book
printing ink from the slab, a few drops of water sprinkted
on stone, the design lightly charged with ink from the rag,
and then firmly rolled up with a good freshly scraped
roller very slightly charged with good crayon black ink,
when properly done, the drawing on stone should show
the same delicate tints, shading and tones as when finished
by the artist, to whom it should now be submitted. When
stone is passed by the artist, the drawing is protected by
dusting with finely powdered rosin, which can be followed
by an additional dusting of soapstone powder, the second
etching for printing purposes is now applied. After gum
has dried, stone may be handled in the usual manner,
great care being taken never to use any more ink than is
sufficient to produce clean, clear impressions. When a
satisfactory proof has been obtained it should be O. K'd
and kept as a guide or standard for all subsequent im-
pressions.
Use of Black Impressions in Color Work. When fin-
ished proving a crayon drawing, if printed in color, should
be washed out, inked up in a good grade of crayon black
ink, and a good proof made, which should be marked
with name of color printed, its sequence in the printing
operations and the number of the stone on which it was
drawn. This proof will serve as a guide to the trans-
f errer in the location of the original and as a guide to com-
pare with his transfer impressions, which must also be
in black. After this black impression has been made,
the drawing should be sharply inked up, dried and care-
fully dusted with finely powdered rosin. Stone should
now be washed off with clean water, dried, and carefully
gummed in, the gum should be carefully smoothed, using
a soft, dry rag for that purpose.
of Lithography. 65
Retouching and correcting after printing on grained
stones may be effected according to the instructions
given for polished stones under the heading Corrections
and Additions after Rolling Up (page 40). If done
with every care, and the additions made with No. 2 chalk,
they may be expected to stand very well, though they will
not equal in strength and firmness the original drawing.
CHAPTER V.
TAKING IMPRESSIONS FOR TRANSFERRING.
STONES, after the Etching, described in the last chap-
ter, are ready for the press. As we have, however,
given instructions for drawing in two styles on paper
with pen and brush (line work) and with chalk (grained
paper), we must show how they are to be put upon the
stone previous to printing from them, or in the language
of the trade, transferring them. The transferring method
applies not only to work executed in the first instance by
hand labor, but also to the reproduction by lithography of
engraved plates, blocks and type. We shall, therefore,
take this subject next in order, and devote a chapter to it.
One of the most important qualifications for the fore-
man of a small lithographic printing-office is the ability
to pull transfers from copper-plate.
The copper-plate press may be used for pulling the
transfers, but the litho press will be found quite suffi-
cient. It is as well to devote a small press entirely to
this purpose, and have conveniences at hand for use at
any time. A small lithographic press will cost less money
than a copper-plate press, and may be used for litho work
as well in a small establishment.
An apparatus for warming the plate will be necessary.
It may be simply held over an ordinary gas flame, but
this is a mode to be avoided by any one who wishes to
of Lithography. 67
do his work neatly and cleanly, because it smokes the
back of the plate and causes it to accumulate little hard
spots of ink-like nature that soon develop into convex
spots upon the surface of the plate.
A jigger is a kind of light wood box open at the ends,
to be placed near the heaters. It is used for laying the
plate upon while it is being wiped, the open part under-
neath serving as a receptacle for "whiting," which it thus
preserved from dust and grit. This apparatus, though
useful, is by no means indispensable.
Printers' blanketing is used for laying upon the plate,
over the transfer paper, while the impression is being
taken, serving by its elasticity to drive the paper into the
lines of the engraving. Good flannel, such as is used for
underclothing, if employed double or treble, will answer
the purpose admirably.
The damp book is usually employed, when much
transferring is done, for preparing the paper previously
to taking the impression, and also preparatory to laying it
down upon the stone. It consists merely of 20 to 30
loose sheets of thick printing-paper, of a convenient size,
wetted by dipping every alternate sheet, and then putting
them in a heap under a weight until equally damp all
through. It must not be used until the water is equally
diffused through the whole. To prevent the mildew, to
which it is subject, a little carbolic acid may be added to
the damping water.
Though recognizing the great convenience of this ar-
rangement, and fully acknowledging the perfection with
which a transfer may be damped for the stone, we do not
consider it equally applicable in damping the transfer-
68 Practical Text Book
paper previous to pulling the impression, for the reasons
following :
a. The composition on the paper is made adhesive, so
as to attach it firmly to the stone during the operation of
transferring; and the damping-book acts admirably in bring-
ing the paper into such condition by acting upon the com-
position and softening it.
b. In taking the impression from the plate, it is desirable
that the composition should adhere sufficiently to prevent its
shifting, but not so strongly as to leave it partly on the plate
when the transfer is being lifted.
c. If the transfer-paper is damped upon the back with a
sponge containing but little water, the paper may be rendered
sufficiently supple and yielding as to easily penetrate the lines
of the engraving at the same time that it adheres well enough
to the surface of the plate without sticking too strongly.
For these reasons it is advisable either to damp the
paper on the back with a sponge containing a little
water, or to place a piece of clean, dry paper in the book
on the face of the transfer paper, to prevent its becoming
too adherent when applied to the plate.
Taking the Impression from Plates. Tie up a piece
of transfer-ink in sufficient old linen or silk to cover it.
This acts as a strainer during the inking of the plate.
Warm the plate until it can barely be held in the hand,
holding it by a piece of folded paper or cloth to protect
the fingers. Rub the covered-up stick of ink upon the
plate, until sufficient is melted to cover it, continuing to
rub the ink into the lines of the plate, and warm it as
found necessary.
When it is well filled in, take a piece of soft rag, fold
it over the fingers, and wipe the superfluous ink off the
still hot plate, endeavoring in so doing not to wipe the ink
out of the lines, which is best done by wiping across
them.
of Lithography. 69
Shift the rag to a cleaner place, and wipe again until
all the ink is removed from the surface and the plate
looks clean. Now carefully examine it, and see if any
ink remains in small specks, which will very likely happen.
If so, remove them with the ringer nail or a splint of
wood. When quite free from surface ink, rub the hand
on a piece of whiting or soft chalk, and then wipe it over
the other hand, or similar surface, so as to get a little
only on it, and with it polish the plate, thus removing the
last trace of grease from the surface. Be careful to have
but little whiting on the hand, or it may stick to the ink
in the lines, in quantity sufficient to prevent its adhesion
to the paper.
Place a small thick stone in the press, and upon it
the plate face upwards. Upon the plate put a piece of
transfer-paper prepared side downwards, and previously
damped, and over that the flannel or blanket ; turn down
the tympan, and by depressing the lever bring the scraper
down upon the tympan just over one end of the plate,
and with a good pressure run the plate through by the
handle. It is an excellent plan to have two pieces of
millboard of the thickness of the plate one on each side
of it as the scraper may be then set on the millboard,
and a proper pull got all over the plate.
Now raise the lever, pull out the carriage, lift the
tympan, reverse the plate in the press, and repeat the
operation. This should now be sufficient, but occasionally
it may have to be repeated twice or thrice. Take the
plate from the press, and remove the flannel, when the
cutting in the plate should show plainly at the back, if
sufficient pressure has been applied. The transfer must
70 Practical Text Book
not now be peeled from the plate for two reasons: (a)
the ink being cold and hard, will not readily quit the
lines; (&) the composition is damp, rotten, and deficient
in tenacity. To bring all into proper condition, the plate
must be gently warmed to soften the ink and dry the
paper, which will then contract, and leave the plate with
very little assistance.
The impression should now present the appearance of
glazed enamel paper, with every line full of ink distinct
and sharp.
If the impression is very full of ink, or the ink be
too soft, so that there is reason to anticipate its spread-
ing in transferring, it may be laid upon a piece of clean
printing paper, and pulled through the press, when some
of the ink will adhere to the clean paper. To separate,
it will be safest to warm them slightly.
Retransfers from Stone. A small litho roller should
be kept for this purpose, because it will then be always
ready, while an ordinary printing-roller would require
scraping both before and after using the retransfer ink
upon it. This is rendered necessary by reason of the
soapy nature of the ink making it unfit for ordinary
printing. An ink which may be used without injuring a
drawing in taking a few transfers, might spoil it when
employed in printing a quantity. The non-drying nature
of this ink will be found to keep the roller soft and pliant
for use, with an occasional scraping previous to applying
new ink, and this furnishes an additional reason for ap-
propriating a roller to this use alone.
Take some of the transfer paper, sparingly damp the
back with a sponge. Wipe off the superfluous water
of Lithography. 71
with a cloth, and in a few seconds the paper will lie flat,
when it is ready to take an impression from the stone
without sticking sufficiently to break the composition in
lifting. It is now only required to roll in the work, waft
the stone quite dry, and to pull the impression on the
previously-damped paper. It will be found to adhere
strongly to the stone, and must be raised carefully at the
edges, and peeled off.
Transfers from Type and Woodcuts are very useful,
and in some offices have a wide application. The inspec-
tion of some commercial samples will show the student
how they may be applied. It will here be sufficient to
point out that it is no unfrequent thing to find letter-
press invoice headings, etc., transferred to stone, and
printed at machine. The advantages are that transfer-
ring is quicker than stereotyping; that four to eight may
be printed upon a sheet ; and that no impression is made
to show upon the back.
The paper is to be less damp than in the last two
methods ; the ink to be used with a letterpress roller, and
a fine card to be laid upon the back to get a nice, sharp,
clear impression. If the ink is not at hand, and the
transfer is wanted quickly, it may be printed in ordinary
stiff letterpress ink, which, containing soap, is of the
nature of a transfer ink.
The fact that all the modes described in the preceding
paragraphs may be employed in one piece of work, united
with any of the modes of drawing or writing herein
previously explained, shows that a power is possessed
by lithography that can be found in no other mode of
printing, for, in fact, it may successfully imitate the other
two, while it possesses advantages peculiarly its own.
Practical Text Book
Condition of the Stone. The stone for the reception
of transfers should be polished free from perceptible
scratches, perfectly clean, and free from gum, grease or
dust. This latter cannot be easily seen by inspection, but
may readily be detected by wiping the stone with a piece
of dark-colored cloth, velvet, etc., when the dust is visible
on the stuff used.
The stone must have been dried, but its temperature
may vary according to circumstances. For ordinary
work, it is perhaps safest to have the stone slightly warm,
but it is undeniable that transfers can successfully be
made on cold stones, and even on damp ones, when, from
the nature of the work, it is desirable to use them.
The qualities of the transfer-paper will sometimes de-
termine whether the stone is to be used warm, for there
are papers that will not adhere to cold stones. Such
are those made of parchment size, or other varieties of
hard gelatine, which do not become adhesive unless
warmed to some extent, though they will absorb water
at a low temperature.
CHAPTER VI.
METHODS OF TRANSFERRING.
THE manner of taking impressions suitable for trans-
ferring having been described in the preceding
chapter, we proceed now to show the manner of putting
them down upon the stone, so that they may be printed
from. There are three distinct methods of transferring,
each having its own special advantages.
First. Transferring damped transfers to dry stone,
either warm or cold.
Second. Dry transfers to wet stone ; and
Third. Damped transfers to wet stone.
Transferring to Dry Stone is the mode usually, and
in some offices invariably, adopted. The stone may be
warm or cold, but in all cases must be thoroughly dry.
If the drawing, writing, copper transfer, or other work,
is of an unusually fine character, or if the ink used is of a
very hard nature, the stone may be warmed with advan-
tage ; but it should not be made hot, or the transfer-ink
may spread, as it can hardly be expected but that some
part of the work will contain heavy lines, which would, of
course, be more liable to spread than finer ones.
The damping of the transfer-paper requires care and
experience. It has before been stated that the object is
to render the composition sufficiently adhesive to stick to
the stone under pressure, and this may be ascertained by
74 Practical Text Book
taking a corner of the paper containing no work, and
squeezing it between the finger and thumb, to which, if it
attaches itself by the composition, the transfer is ready
for the stone. Care must be taken that the thumb and
finger are not damp or the transferrer may be thereby
deceived. A very convenient substitute for a damping-
book is a piece of thick linen cloth dipped in water,
wrung as dry as possible with the hands, and then opened
out and taken by the corners, and well shaken with a
jerking motion to straighten it. This is then folded, and
used to put the paper between. If the coating on the
transfer-paper is very soft, a piece of thin plain paper
should be put upon the face of the transfer to prevent it
absorbing the damp too readily.
The stone and transfer being ready, the latter is to
be laid down upon the former, and where it is a plain,
single job, such as a circular, it may easily enough be laid
in its place ; but as it frequently happens that the trans-
fer has to be laid very accurately to a mark, and that it
will not do to shift it about upon the stone to adjust it,
it is desirable to handle it in the manner following: Take
a piece of clean, rather stiff paper, and lay the transfer
upon its upper left-hand corner, so that about half an
inch shall hang over the paper. This, being held in the
right hand, can be readily accommodated to any point
upon the stone without soiling it ; when in position, place
the finger and thumb of the left hand upon the projecting
edge of the transfer, and press it to the stone while the
plain paper is being withdrawn, after which the left hand
can be taken away and the transfer left in situ.
If several transfers have to be laid upon a stone that
of Lithography. 75
is warm enough to dry them quickly, they must be pulled
through the press singly or in rows of two or three, ac-
cording to the quickness of the workman, for if all were
laid before pulling through, some would be dry, and
would not adhere.
Now that the transfers are laid upon the stone, lay
over them a piece of clean printing paper, and over that a
piece of printer's fine blanket ; pull them through once
with a moderate pressure, and increase it a little after-
ward until, say, the third pull. Now take off the backing,
reverse the scraper in its box, shift the stone a little in
the press (to overcome any slight defect that may exist in
the tympan or backing), sponge the back of the transfer,
and pull through again.
The composition may now be washed off, and the
stone gummed and allowed to dry.
The student's attention is requested to the great im-
portance of a level stone and level scraper; when these
co-exist much less pressure is required to make a suc-
cessful transfer, and the risk of spreading the lines is
much reduced. When the transfer is very large, and the
evenness of the stone cannot be relied upon, strips of
cardboard or folded paper may be applied to different
parts of the stone in succession, both longitudinally and
transversely, so as to be sure of applying sufficient pres-
sure to every part.
Independently of getting a true surface, large trans-
fers present a difficulty in their liability to slur, by the ink
touching the stone when laid down, and shifting after-
wards by the stretching of the paper, thus making two
marks instead of one.
76 Practical Text Book
The transferring of the autographic transfers comes
within this class, and is usually performed as follows :
The paper is sponged at the back with weak solution of
nitric acid in water, laid upon the warm stone, and passed
once through the press under heavy pressure ; or the back
of the paper may be floated upon the acid solution, taking
care not to wet the front, and hung up to dry. To trans-
fer, damp the back with plain water and proceed as be-
fore described. A convenient way of floating will be to
put a quantity of acid solution on a piece of clean, level
glass ; lay one corner of the paper upon it, and push the
rest of the paper down gradually.
Transferring to a Wet Stone can only be successfully
accomplished with a transfer paper that is readily ren-
dered adhesive by cold water. Such paper may be coated
with any of the varieties of starch or common glue, mixed
or not with gum arabic; but transfer paper made with
the harder and purer varieties of gelatine does not answer
the purpose, though a little may be added to the starch
paste to improve its quality.
The advantages of laying down a dry transfer on a
wet stone, when it can be successfully done, are many and
great. It is easier to damp the stone than the paper;
it is quicker. Patched transfers can be put down with-
out creasing them, and all can be transferred without
altered dimensions.
Everything is to be prepared as for the mode of trans-
ferring last mentioned ; but instead of damping the paper
the stone is to be made wet with a perfectly clean sponge,
linen rag, or wash leather, the latter being preferred be-
cause it leaves less loose material from its surface upon
of Lithography. 77
the stone. The quantity of water to be left upon the
stone must be determined by experience, but it may be
sufficient to say that no more is required than will unite
with the composition and cause it to adhere to the stone.
Thus, a plate transfer paper would take up more water
than a writing transfer paper. If the stone be wetted
to about the same degree as is required in printing, the
water will be found in about the right quantity.
The stone being ready, the transfer is laid upon it as
in the first process, and as quickly as possible passed
through the press under proper pressure, about three
times over. By this time the stone should be dry, which
may be ascertained by lifting a corner; if not dry let it
remain uncovered until it is so. If the stone is dry, it
may be assumed that there is no impediment to its
union with the ink, and the back of the mounting paper
may be wetted until the gum is soft enough to allow it to
be lifted, leaving the transfers upon the stone.
The transfer may now be considered to be in the same
condition as after the first pulls in the last process, and
may be damped, etc., and finished in the same manner,
the transfer paper allowing of the subsequent damping
without blistering, if the process has been successful.
Transferring by Damping the Transfer and Wetting
the Stone may be resorted to with great advantage when
the transfers are very large, and more especially so
tracings on transfer paper. These latter are very diffi-
cult to damp properly, because the varnish by which the
paper is rendered transparent fills up the pores of the
paper and prevents the entry of the water for a long time
in damping the back of the transfer, both before and
78 Practical Text Book
after it has been subjected to pressure; while if it be
put into a damp book or cloth the probability is that the
composition will either be too damp or not damp enough.
If it becomes too damp, two results will follow in lay-
ing it down on the dry stone :
a. If the composition touch with stone in a place where
a line or other inkmark subsequently falls, it will prevent its
adherence to the stone.
b. If a line first touches the stone, and afterwards shifts,
it will attach itself by mere contact to the stone in the first
instance, because the composition has become so soft; and
when the job is transferred, the line will probably present a
broken appearance, thus : , in-
stead of being continuous, as intended by the draughtsman.
Now, if the transfer be damped upon the back, so as to render
it limp before the composition is softened, the transfer may be
shifted considerably on the stone without injury; and if the
stone be wetted to make it adhere, the conditions of success
will have been, in a great measure, complied with. After
sufficient pressure has been applied, it should be allowed to dry
on the stone (which takes a little longer when this process is
used), and then treated as for transferring to dry stone.
It may here be pointed out that in the dry stone pro-
cess described, the dry stone absorbs the damp from the
transfer, while in the wet stone method the transfer
absorbs much of it from the stone; but in the way
just treated of, both being damped, the one has no chance
of correcting the other, and must be permitted to dry
before being taken off the stone.
CHAPTER VII.
LITHOGRAPHY ON PAPER; OR TRANSFER LITHOGRAPHY.
FORMER chapters will have placed the student in
possession of the theory regulating the employment
of lithographic stones as well as the art of preparing them
for printing. He has also been shown the uses and na-
ture of transfer-paper, and the materials for writing
and drawing upon it. He is now ready to commence
the actual practice of lithography.
As the latter is a very comprehensive and compli-
cated subject, it may be well to take it up at that part
which offers fewest obstacles to the beginner. For this
reason we begin with Lithography on Transfer-Paper.
Prepare the ink as described in Chapter III, "Ink
Drawing on Stone."
Ink for Law Writing, when much is used, may be
conveniently mixed in larger quantities, and ought to keep
well for a month after preparation. It is usually used
with ordinary fine-point steel pens depositing a good
quantity of ink, which latter consequently may be made
much thinner than is usual with other styles of work.
Take a piece of stick ink and cut it into fine shavings;
put it into a small clean saucepan, cover it with dis-
tilled or filtered rain-water, make it simmer over a fire
until dissolved, and then add more water until brought to
such a condition that it will flow quite freely from the
80 Practical Text Book
pen when used with rapidity. Cork it up in a bottle, and
use it as wanted from small ink-pots, to economize.
The transfer-paper is supplied ready ruled for use
to the law-writer, who has simply to attend to the fol-
lowing rules:
First Write upon a pad of blotting-paper, but never
use it to blot off the writing.
Second Be careful to use a piece of clean paper
under the hand when writing, and scrupulously avoid
handling the paper or even touching it with the fingers,
except at the edges where no writing is to occur. Finger
marks from a moist or greasy hand roll up black.
Third Corrections may be made, if small, by remov-
ing the ink with india-rubber or ink-eraser, or, if large,
by washing it out with clean spirits of turpentine or
benzoline. In either case it must be taken out without
leaving any of the previous ink, or the whole intended
correction may roll up black. Sometimes it may be bet-
ter to paste (using as little as possible) a clean piece of
transfer-paper over the part to be corrected, but gum
must not be used.
Fourth If the paper works greasily, rub it with
powdered whiting or chalk, or wash it clean with spirits
of turpentine or benzoline, or rub it well with clean india-
rubber.
Sheets of Quantities, for architects and engineers,
in addition to the cross lines for writing upon, have
down lines identical with the down lines of the sheet
upon which they are to be printed. They should be
ruled by the machine-ruler at the same time as the trans-
fer-paper is ruled, and kept in stock. When the transfer
of Lithography. 81
is laid down, the place of its margin is marked with the
lead upon the stone, and a correct "lay" thus made for
the sheet to be printed.
In writing "old English" or "German text," take either
a quill or steel pen, and form a nib of nearly the width
of the letter required ; with this make all the thick strokes,
with very little ink in the pen, taking it up as often as
required, being careful not to deposit upon the paper
sufficient ink to spread, nor so little as not to transfer
properly. When the thick strokes are dry, the thin
ones may be put in with a fine pen. It is usual in prac-
tice to carry all the writing forward and slightly pencil
the words for "texting," which is then done after-
wards. It may be useful to point out that in making
pens for these broad strokes, the smaller the cylinder of
which the pen forms a part, the less liable is the ink
to be deposited on the paper in inconveniently large
quantities.
Copperplate Style and Fine Ornamental Writing is
executed in a more careful and methodical manner on a
finer and thinner paper. The learner will require very
fine pens, the points, if steel, being so sharp that they
will hitch in the paper in making the upstroke if it is
laid on a flat surface in the ordinary way. This is to be
avoided, in using both the steel and quill pens, by placing
the left hand underneath the top edge of the paper so
as to raise it from the table, the strokes may then be
made on the yielding surface of the thin transfer-paper
much more delicately and safely than when the paper
is resting on the pad. Although this method will be
found difficult at first, it is necessary to be accomplished
82 Practical Text Book
to become a transfer- writer. The letters must be made
as carefully and slowly as may be found necessary to
produce the forms required. Lines in pencil may be
ruled all over the paper at about an angle of 40 degrees
with the perpendicular, to keep to the correct slope;
and double lines to write between to get the letters all
one size; and if a middle line be added, a good guide
will be obtained for the tops and tails of the letters.
When a Drawing has to be made with Instruments or
the Lithographic Brush a stouter paper is better to work
upon, and is best for use when strained in the following
manner :
Sponge the back with water in proportion to the
thickness of the paper, sparingly if thin; let it lie a few
minutes for the water to be absorbed, gum or paste it
round the edges, and attach it to a smooth drawing-
board; take a piece of plain stout paper, wet it well
until pliable, and lay it upon the transfer-paper, folding
back the edges so as to leave the pasted edge free. The
side in contact with the transfer-paper should not be wet.
The following points must be carefully attended to:
First All lines are to print quite black, and consequently
Second No attempt must be made to get effect by using
pale ink.
Third Thick ink will spread in transferring, and must
therefore not be used in producing deep shades by lines lying
close to each other.
Fourth Thin lines with very pale ink will probably fail
altogether.
Fifth The ink being dissolved in water, the latter has a
tendency to soften the composition on the transfer-paper ; it
therefore becomes necessary not to go over, with the pen, the
same place twice while the ink is wet, or the result may be
that the composition will become mixed with the ink and
destroy its qualities.
of Lithography. 83
Transfer Tracing Paper may be used most cons-
veniently in the same way. When all the outlining has
been done upon it, a cut may be made down one edge and
a piece of white paper slipped between it and the original,
so that the shading may be done without the interference
of the shading of the pattern.
Chalk-Transfer Paper is a revival of an old process
known almost as long as Lithography itself, and
it possesses peculiar advantages. The etched stippled
plate produces a series of points which rise to the
same height from the body of the paper, and are so
close to each other that the point of the crayon cannot
penetrate between them, while the sand-grain consists
of pyramids or cones of varying size and height. The
practical difference is that in drawing on the paper
grained by the stippled plate there are no intermediate
lower dots to receive the chalk when more pressure is
applied to deposit a greater quantity, and the work is
consequently more open and better fit for transferring
and printing from than the sand-grain, in which such
favorable conditions cannot exist. For the same reason
a harder chalk, such as copal, can be used for this kind
of paper, while for the ordinary grain Lemercier's No.
2 will be found better. Nevertheless, the stippled plate,
by its mechanical mode of production, produces a kind
of pattern that is objectionable to the practiced eye,
which, added to its high price, has given an impetus to
the use of paper prepared by the older method.
Grained paper is eminently suited to the purpose of
the amateur by reason of its extreme portability as com-
pared with stone, and not requiring the drawing re-
84 Practical Text Book
versed as regards right and left. This latter quality
will recommend it to the artist for the production of
drawing copies, because he can then set before the stu-
dent a pattern that does not appear in the disposition
of its shading and foliage touches to have been produced
with the left hand, which is often the case with those
drawn direct upon stone.
Facsimiles of writing are produced by placing a piece
of tracing transfer-paper over the manuscript to be
copied, and carefully going over the whole with a pen or
brush. If required for mere commercial work, less care
may be bestowed upon it unless the customer is unusu-
ally fastidious than for purposes required for courts
of law and copies of curious or old manuscripts.
Autography is a term applicable to all kinds of writing
upon transfer-paper, but usually restricted to writing
upon plain hard-sized writing-paper, with a strong litho-
graphic ink. This process, though yielding fair results,
is yet inferior to writing upon transfer-paper, because
only part, instead of the whole of the ink, is left upon
the stone in transferring.
CHAPTER VIII.
PROVING, ROLLING UP AND PRINTING.
FOLLOWING up what has been explained in pre-
vious chapters, we are ready to enter upon the
actual printing of drawings and writings on lithographic
stones.
Treatment of Transfers previous to Printing. This
includes the "proving" of the work: by which is meant
the "rolling up," cleaning, etching, and taking the first
impressions to be submitted to the customer; and the
instructions equally apply to drawings or writings exe-
cuted direct upon the stone.
Suppose the drawing to be composed of very fine
lines, the printer may have some doubt as to all the
details being firm upon the stone if rolled up in the
ordinary way. He may then take, in a sponge, some gum-
water (free from acid) of the consistency of oil, and
pass it over the entire drawing, using the left hand, while
in his right he has a pad of soft rag charged with a
mixture of turpentine, thin printing ink, and stone re-
transfer ink, which may be rubbed over the drawing
upon the still wet gum-water, with a circular motion,
recharging the pad with ink and the sponge with gum-
water as often as necessary. This should develop every
line of the drawing, and render it quite black. By keep-
ing sufficient gum upon the stone there is little fear of
86 Practical Text Book
injuring the drawing, though it will make the stone very
dirty in appearance by reason of the mixture of ink and
gum ; this, however, may be removed by a wash of clean
water, and the stone gummed in with clean gum and set
aside for the ink to penetrate. In this operation the
stone may be warm but of course it must be set aside
after this treatment to cool.
If there be any idea that the transfer is weak, and if
the stone is cold, it may be rolled up with the roller
previous to gumming it, but this must be done cautiously,
because the ink will, in the absence of gum, attach itself
to the slightest grease upon the stone. It is also very
apt to cause the lines to spread, and is to be recom-
mended only in cases when the work is wanted quickly
and almost anything will pass muster ; such as the cheaper
kinds of law work.
The common and best way for the ordinary run of
work is to gum the stone, after the transfer is made, with
fresh gum; allow it to dry, wash off with clean water,
and roll up carefully with ink of medium strength.
Whichever method may have been adopted, the dirt
will have made its appearance, and must be removed.
This may be done by the conjunctive employment of the
following methods:
First. Clean the edges and other parts of the stone
where there is no work with a water-sponge and piece of
snake or pumice-stone, using a small pencil of the same to
get between the lines. The principal part of the dirt may
thus be taken away; but as there will most probably be
specks among the work that cannot be got at with the
snake-stone pencil, use the acid "stump" as now to be
described.
of Lithography. 87
Second. Having a water-sponge in the left hand,
dip the acid stump* into the gum and acid, and try it
upon the edge of the stone, when it will be found to
effervesce energetically if strong enough. This will also
reduce the quantity on the stump, which may now be
applied to the speck to be removed, rubbing it with the
wood point. If any acid be observed to spread in dan-
gerous proximity to other lines, the water or gum-sponge
must be quickly used to wipe it off.
Third. The finishing touches of cleaning between
very close work, reducing the thickness of lines, &c.,
must be done with a sharp scraper, such as a mezzotint-
scraper, or a penknife. *
The work having been cleaned, must now be rolled
up. again cleanly, but strongly; and etched in the following
simple manner:
Have ready a small basin or other convenient vessel,
containing acid and water of about the strength of lemon-
juice, or of such strength as to effervesce gently when
applied to the stone. Now, with a soft sponge charged
with this dilute acid, go regularly and quickly all over
* Acid Stumps are small pointed pieces of box or other
hard wood, to be kept at hand and used with strong acid or
(better still) gum and acid, for removing any specks of dirt
from the stone. Taking these in the right hand, a water or gum
sponge is held in the left to wash away instantly the acid when
it has removed the dirt.
f Mezzotint is applied to a process of engraving, so called
because it was at first supposed to require a large amount of
middle tint or half-tone in the distribution of masses of light
and shade. The ground is scraped away to the various degrees
of lightness required. Mezzotint scrapers are useful for cor-
recting work upon stone either for the use of the artist or
printer; but in default of possessing one, a penknife or the
ordinary erasing-knife may be employed.
88 Practical Text Book
the stone with a light hand, and again over the edges and
other bare parts. After this gum in and allow to dry.
When the work consists of narrow surfaces like lines
and dots, the etching-water, if used in moderate quantity,
is thrown off again as soon as the sponge has passed
over, by reason of the greasiness of the work. But if
the work contains any broad surfaces of solid black,
more care must be taken, because the repelling power
of the ink will not be strong enough to throw off the
acidulated water, which, standing in patches on such
surface, will be likely to find its way through the ink
to the stone, and cause a gray appearance when printed.
By using powdered rosin as next described, this difficulty
will be overcome.
If the work is to be printed at machine, or to go into
the hands of an inexperienced youth to be printed, it
may be treated with powdered rosin.t Roll up in rather
thin ink: dust over the rosin when the stone is dry;
wipe off what is superfluous with water-sponge, and re-
peat the operation. Set it aside for a short time for the
ink and rosin to incorporate, when, on taking it up
again, it will probably allow of another dusting without
rolling up.
The stone may now be acidulated freely without fear
of injury ; either the strength of the acid being increased,
or the application several times renewed. The acid is
t Rosin is the residue left over in the distillation of turpen-
tine. It is an exceptional resistant for acid, and when finely
powdered and dusted on to the work it is practically impossible
for the regular etching solution to injure the grease or design
part; should the rosin not be finely powdered, the acid will find
its way between the coarse particles and thus give a burnt or
rotten appearance to the work.
of Lithography. 89
best used with gum and applied with a broad flat brush,
if considerable relief is desired, but for ordinary work
the sponge and ordinary etching-water will be sufficient.
The stone having been gummed, the ink and rosin are
now to be washed off with rag and "turps," or a mixture
of two parts spirits of turpentine, and one part olive
oil, which should be kept for washing out drawings when
necessary, and spirits of turpentine should always be
at hand. It should be again rolled up, gummed, and
set aside to dry.
It is desirable, whenever there is time and opportunity,
to allow some hours or even days, to intervene between
the getting ready or proving of the stone, and beginning
to print; though when work is wanted immediately it
may be put in hand at once.
Marking the Stone for laying down Transfers, &c.
Before proceeding to lay down the transfers, it should
be ascertained whether they are to be printed on the
whole sheet or on some part of it. If the job to be
printed is to run a small number only, it may be trans-
ferred to any convenient part of the stone, because one
at a time will be all that will be found necessary to
print: while if a large number is required, resort will
be had to multiplication by transferring, and care must be
taken to put the transfers properly in position on the
stone. Let an example be taken.
For instance, a hundred 8vo. one-page circulars,
with fly-leaf. These may be printed on quarter-sheets
of paper and then sent to the stationer to fold and cut;
but as he cannot well do it without causing them to
set off in the cutting, they may be printed upon ready-
90 Practical Text Book
folded 8vo. paper. Take the necessary quantity of paper
section by section, open it, and "break its back," so that
it may lie flat and open. Lay it inner side uppermost.
Lay the next section across it in the same manner, and
so on, to make a heap, in which each section is distinct
from another by the long way of one being set across the
short way of the other. Now lay the top sheet with its
under side upon the stone, and when taken off, place the
printed side up. When the section is printed and thus
laid, as soon as it is complete, it may be easily refolded
in the same manner as it was at first, and in like manner
the rest may be printed.
This method will answer for any single page, or for
first and fourth, or second and third; but when first and
second or first and third pages are required to be printed,
they are managed differently.
Let it be required to print first and second pages.
(a). Transfer first page to the right and second
page to the left, so that an inch more space is left be-
tween them than if they were intended for second and
third: or,
(&). Transfer the pages one above the other, with
space enough to prevent the paper overlapping. To
start printing, lay a piece of waste paper over page 2
and the first side of the note-paper over page I, in
proper position and pull impression ; now lay second side
of printed sheet on page 2, and the first side of a clean
sheet over page I ; cover the printed side (which now
lies uppermost on the stone) with a piece of tissue-paper
and pull through the press, when one will be completed
and the other half-done. By continuing this method the
of Lithography. 91
whole may be completed and printed on both sides in
as many pulls as there are sheets to be printed, plus two.
They may also be printed first on one side only, and then
completed by printing the second side. In this case,
during the second printing, two printed sides will be up-
permost upon the stone, and a larger sheet of tissue must
be used, so as to cover both. In each case the quantity
of tissue paper required is the same.
To print first and third pages, transfer
(a) First page to left hand and third to the right,
leaving no extra space, but exactly as if first and fourth
were to be printed; or
(b) First to right, third to left, leaving no extra
space; or
(c) Transfer one above the other. To print,
(a) Lay third page down and then first with fourth
page overlapping fourth.
(b). First, lay page I and next page 3, when page
2 will fall on page 2. The tissue-paper is to be used as
before.
Printing. In the last few paragraphs it has been
necessary, to avoid complexity of description, to assume
that the student knows how to use the printing-roller,
damping-cloth, &c. ; but as that was an assumption only,
it is proposed now to deal more fully with this highly
important subject.
Let it be now supposed that the student has placed
at his disposal a piece of work on stone that is in proper
condition for printing, and that he desires to take impres-
sions therefrom. He will require a roller, ink, palette-
knife, sponge, damping-cloth, and a basin of water.
92 Practical Text Book
As he is supposed to be as yet unacquainted with the
process, he must not begin at once to work, because the
stone is not in working condition. The first thing to
be attended to is its temperature. If it is warm, the gum
may be washed off its surface, and it may be put to soak
for an hour in cold water; or it may be set aside in any
cold place as long as convenient; the object being to
equalize the temperature of the stone to that of the print-
ing-room. If the stone has been put into a cold, dry
place, the first thing to be done will be to saturate its
surface with cold water. This may readily be done by
washing off the gum with a sponge and water leaving
a pool of water upon its surface, and laying a sheet of
paper on it. The paper will keep the water from run-
ning off or drying in patches, while it is soaking into
the stone. The damping-cloth may be used for the same
purpose, but after being a short time in use it usually
so full of holes that it would answer the purpose only
imperfectly.
While the stone is absorbing water, the ink may be
prepared for printing. It has been mentioned that the
printing ink, as bought from the manufacturer, is much
too thick for use; in fact, the ordinary palette-knife is
hardly strong enough to remove it from the can, and a
short stiff one should be used for that purpose, if at
hand. If the weather is cold, and the ink stiff, a thin,
flexible knife is very likely to be broken, if used for its
removal.
Before the printing can be proceeded with, some of
this ink must be reduced with varnish to a thinner con-
dition. Though the printer is not called upon to make
of Lithography. 93
his own black ink, yet he has frequently to produce his
colored inks. To do this he takes a small quantity of
medium or medium and thin varnish, and rubs as much
color as he can into it with his palette-knife; and then
with the muller he grinds it upon the slab. After it
has been thus spread over the slab, he gathers it up with
the knife, and adds more color. By repeating this oper-
ation frequently, the ink gradually becomes stiffer, till
no more can be added with the knife, and the color
has to be added by dropping a varnish with rosin (as
is done with varnish for letter-press ink), instead of
producing the viscidity by burning only.
As varnish is an article manufactured on a large
scale, there is no difficulty in purchasing it of a quality
to answer the lithographer's purpose. It is made of
several degrees of strength, known in the trade by the
terms thin, tinting, medium, and thick. The more trans-
parent and free from color it is, the better it answer the
purpose of Chromo-lithography, as frequently the ink,
in this style of printing, is only varnish, stained, as it
were, with a little color or pigment. If this is light
or delicate, it is essential to have the varnish as color-
less as possible.
It may not be inopportune at this point to introduce
a chapter devoted entirely to inks, as many references
are made thereto in subsequent pages.
CHAPTER IX.
INKS, VARNISHERS AND DRYERS.
BLACK Printing Ink Crayon Commercial Poster.
In the study of lithographic printing inks, the first
and most useful is the black printing ink, which, in its
finer grade, is known as crayon black. In the United
States the lamp black, which largely enters into its com-
position, is procured in the natural gas regions, where
jets of gas are directed against iron plates in an oven-
like machine. And when the soot or lamp black has
collected to a sufficient depth, it is then scraped off,
placed in bags, and in this condition sent to the ink
maker. When ground in a suitable lithographic varnish,
a slight proportion of blue is added, as the black of itself
shows a brownish tone; therefore many of the deepest
blacks have a large percentage of blue in them. Trans-
fer ink has already been noticed under a previous head.
Colored Inks. It is advisable in taking up the study
of lithographic colored inks to divide them into three
classes; first, opaque; second, semi-transparent; third,
transparent.
Opaque. Dense, great covering powers. Black,
vermillion, white, lemon yellow, orange yellow, chrome
yellow.
Semi-Transparent. Medium density, medium cover-
ing power. Cardinal red, scarlet red, bronze blue, milori
of Lithography. 95
blue, medium green, purple, umber, sienna.
Transparent. Weak in coloring. Carmine, yellow
lake, orange lake, madder lake, krapp lake, green lake,
blue lake.
In addition to the above the following special colors
are often used :
Opaque. Concentrated blue, ultramarine blue, French
blue, photo brown, flake white, silver white, gloss white.
Semi-Transparent. Process yellow, bronze red, Jac-
queminot lake, Antwerp blue, Bismarck brown, royal
purple, permanent purple, Chemnitz white.
Transparent. Indian yellow, rose lake, emerald green,
Victoria green, silk green, smaragd green.
Manufacture of Yellows. Generally speaking, the
yellows which are opaque are made from acetate of lead
and bichromate of potash. Soda changes this color from
pale to deep. From its composition it can be readily
understood that an excess of potash or soda left in the
color which is formed by precipitation, would act in-
juriously upon the work on stone (oleo margarate of
calcium), and should a yellow ink cause wearing while
running on the press it can generally be laid to this
source. The remedy is the addition of sufficient solid
oil, such as vaseline, or a compound which is paraffine
wax mixed with thin varnish in a sufficient quantity
to counteract the wearing quality of the ink.
Lake All Lake Inks are Coloring Matter Added to
a Transparent Base. Where the term Lake is used in
naming lithographic inks it means that the coloring 1
matter has been added to a transparent base called Lake,
which will often account for the great variation in price
96 Practical Text Book
of articles bearing the same name, and to all appear-
ances similar. The amount of coloring matter added to
the base is what counts in the strength, brilliancy and
durability of the color.
Yellow Lake. The transparent yellows, such as Yel-
low Lake, are prepared from Persian berries and cream
of tartar, with alum and with a lake base. This gives
a transparent, brilliant color, but, as is common with all
colors of a vegetable origin, it readily fades when exposed
to light. Its best use is in the making of flesh tints,
grays or creams, but it is not to be recommended where
an opaque yellow can answer the purpose.
Vermillion. In reds, vermillion is one of the oldest,
most useful and permanent of colors. It is a compound
of mercury and sulphur, its chemical name being mer-
curic sulphide. It is the heaviest of all colors and is
manufactured in different strengths (English vermillion
being the easiest to work on the lithographic press).
When pure it can be said to be thoroughly permanent,
but if adulterated with red lead it will blacken on ex-
posure to light in a very short time. It is of great
assistance when used with the red lakes, as it strengthens
them, brightens them, and at the same time adds some
of its own apparent good qualities to those other inks
of a vegetable or chemical origin, which are liable to fade,
and are termed fugitive.
Madder Lake, Natural and Chemical. Nearly all the
red lakes or colors, except vermillion, are of an aniline
or vegetable origin, and, while bright and effective for
the purposes intended, can not be guaranteed permanent
for any length of time.
of Lithography. 97
Madder lake, as now manufactured, is an instance of
this. It was originally ground from madder wots and
when mixed was a brilliant and permanent color; but
lately a coloring matter similar in composition and ap-
pearance has been found in alizarine, a product of coal
tar. Being cheap in cost, and more uniform in its pro-
duction, it has entirely superseded the use of madder
root while still sold under the name of Madder Lake.
Bronze and Milori Blues. Bronze and Milori Blues
are most in use, and have great covering power when used
in full strength, but are particularly transparent when
reduced to half strength or lighter. They are manufac-
tured from green copperas, yellow prussiate of potash
and nitric acid. Bronze Blue, when drying, has a metallic
sheen, which greatly adds to its attractiveness, when
printed in the full strength. It dries very rapidly, and
in the cans should be covered with No. I varnish to
prevent rapid oxidation, which causes formation of skin.
On account of its composition, care should be exercised
in its use in printing, as it will be found of a harsh
nature, and, as with lemon yellow, a little litho. com-
pound, which, as before stated, is composed of par-
affine wax and No. o (or No. i) varnish, can well be
added to this ink. Again caution is given never to use
more oil, vaseline or compound than is absolutely nec-
essary, on account of the non-adhesiveness of such ink
to paper. Especially so is this the case in the printing
of coated or enameled stock. French Blue and Con-
centrated Blue are now on the market in very strong
and powerful qualities. They are generally made from
a copper base which is first produced as a green, the
7
98 Practical Text Book
change into the blue tone being effected by the action
of caustic soda. It is then thoroughly washed to free the
coloring matter from any trace of the chemicals, and,
when ground up with the proper grade of lithographic
varnish, is ready for use on the press.
Color Manufacture. The Lake colors (Blue, Red,
Green and Yellow) are all in the same class; a trans-
parent base is first made up. The color is formed through
the action of acids and chemicals on vegetable or coal
tar products, which throw down a precipitate. This,
when thoroughly washed to free it from the acids or
chemicals used, is added to the transparent lake base
and ground together with a suitable lithographic varnish
and is then ready for the market.
Raw and Burnt Sienna and Umber. Raw Sienna,
Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber and Burnt Umber are earth
colors. Before being burnt they have a yellow tone and
after burning they have a brownish tone. They are very
gritty to work and should not be used pure or in full
strength, if it can be avoided. They are rapid dryers, and,
being of a gritty nature, mentioned, it is possible to carry
more color on the sheet than with a more uniform sub-
stance. This is taken advantage of for the printing of
bronze work, which requires a full body of ink on the
paper in order to retain and hold the bronze powder.
Work printed with this ink will seldom rub off, will dry
rapidly and take a good polish or a gloss when cleanly
dusted.
Medium Green. Medium Green is prepared from
bichromate of potash and boracic acid. Sometimes
ammonium chloride is substituted for the boracic acid.
It has a good working quality and is fairly permanent.
of Lithography. 99
Emerald and Victoria Green. Emerald and Victoria
Greens are prepared from copper and arsenic. They are
not of a permanent nature, and, generally speaking,
should be used with some heavier color to give them body
and carrying capacity.
Permanent and Royal Purple. Permanent and Royal
Purples are useful when a pure purple tone is wanted.
Generally speaking, Scarlet Lake and French or Milori
Blue mixed will give a good purple tone which is easy
to work and cleanly and economical in use, but the shade
procured by those means is never as bright as with a
pure purple ink. The Royal Purple can not be guaran-
teed for permanency, but is much brighter in tone than
the permanent purple. A judicious way is to use them to-
gether where possible and thus balance the bright quali-
ties of the one with the permanent qualities of the other.
Whites Chemnitz and Flake. In whites the Chem-
nitz and flake white will be found of most use in
lithographic work. They are generally used when a
base tint, or color, has to be run on paper to tone same
previous to the adding of the colors, thus making a tint
or base of a more durable and permanent tone than
could be produced by the addition of an equal amount
of varnish.
Flake White. This color is produced from metallic
lead with vinegar, which in the Dutch process, in con-
nection with tan bark, is sealed in sheds for a period
of almost three months. The lead being placed in spiral
ribbons, in crucibles, in which vinegar, or weak acetic
acid is poured (the floor of the shed is laid with tan
bark), upon the first tier a floor of wood covered with
100 Practical Text Book
tan bark is placed. More crucibles are placed in which
is also acetic acid and spiral lead in ribbons. When the
shed is filled, it is termed a stack, in which may be as
many as ten thousand crucibles. The tan bark in combi-
nation with the evaporating vinegar forms carbonic acid
gas, which attacks the lead and changes its composition
from metallic lead to carbonate of lead. This carbonate
is washed thoroughly, then ground in lithographic var-
nish and placed on the market. Generally whites are of
a rapidly drying nature and so act when added to other
colors. Owing to their composition they have a tendency
to lighten or bleach any aniline or vegetable colors with
which they come in combination and should, therefore,
in all cases be printed at least one shade stronger than the
effect wanted when dry.
Manufacture of Litho. Varnish. The varnish used
in lithographic work should be made from pure linseed
oil only, and can easily be tested if placed in a small
bottle and examined against the light. It should be
perfectly clear and nearly colorless. The best linseed
oil is called Baltic and comes from Russia. The oil is
obtained by crushing flax seed and flax stalks. In man-
ufacturing varnish, linseed oil is placed in large tanks
and allowed to stand for some time, by which process
the heavier body falls to the bottom and the lighter oil
rises to the top. Cocks are placed at different heights
on the tanks and as required are drawn, the thickest from
the bottom, medium from the center, and thin from the
top. As this method consumes quite some time, a more
rapid way is employed by boiling the oil. By this process
a range of consistencies is obtained which will number
of Lithography. 101
from No. oooo to No. 5. The oil is also prepared for
the market as varnish by burning, and according to the
time spent at the process the different strengths of var-
nish are produced. As this burning darkens the varnish
to a brownish tone, it can not be recommended, even
if cheaper, for color work, as dirty varnish will change
all light tones, making a light blue, grayish; a pink
brownish, green yellowish; and flesh tint dirty. Caution
should also be taken to see that the varnish has not been
adulterated with rosin, as this would tend to thicken
the work on stone. Pure varnish is best, and certainly
cheapest in the end, when working qualities are taken into
consideration.
Dryers. In printing we have usually three grades of
dryers, these being added to the inks in small proportions,
so that the drying of the color may be effected in a
moderate time. An old and safe dryer is Copal varnish.
Then comes Siccatif, either in powdered or paste form,
and a liquid dryer which has alcohol for its main in-
gredient. The first named is certainly the most reliable
for lithographic work, being composed of Copal gum,
alcohol and turpentine. Its action is always uniform and
regular, while having no hurtful effect on the work on
stone, if used in moderate quantities.
Siccatif. The Siccatif dryer has a borate or man-
ganese base and is of a lime nature and evolving heat,
thus expels moisture and causing a skin to form on the
printed work. As in all other parts of fine printing,
great caution should be exercised in its use. An error
should rather be made in using too little rather than too
much of such a substance.
102 Practical Text Book
Liquid. A liquid dryer having alcohol or ether for its
main ingredients, as before stated, acts as an evaporat-
ing spirit, and, if not used with great care, will so split
up the color, taking all the adhesive qualities away, that
when dry it will be found to have resolved itself into a
powder, and with the hand lightly passed over the sheet
the color will be very easily removed. A liquid dryer
should be confined in use to such colors as have been
ground or prepared with stiff varnish only.
System in Color Work and in Mixing Colors. In
mixing of colors much will depend upon natural ability
in this direction; but a uniform system of working can
readily be evolved by careful practice. Generally speak-
ing, work in four colors will be found to consist of
fair strength of Yellow, Brilliant Red, a good Black and
a medium strength of Blue. Work in six colors will
generally consist of the addition of Flesh or Pink and
Light Blue or Gray, to the colors used for four-color
work.
Economy of a Uniform Color Scale for Combination
Sheet Work. Work has been so greatly systematized
that in one large establishment in the East labels in ten
or eleven colors and gold must be worked to one uniform
scale of colors, so that any label made under this system
can be run at the same time on a common sheet with any
other label made under the same system. As many
as forty different cigar labels have been run successfully
on one sheet with no trouble to the transferrer or press-
man, simply on account of a firm insistence in the first
place that the labels made should conform to one stand-
ard scale of colors. This means great economy in the
of Lithography. 103
output of the factory, as a large share of the expense of a
pressroom is charged up to washing up of the presses,
which can, to a great extent, be avoided under this
system.
Four and Six-Color Work. All four-color work
which is run in poster houses and houses doing label work
is run under practically the same system and in multi-
color work this system has been brought to great per-
fection, so much so that the work on the six-color press
it is rarely necessary to change, even in the slightest de-
gree, the first four colors of the scale.
The remaining two, which I have previously spoken
of, being generally a Pink and a Gray. Of these two,
Light Blue and Buff can be substituted for light Gray,
and light Brown, Medium Red, or Green can replace the
Pink. With a definite scale laid out, the first color to
mix would be a light Brown. As before mentioned, the
Brown inks in use have an earthen base, are gritty to
work, and so in press-work we find a prejudice against
their use.
A good substituting color for the making of a light
Brown is Lemon Yellow four parts, Madder Lake three
parts, and Milori Blue one part. These colors will be
found to blend well together and work smoothly and
cleanly, even on the longest editions.
Dark Brown. A good durable Dark Brown can be
made by an addition of one-fourth to one-half Ver-
million to a regular Black ink.
If a more transparent color than this is wanted, Car-
mine can be substituted for the Vermillion, but as it
possesses non-drying qualities, care should be taken in
104 Practical Text Book
starting up to see that a sufficient amount of a suitable
dryer is added to the color.
Flesh Tints Several Methods of Mixing. A durable
flesh tint can be made from Vermillion, when thor-
oughly reduced to one part color in eighty of laketine.
A point of Blue or Black will take crudeness away from
this color and soften it in tone.
Flesh can be made from Lemon Yellow and Madder
Lake, the proportions being about two to one, and thirty
to forty parts of such reducing compounds as may be
found necessary.
A more transparent flesh can be made from Yellow
Lake and Madder Lake, with possibly the addition of a
little Raw Sienna. This will make a very pleasant, soft,
creamy flesh, but on account of the colors from which it
is made being of a weak coloring nature, it will readily
fade.
The addition of a little Chemnitz White will prevent
the color from fading too rapidly, but the more transpar-
ent Buffs are not to be recommended for work which
will be exposed to strong light in windows or elsewhere.
The most useful of the mixtures before mentioned
is the Lemon Yellow and Madder Lake, as both firm-
ness and softness, as well as permanency, are combined
with a good working quality at the same time.
Dark and Light Blue. In a Dark Blue, Bronze or
Milori Blues with a touch of French Blue, or Concen-
trated Blue, will give a color pure in tone and brilliant
in strength.
As these colors are put up in undiluted form for a
medium Dark Blue, they require a reduction of four
parts to one of color.
of Lithography. 105
To make a durable Light Blue, a good grade of
Bronze Blue will be found to give the most useful results.
Color Changes Produced by Overlapping Blue. In
overlapping the Yellow a bright Green is produced, and
in overlapping Red, if lakish in tone (in contradistinction
to a Vermillion tone), it will produce a serviceable shade
of violet or purple.
A little French Blue, or a touch of Purple, will bring
the color to a warmer tone and a point of Yellow or
Green will change it toward the cold side.
Pink. In Pinks, especially for fleshes, Madder Lake
with a little Yellow Lake to take the bluish tone away,
will be found to give soft and clean results.
Medium Red. For a medium Red the addition of
some Cardinal Lake, to bring it up to the desired
strength, will be found both economical and to work well
in practice.
Grays. For Grays, both dark and light, there are
many combinations which can be effected. The most
rapid is French Blue Lake and Black, reduced, of course,
to the required strength ; but as Black will always tend to
dirty a color (that is to say, to take away the purity of
tone), it is not advisable to use it on a fine grade of work.
In such cases a nice Pearl Gray can be made from
French Blue Lake, Madder, Yellow Lake and a touch
of Raw Sienna. Raw Sienna will act as a softening
medium in color tone to the mass, and can be left out if
greater purity is required.
With these colors, and instructions carefully followed
out, creditable work can be produced with intelligent
application.
106 Practical Text Book
Variations. Variations which can be made from
those accepted standards are innumerable, and of all
such it may be said that experience alone can show the
way. A diligent study of the complete list of colors used
in any establishment, and with a little painstaking experi-
ment on the part of the student, should result in a dis-
criminating and intelligent use of the materials at his
hand.
Difficulties in Matching Colored Papers, Silk and
Other Fabrics. Many difficulties will be found in the
matching of special colors on paper and fabrics, such as
cotton, muslin, satin, silk, etc., but these difficulties will
result more from the texture of the material itself than
from the actual mixing of the colors.
In all duplication the copy should be brought to as
nearly similar a condition of surface as that of the
sample submitted; that is to say, that if a piece of cloth
is being imitated the surface of the paper after the
work has been printed, should be roughened in imitation
of the cloth.
Very close reproductions of oil paintings and water
colors have been made, which have been greatly en-
hanced by the application of a proper roughing in canvas
or crayon effect.
CHAPTER X.
PRINTING PREPARING INK FOR USE.
PREPARING the Printing Ink for Use. With a
suitable knife, remove from the can a piece of
ink of the size of a chestnut, and place it upon the
slab. From the varnish-can take as much thin var-
nish as will lie upon the end of the palette-knife,
and transfer it to the upper part of the slab. A
small quantity of this varnish must now be mixed
with the piece of ink by means of the palette-knife.
At first there will be a difficulty the ink being very
tenacious will not easily separate, to allow of mix-
ture with the varnish ; but by industriously working it with
the knife it will gradually yield and be incorporated with
it. When this has once taken place, more varnish may
easily be added if required. It is to be supposed that
our students' first essay at printing will be a simple sub-
ject in line-work, a bill-head, circular, or such like. The
temperature of the room in which the printing is to be
carried on being moderate, the mixture of ink and thin
varnish is to be such that it will run slowly off the
palette-knife when held in a position to allow it to do so.
It is better to err in having the varnish too thick than
too thin. When the ink has been brought to a proper
consistency, it is to be scraped off the slab and laid upon
that portion of it farthest from the printer.
108 Practical Text Book
A small portion of ink is next taken up on the palette-
knife, and spread along or placed in small pats upon the
roller, which is now to be rolled over the clear portion of
the slab until the ink is evenly distributed over both.
To do this properly requires a certain "knack." The
roller must be taken by the leather handles which cover
the wood ones, one in each hand; rolled away from the
operator and back again to the near edge of the slab;
then lifted off the slab, and by a forward bending of the
wrist brought down again to the place whence it was
lifted. This motion, which should be made with the
elbows fairly close to the body, will change the position
of the roller in relation to the slab so that each point on
the roller's surface will come in contact with a different
portion of it. By repeating this operation several times,
accompanied by a change of position laterally, and by
turning over the roller so that the handle which was in
the right hand may now be in the left, a good distribution
of the ink will be effected.
The next thing to be done is to lay the paper on the
stone in such a manner as to prevent the impression be-
ing "slurred" or doubled. To effect this the paper must
not shift, or be shifted between the time of first laying
it on the stone and taking the impression.
If the sheet is too large or too flimsy to be treated in
this manner just described, it must be laid upon the stone
by taking it in both hands.
The impression when lifted off should be examined,
to see whether the operation has been properly performed.
It will, however, require either an experiencd or artistic
eye to determine this point, and we now proceed to state
what are the essentials of a good impression:
of Lithography. 109
First. As we have been printing in black ink, the
lines of the drawing or writing must be black also; or,
in other words, they must not be gray.
Second. They must not be wider or blacker than they
were upon the stone; such impressions are called
"smutty."
Third. They must not be "ragged" or broken ; or, as
printers call this defect, "rotten."
Grayness and smuttiness are respectively the result
of too little and too much ink; while, if the work is
good upon the stone, rottenness of impression is caused
by insufficient pressure.
Manipulation of the Roller. Attention is now di-
rected to the different results obtained by varying modes
of using the roller, independent of the quality of the
ink upon it. It is not to be understood that the quality
of the ink is unimportant, far from it; but the point
we are now establishing is, that with the same ink and
the same number of passes of the roller over the stone,
different qualities of impression may be produced. If
the student will fix upon his memory the theories of the
varnishes and the methods of using them upon the roller,
he will be in a position to profit by the experience that
may be gained in printing, his mind being stored with a
knowledge of the principles that must govern the prac-
tice.
Bearing heavily on the roller "feeds" the work more
rapidly than bearing lightly on it.
Light pressure on the roller transfers but little ink
to the stone, and also takes off some part of that which
has been previously applied by heavy rolling.
110 Practical Text Book
Slow rolling produces similar effects to heavy rolling.
Quick rolling produces similar effects to light rolling;
consequently
Slow and heavy rolling, combined, produce the maxi-
mum feeding effect upon the work; while
Quick and light rolling combined has the greatest
effect in clearing an already over-inked job, and making
the work look sharp.
Passing now to the influence of the ink upon the qual-
ity of the impression, the first axioms will be easily
understood :
Too little ink upon the roller will produce gray im-
pressions, under ordinary conditions of rolling.
Too much ink will, on the contrary, give smutty
proofs.
Now in following out this subject of the ink, we may
add to the foregoing axioms the following:
Thin ink feeds the work very freely, and if too freely
used will cause it to thicken and grow smutty.
Strong ink leaves the roller with difficulty, and neces-
sitates slow and laborious rolling.
Slow, heavy rolling with thin ink will produce the
maximum effect that can be obtained under similar con-
ditions of temperature.
Quick, light rolling with strong ink will have the
greatest possible tendency to bring the ink away from
the stone.
Paper. The choice of paper is a very important
matter in lithographic printing, if the beauty of the work
is of any consideration. It is a subject upon which
much ignorance exists generally, as every lithographic
of Lithography. Ill
printer must admit. The clerk or other person who re-
ceives the order from the customer, not knowing any
better, is quite willing to execute it upon any proposed
paper. He is probably afraid to suggest to the customer
that writing-paper is not a fit material upon which to
execute any kind of printing. He takes so many orders
for letter and account headings on it that it does not
occur to him that there is no necessity for adopting
writing papers when nothing has to be written. Most
circular letters for business purposes would print better
and cleaner upon glased printing paper or half-sized
plate paper than upon writing paper.
Preparing India Paper for Printing. There is an
imitation of India paper that is free from the spots and
blemishes of the genuine paper, and though it does not
yield so good an impression, its freedom from specks
is a great recommendation. To both kinds of paper the
following instructions will apply:
Take the India paper in full-sized sheet, and brush
over the back with rather thin flour paste, and hang
it up to dry. Damp the plate-paper in the manner de-
scribed on page 67. Cut up the India paper care-
fully to the size required, and put a piece between each
two sheets of plate-paper i. e. one piece for each. The
India paper should be about half an inch or more larger
each way than the work to be printed upon. The larger
the work, the more margin will be wanted. Make a mark
upon the stone to correspond with the size of the plate-
paper, and another to agree with that of the India paper.
When printing, first lay down the India paper pasted
side up, and upon it the plate-paper; the paste, being
112 Practical Text Book
damp, will be found to adhere firmly to the plate-paper,
which is always slightly damped, after being submitted
to the pressure of printing. It will be seen that this is a
combined method of printing and mounting at the same
time. In like manner photographs may be mounted,
where there are many of them to be done.
CHAPTER XI.
PRINTING DEFECTS AND REMEDIES.
WE shall now endeavor to explain, aided by the
principles we have been considering, how cer-
tain defects which may appear in the proof may be rem-
edied, if that be possible.
When the proof does not appear so firm as the draw-
ing on the stone, yet the ink looks black upon the paper,
increase the pressure.
When the print looks altogether too dark, there is
either too much ink on the roller, or it has been rolled in
by too heavy pressure, or the roller worked too slowly.
The paper, if smooth and hard, may print better with
less impression, or the ink may be too thin. These ob-
servations suggest the remedy.
When the impression though firm is pale, there may
be insufficient ink on the roller. It may also be too
thin. The roller may have become covered with gum, or
have accumulated a film of dirt from long use without
change of ink. Try a good "knocking-up" on the ink-
slab, and, if that does not cure it, scrape off the old ink
and apply some more. This defect may also proceed from
rolling too quickly and lightly.
When white streaks occur in the whole length of the
proof, the scraper is notched or otherwise uneven. Make
it level with coarse cabinet-paper or a plane.
114 Practical Text Book
When the impression is always too light at one end,
there is a deficiency of pressure there : pack the stone at
that end.
When the impression has one or more light places that
do not show on the stone, the stone is hollow, or the
tympan or backing-sheet thin at such places. Try a
piece of blanket for the backing, and if that is not suc-
cessful, paste small pieces of paper on the backing-sheet
or tympan where it occurs. To do this properly, ^a/-
the paper into shape ; paste or gum one side ; lay it on the
stone where required, adhesive side up ; bring the tympan
down upon it, when the paper will be attached at the de-
fective place.
When the drawing is missing or has failed to print
at one end, the scraper has been set too far on the tympan,
or not pulled far enough.
When, notwithstanding all precautions, the drawing
yields only pale impressions; this can only occur when
the paper is too wet. It usually occurs when the paper
is not only too wet, but also highly sized.
When the paper tears, and is partly left upon the
stone; this commonly occurs with plate-paper when it is
imperfectly damped. Give it more time to lie by. If
that will not do, use a thinner ink, as that can be used on
plate-paper with success, because each impression clears
the stone.
The impression being, it is hoped, what it should be,
the printing may be proceeded with. For each pull the
stone must be first damped, and then inked ; but in these
two operations defects may occur which attract the
printer's notice before he takes the impression.
of Lithography. 115
When on the rolling in being recommenced, black
patches may occur, the stone has not been damped at
these parts. Damp again properly; roll briskly and they
will go away.
When, after rolling several times, the ink begins to
"catch" as before, the stone has become too dry. It may
arise either from too long-continued rolling without re-
damping, or the temperature of the room being too high.
Remedy as in the last case.
When the roller does not turn in the handles, but
slips over the work, the stone is too wet.
When, as the printing proceeds, the close lines or dots
join together, or the work becomes darker all over, the
ink is too thin. Wash out with turpentine and a little
oil, but be careful to have the stone quite wet at the
same time. Roll in again with an ink made stiffer by
having less varnish in it, or one of a stronger nature.
Gum in and let it lie for a day or two if possible. This
defect is more likely to occur with hard papers.
When the drawing grows thin and pale, the roller
may have become dirty, or the ink may be too stiff, in
which case use thinner ink.
Advice to Beginners. In summer, use medium var-
nish to reduce your ink; in winter, add a little thin
varnish to it.
Avoid wetting the stone too much at a time, or the
roller will not only be liable to slip, but will become so
glazed as not to ink properly until it has been "knocked
up" on the slab again.
After proper damping, count the number of times
that the roller can be passed over the stone before it
116 Practical Text Book
begins to soil it, then in your printing do not make so
many passes by, say, two.
When the roller begins to make an audible sound in
going over the work, it is a sign that it is time to leave
off rolling.
Having inked your work, "knock up" the roller ready
for the next inking before taking the impression.
Be careful to keep the edges of the stone clean,
avoiding rolling over them if possible. If they are once
allowed to soil the backing-sheet, it will be difficult to
prevent the edges from becoming again dirty.
Work with as little ink on your roller as is con-
sistent with obtaining a good impression.
The beginner will find it useful to touch the stone
occasionally with the gum-sponge, to assist in preserving
the coating of gum upon it.
Keep separate sponges for gum, weak acid, and wet-
ting the stone. Let them vary sufficiently in size, so as to
be readily distinguishable from each other, which will
lessen the liability to accident, in mistaking, for instance,
the "acid sponge" for the "gum-sponge." Keep also
another good-sized sponge for use with perfectly clean
water only. This will be useful when washing a stone
previously to making corrections.
Slurring signifies a doubling of the lines or the dots
composing the impression at some part of it. It is usually
found at or about that part of the proof which last re-
ceived the pressure, and may proceed from one of several
causes, though its immediate cause is always the same
namely, the shifting of the paper between the time of
its being placed upon the stone and its passage under
the scraper.
of Lithography. 117
Setting-off is a transferring of some of the ink be-
fore it is dry to the back of the paper of the impression
lying next to it. It ought to be avoided in careful work.
It is chiefly owing to one of two causes : first, the hard-
ness of the paper, and second, to the use of ink un-
suited to the paper. Hard, smooth writing-papers are
very liable to it. When the copies are placed one above
another until a heap is formed, the under ones receive
most pressure and are more liable to the defect. Black
printing-ink dries very slowly, but the printer does not
like to use dryers in it, because it necessitates the use of
some solvent for removing it effectually from his roller,
the frequent use of which deteriorates that instrument
very materially. The turpentine used, and the amount of
time involved in washing the roller, are, of course, items
that cost the employer something, so that it is usual to
put such works into small heaps, to lessen the weight upon
the bottom impressions and to give them more time to
dry.
It frequently happens, however, that circulars and
other work are wanted for immediate use. The customer
may be accommodated at a trifling extra expense, by the
application of powdered French chalk. It is to be ap-
plied with a small pad of cotton wool, first dipped into
the powder and then rubbed over the impressions, after
which they may be handled and folded with impunity.
Printing Chalk Drawings. If the student has mas-
tered the theory of the inks and varnishes, and applied
them in the practice of printing from ink drawings, he
will now be able to take in hand printing from a chalk
drawing. There are some differences between the ink
118 Practical Text Book
and chalk printing, which it will be well to point out
before proceeding with the instructions for printing. In
the first place, the stone being granulated, the dots whose
aggregation make up the drawing, do not lie in one plane.
This necessitates the use of a roller having sufficient
"nap" to reach the bottom of the grain. The grained sur-
face also disposes the stone to remain longer damp than
does a polished one. The rough stone so rapidly wears
away a damping-cloth that two sponges must be used, one
to apply the water, and the other to spread it.
Where an assistant is employed at the press, a roller
similar to the inking roller, but covered with a suitable
material, may be used for damping the stone, as is done
in machine printing. A boy with a little practice would
thus damp more evenly than by the use of a sponge.
The drawing would suffer less abrasion, and would prob-
ably yield a greater number of impressions.
Re-etching. It must be understood by the young
printer that when the chalk has been once removed, the
printing-ink alone has less power to resist the action of
acids than the chalk had, and requires some protection,
previous to the renewed acidulation of the stone. Inks
containing copal-varnish, asphaltum, and similar sub-
stances, might be used for this purpose; but an effectual
and simple method, which does not involve the use of
another roller, consists in dusting powdered rosin over
the work after rolling-in, and permitting the stone to dry.
Defects sometimes arise from Unequal Etching, and
show themselves in printing as darker spots and patches
than the surrounding parts, which were even enough
when the drawing left the hands of the artist. These
of Lithography. 119
can only be remedied by etching the parts that are darker,
and so bring them to a level tone with the rest, by the
application of a camel-hair pencil containing dilute acid,
and immediately wiping away the acid with a sponge
to prevent its acting further than intended.
Defects Arising from Ovef-etching. When the draw-
ing has had too much acid applied in the etching process,
the light tints are perhaps so reduced that the drawing
has a worn-out appearance, as if a very large number
of impressions had been taken from it.
CHAPTER XII.
CHROMO-LITHOGRAPHY THE KEY-STONE ORDER OF
THE COLORS.
IN treating of Chromo-Lithography, we propose first to
point out those conditions and processes which are
common to all the various methods of producing colored
effects ; then we shall give a description of simple color-
work, suitable for plans, labels, show-cards, &c. ; next, of
tinted lithography, which is used in subjects of more
artistic character; and, finally, that combination of the
former methods which is usually denominated Chromo-
Lithography or Oleography, when applied to the re-
production of artistic subjects. In this manner we shall
have occasion to introduce some things in the first part
which it will not be necessary to repeat in the other two,
of which the methods of making set-off and registering
the sheets may be cited as examples.
It may be stated generally that all lithographs in two
or more colors are printed from two or more stones.
That being so, it will be seen that some method must be
employed, first, to get a correct trace of the subject on
the first stone made upon the second; and, second, of
being able, in printing, to lay the sheet so correctly in
position that the second printing may fall exactly into its
place upon the first. To attain the first of these condi-
tions we must have what is called a key-stone.
of Lithography. 121
Key-stone. In the ordinary run of show-card and
label- work this stone is used for finishing, but in work of
more artistic character it is usual to employ this stone as a
means of getting all other colors in their place, and gen-
erally to omit it in printing. It is necessary, in making
this key-stone, that there should be lines to indicate either
the junction or separation of each color from every other,
wherever any kind of distinction has to be observed. In
show-cards it is usual to edge nearly all the color with an
outline, and this is then all that is necessary for the pur-
pose of a key-stone; but circumstances may occur in
which it is necessary to bring two printings into juxta-
position without the intervention of a separating line
of black or other color.
To avoid confusion and possible failure it is best to
make a tracing in indistinct outline of the subject
portrait, landscape or other design upon the key-stone.
We give here the several most approved methods.
We may, however, take this opportunity of inform-
ing the student that he must on no account attempt to
make a key-stone in a hurry, such a course being certain
to end in confusion. He should take every possible care
to make the key-stone thoroughly trustworthy, study-
ing each bit as he proceeds, so as to find out the best
mode of producing the imitative effect required.
First. Very transparent tracing-paper may be made
by coating fine tissue-paper with crystal varnish. Coat
it on one side, and let it dry, and then coat it on the
other. The varnish may be made by adding spirits of
turpentine to Canada balsam until thin enough to be used
with a varnish-brush, the solution being effected with a
gentle heat.
122 Practical Text Book
Second. French tracing-paper, papier vegetal, may
be oiled, to render it more transparent ; but care must be
taken to avoid bringing the oiled surface in contact with
the stone or transfer-paper.
Third. Ordinary tracing or other thin paper may be
wetted with spirits of turpentine or benzoline, and the
wetted side applied to the glass or paper photograph.
The tracing may then be made in pencil. The liquid will
soon evaporate ; but, if the paper becomes opaque in con-
sequence, a corner may be lifted and another drop of the
fluid introduced, which will instantly restore the trans-
parency. When the tracing is completed, it and the
photograph will dry rapidly and the latter will remain
uninjured.
Fourth. Sheets of transparent gelatine may be laid
over photographs or paintings, and the tracing made by
scratching the outline with a sharp steel point. The
scratches thus made are to be filled with powdered red
chalk, dusted on with cotton wool: the scratches being
rough, retain the powder, which is rejected by the smooth
surface of the gelatine. If the gelatine, thus prepared,
be laid upon a stone and passed through the press, a red
chalk tracing will be left upon the stone. The scratches
may also be filled in with lithographic writing-ink, dis-
solved in spirits of turpentine, wiping it clean off the
smooth part of the gelatine. This being laid upon the
stone as before, and subjected to pressure, will leave an
ink outline that may be rolled up as an ordinary transfer.
Or the gelatine may be treated, after filling-in with ink,
as an ordinary transfer, by damping it between sheets,
applying it to a warm stone, passing through the press,
of Lithography. 123
and finally washing it off with hot water. It requires a
very slight etching before rolling-up.
Fifth. If the photograph to be traced is of no further
value than furnishing a copy for the draughtsman, it may
be treated in the following manner: With india-rubber,
paper-cleaner, or ink-eraser, remove from the surface of
the photograph all tendency to greasiness; outline every
detail with lithographic writing-ink, which, after the
cleaning referred to, will adhere readily to the photo-
graph, treating it as far as possible as a sheet of trans-
fer-paper. Set a stone in the press, and make ready as
for ordinary transferring ; pour spirits of turpentine upon
the stone, and spread the spirits all over. Let it stand
a few seconds to be absorbed. With one stroke of the
squeegee remove the superfluous turpentine. Now
quickly lay the inked-in photograph upon the stone,
lower the tympan, and pass once through the press, under
heavy pressure. The stone having been uniformly
damped with the turpentine, the latter acts equally in
softening the ink, which is then absorbed by the stone.
If there should be too much turpentine, the ink will
spread ; and if too little (which may happen if the stone is
allowed to dry somewhat before the photograph is laid
upon it), sufficient ink may not be absorbed to roll up.
However, with ordinary care on the part of the draughts-
man and the printer, success is certain. The stone having
been gummed and rolled up, impressions may be taken.
If a key-stone be wanted for color-work, nothing but
the register-marks will require to be added.
As, however, some might prefer a red chalk outline,
we may state that it can easily be obtained as follows:
124 Practical Text Book
Instead of taking a weak impression on printing-paper,
take a full one on highly-sized and glazed writing-paper ;
place upon it a quantity of finely-powdered red chalk;
holding the paper by opposite edges, raise and lower
each hand alternately, until the chalk has been brought
into contact with every part of the outline; pour off
the superfluous chalk, and finish by giving it a smart
jerk or two to remove the remainder from all parts except
the lines. The prepared print may then be laid upon the
stone and passed through the press, as before described.
This method is very applicable for drawings in ink.
This method of transferring to stone for the pur-
pose of obtaining a mere faint tracing for a guide in the
actual drawing, may appear more complicated than the
ordinary tracing and retracing; but where the details are
minute and numerous, it will be found that time is saved
by its adoption ; while the artist, being saved the drudgery
of the intermediate operation, will approach his task with
better spirit, knowing that a more correct trace is before
him than would have been obtained by any other method.
The Set-off, or Faint. By this is meant the trace
produced when an impression from the key-stone is laid
down upon another stone and pulled through the press.
Now, the one essential condition of this is that the trace,
set-off, or faint impression, shall be exactly of the same
dimensions as the original from which it is made; for
if it be not, it is quite evident that impressions from the
two stones will not fit each other when printed upon
the same piece of paper. To ensure this, attention must
be given to the following:
First. The impression from the key-stone must be
pulled upon dry, well-rolled paper.
of Lithography. 125
Second. The key-stone should be allowed to become
dry before the impression is taken, so that the chances
of the sheet absorbing moisture, and thereby expand-
ing, may be reduced to a minimum.
Third. The impression when taken should be laid
down upon the stone as soon as possible, so as to prevent
the sheet either expanding or contracting by any change
in the state of the atmosphere.
Order of the Colors. The order in which the colors
should succeed each other in the course of printing is a
matter of much importance, not only as regards the effect
of the finished print, but as regards economy of time. In
a case in which bronze powder, metal, or any dust color,
is used, this ought to precede the other printings. When
the bronze must be introduced after other printings, it will
be found almost imperative to prepare the sheets with
some semi-transparent powder, such as talc, rubbed on
and well dusted off, to prevent the adhesion of the bronze,
which would otherwise attach itself to any part that might
not be thoroughly hardened.
There is another order of succession, which is based
upon the fact that while some colors are opaque others
are transparent. As a rule, the transparent color should
succeed the opaque one, because the former allows the
latter to be seen through it, and is modified by it, for
which reason the transparent colors are usually reserved
for the finishing ones.
Further, it may be stated that another order may de-
pend upon the hue of the color desired ; thus, for instance,
a Prussian blue over a chrome yellow might make a dark,
cool green, but the reverse order would give a warmer and
126 Practical Text Book
lighter green. For the same reason a crimson-lake over
a blue yields a richer purple than the opposite order
would give.
For positive colors it may be stated, as a general rule,
that they should succeed each other as follows: First,
bronzes or dusted colors; second, blues; third, reds;
fourth, yellows ; and fifth, the outline or finishing colors.
In the matter of transparency, the student may observe
that those colors which are dark in the mass are usually
transparent and fit for finishing with, while those which
appear much the same in the lump as upon the paper are
opaque. But there are some exceptions, notably raw
sienna and emerald green. In this connection it may be
stated that though the opaque should generally precede the
transparent colors, there are instances in which the re-
verse order is to be preferred.
CHAPTER XIII.
REGISTERING. APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES.
REGISTERING. By this term is understood the ad-
justment of an already printed sheet to the stone,
in such a manner that the further work about to be
printed on it shall coincide with the spaces intended
for it.
There are several methods more or less adapted to
obtaining this important object, but it must be observed
that in each case the key-stone must have applied to it
appropriate marks adapted to facilitate the subsequent
operations, and that this preparation varies somewhat in
each method. To facilitate reference, we will number
these methods, commencing with the simplest:
First: By Lay. This, in many hands, is a very effec-
tual means of obtaining register, and is the simplest pos-
sible ; but the size of the paper to be used should be de-
termined before the set-off is made. It is true that this
is not absolutely essential to the method, but it greatly
facilitates it in every way. The size of the paper having
been fixed upon, a "lay," corresponding to the edge of
the paper, is made on the stone, by which the subject is
brought into proper position upon the sheet, and this lay
is then drawn with fine lines in lithographic ink in such
manner as to print upon the sets-off and to remain all
through the printing. A set-off is now to be made for
128 Practical Text Book
each color, and this "lay" mark is to be made permanent.
If the color to be printed be a dark one, the mark may
be carefully inked over at the same time that the rest of
the work is done ; but if the printing is to be a light color
some method must be devised of making this mark not
only indelible, but dark, so as to be readily seen by the
printer ; and this may easily be accomplished as follows :
Cover the place with gum, through which, when dry, make
scratches to coincide exactly with the marks they are in-
tended to replace. With a pen and common writing-ink,
go over these scratches, and when dry, if the gum be
washed away, well-defined marks will be left that will
last all through the printing.
In using this system all that is necessary is to ac-
curately adjust one corner and edge of the paper to
these marks all through the printing; but care must be
taken that the paper possesses well-defined corners and
edges. If the paper should be found to expand a little,
d good workman will, by laying the sheet a little over the
mark in the direction required, be able to make the neces-
sary allowance to preserve the register. In many kinds
of work this system will be found all that is required, and
indeed in many houses scarcely any other is used.
Second: By Needles. In this mode sufficient marks
are usually to be found among the work to answer the
purpose of registering; but occasions may arise in which
a small dot or cross may be made near the centre of the
shorter edges of the paper on opposite sides of it.
To take an example : let it be supposed that the border
line of a subject be chosen for registering by. Make,
with a sharp-pointed scraper or other convenient tool, fine
of Lithography. 129
holes in any two opposite corners of the set-off upon the
stone. Some registering needles must now be provided,
and may be made thus : Two pieces of wood or cane about
i^ inches long, of the thickness of a black lead pencil,
are to have inserted in each of them a moderate sized
sewing-needle, with about an inch of it projecting. If
the point be inserted in the wood and the eye end broken
off and repointed, the tool will be better. Another similar
piece should be provided with a needle of the same size
having its point preserved.
Thus equipped, the printer may proceed. The sheet
printed first must be pricked through exactly at the cor-
ners which are intended to be used, and which correspond
to the holes in the stone. Through these holes in the
sheet the needles are to be inserted from the back. The
printer now takes the sheet, contriving to hold the needles
and the paper at the same time, and inserting each point
into its proper hole, allows the sheet to drop from his
fingers on to the stone. He then holds the sheet in posi-
tion with his little fingers, while he withdraws the needles
and afterward carefully withdraws his fingers, thus leav-
ing the sheet, if the operation has been carefully per-
formed, in its proper position upon the stone. When it
is required to make allowance for expansion of paper, the
needles may be inclined in the direction necessary to cor-
rect the error.
Third: By Fixed Points. The previous method may
be varied by setting the two needles in a lath of wood, so
as to correspond with the holes in the paper and the stone.
With a lad to assist, this way will be found a quicker
one than that of using the needles separately, but will
9
130 Practical Text Book
possess the disadvantage of not permitting them to be in-
clined in opposite directions, as is sometimes necessary.
We have an opinion that a perfect method of regis-
ter should admit of the following conditions : (a) That it
should depend for its exactitude upon the sense of touch ;
(b) that the guides should be attached to the stone itself ;
(c) that the guides should be capable of being moved so
as to accommodate any expansion of the paper subsequent
to the first printing; (d) that there should be no necessity
for pricking holes in the sheets by hand, as that intro-
duces an element of error.
We are happy in being able to describe two methods
by which this can be accomplished.
Fourth: By Points in Stone. Get the following ma-
terials and tools: Some lengths of lead such as is used
for balancing ivory and bone-handled table knives*; a
drill that will make a hole of the same diameter as the
lead ; a brace for rotating the drill ; some steel music wire,
about 22 of the Birmingham wire gauge ; a small chisel or
a broken palette knife ground off square and sharp; a
small wood mallet ; and a fine flat parallel file, about one
inch wide, with safe edges, but no handle.
Thus equipped, the lithographer may proceed. We
will for the present suppose that the stone and sheet to
*If there is any difficulty in obtaining these pieces of lead,
they may be made in the following manner : Procure a piece of
straight brass tube, y\ in. in diameter, and about 3 in. long. With
a fine saw cut it entirely through, lengthwise, and carefully
remove the burr from the inside where it has been cut. Holding
this piece of tube in a pincers or hand vise in such a manner as
to close the slit, rest it on something to close the bottom end.
and pour into it some molten lead. When set, the tube may be
loosed, and will by opening a little at the slit, permit of the lead
cylinder being pushed out.
of Lithography. 131
be printed are about equal in size. The case of a stone
larger than the sheet will be treated of subsequently.
At the centre of each end of the key-stone, about half
an inch from the edge, drill a hole about half an inch
deep ; cut off a piece of lead five-eighths of an inch long,
and with the mallet slightly taper one end. This must
now be driven into the hole, and the projecting part cut
level with the stone by means of the chisel. A piece of
the wire is to be slightly pointed with the file, and then a
notch made about one-fourth of an inch from the point
at which it may be broken off. Drive this into the lead
until only one-sixteenth is left projecting. Over this place
a bit of stout writing paper, and with the safe edge of the
file resting upon the paper, bring the bit of wire to a
fair point.
In the same manner treat each end of each color-
stone, as far as the insertion of the lead goes, but put in
a point at one end only.
In taking the impressions of the key-stone for the
set-off, simply lay the sheet to a mark; but before it is
lifted from the stone, press the finger on the points so as
to make them puncture the paper. Each set-off will thus
be pricked exactly in the same manner. In laying these
upon the stone, one hole is to be placed over the point,
and the other hole over the lead without a point;
near which end a little strong gum should be placed, so
as to temporarily hold the sheet. The set-off sheet hav-
ing been submitted to sufficient pressure (taking care that
the scraper only acts upon that part of the stone between
the points), a hole must be accurately pricked into the lead
through the hole in the paper. This having been properly
132 Practical Text Book
performed, the stone is ready for the artist, as the inser-
tion of the second point may be omitted until the stone
is placed in the printer's hands for proof, when it may
be inserted as previously described.
In the actual process of printing the first impressions
are laid to a mark, and the sheets punctured as described
for taking the set-off impressions. The subsequent ones
are obtained by laying the holes over their proper points,
the printer being able, with very little experience, to feel
the points through the holes with his forefinger. Any ex-
pansion of the sheet can be provided for by driving a
small dull punch into the lead alongside the point, which
is thereby shifted in the opposite direction, and will so
remain until again moved by similar means.
If it be necessary to use stones larger than the sheet
of paper, it is clear that it will not do to drill a second
hole far up the stone, as that would probably spoil it for
future use. In that case the mark, instead of being made
upon the lead, must be made upon the stone, and a cross
scratched through it with lines about one inch or more
long. For a point, get a piece of thin brass, about three-
fourths of an inch square, and let the tinman tin it at
the back, and drill a hole to match the wire near one cor-
ner, and solder it (the wire) in, letting it stand one-six-
teenth high, as before. By means of a blowpipe and a
piece of shellac this may be firmly attached to the stone,
the point being set at the junction of the cross scratches.
This point may be slightly moved at any time by warming
it by means of the blowpipe. When done with, it may be
removed altogether by setting a square-edged punch or
dull chisel against it, and giving it a sharp tap with the
mallet.
of Lithography. 133
Some of the few drawbacks to this method of register-
ing may be got rid of by drilling the holes in the side
edge of the stone and using only lead foundations for the
points. If they are put, say, 14^2 inches apart, they will
serve for crown, post, royal, and demy folios, and larger
stones may be similarly treated for larger sizes.
Where the cardboard or paper is too small, pieces of
paper to carry the point-holes may be gummed to the
edge. These pieces of paper can be torn off when the
printing is completed.
Fifth. We have used with considerable success the
following method, which enables the printer to see as
easily what he is doing as in the simple way described
first. Where there is sufficient margin, it is not only the
easiest, but much the quickest system.
Two pieces of brass, about three-fourths of an inch
long, and shaped like the letters I and L respectively, are
to be tinned at the back and fastened to the stone with
shellac, corresponding to the edge and corner of the paper
in the following position :
the L-shaped one being towards the tympan. The scraper
must be set in its box in such a manner as to avoid these
brass register marks when the impression is being taken.
A pair of these having been fitted to the keystone, the
set-off sheet is to be carefully set in the corner of one
and against the other, and the impression taken. Simi-
lar marks must be put to each stone, and the set-off sheet
being laid against them exactly as at first, an exact regis-
ter must be the result when the paper is applied to them
in a like manner in the printing.
134 Practical Text Book
The Influence of the Paper Upon the Register is fre-
quently very great, and we will point out some of the con-
ditions necessary to success in registering.
First : Paper for color-printing must be well rolled, so
as to stretch it as much as possible. This is very import-
ant, because printing paper as received from the mill,
under ordinary pressure used in litho printing, will stretch
sufficiently at the first pull to make "slurring" almost in-
evitable.
Second: The temperature and hygrometric state of the
printing room must be maintained as equal as possible, as
it is no uncommon thing to find the sheets printing in
register one day and out the next, in consequence of a
wet day succeeding a dry day, or vice versa. This effect
is sometimes set down by the printer to the action of the
press in stretching the paper; but where that has been
well rolled, such is not the case. Paper that has been
subjected to the rolling machine sufficiently to glaze it
will not stretch under the lighter pressure of the litho-
graphic press.
It will sometimes be convenient to print views and
other similar work in one or more tints, on damp paper,
in which case care must be taken, by keeping them in a
heap, to prevent their becoming dry at the edges, which
causes them to cockle, and slur in the printing.
In these cases it is therefore necessary to commence
the printing upon dry paper, and to allow free access of
air to the sheets between the printings, which can most
easily be accomplished by setting the impressions in a pile,
and keeping each separate from the other by means of
laths of wood, printer's reglet, or strips of cardboard.
of Lithography. 135
This provision for the drying of the ink has the disad-
vantage, however, of exposing the paper to all the alter-
nating influences of heat and cold, and dry and damp.
Of the Surface to be Given to the Stone. In ordinary
color-work it is customary to employ polished stones
whenever the pen or brush is used for producing the re-
quired effects. When it is necessary or desirable to use
chalk, or employ tints, grained stones must be used.
Grained stones are employed in tints, even though there
may be no gradation of color required, because it is
found by experience that they carry the ink more evenly,
and produce more level printing than do polished ones.
The nature of the grain to be employed will depend upon
that of the work ; but as a general rule a somewhat coarser
grain is given to stones for color than to those for black
work.
Setting-off of Colors upon the Stone may be prevented
by dusting the previously printed sheets with powdered
talc, magnesia, powdered chalk, or other similar sub-
stances, but the process should be avoided as much as pos-
sible, as it somewhat injures the brilliancy of the colors.
Application of Principles to Practice in the Produc-
tion of a Simple Color Job. For an illustration of this
subject we will suppose that a show-card is to be printed
in the following colors : gold or bronze, a warm tint, em-
erald green, vermilion and black.
The first thing to be done is to make a colored sketch,
in which the arrangement of colors must be definitely
settled, because it will not be advisable to deviate from it
during the making-up of the stones. When this has been
done, the artist must draw a keystone, in accordance with
136 Practical Text Book
the principles laid down in a preceding paragraph, not
forgetting to make such provision for registering as may
be necessary, according to the particular method to be
adopted, which in this instance we will suppose to be that
of the fixed points upon the stone. With this in view,
the drawing must be placed upon the stone in such a posi-
tion as to accommodate it in regard to the place of the
fixed point.
After the printer has rolled up the work, he must affix
a second point to the stone, and then prepare four other
stones to receive the other colors. Four impressions hav-
ing been taken on well-rolled paper, three of them are to
be dusted and laid upon polished stones, while the black
one, not dusted, is put upon a grained stone. These set-
offs, having been pulled through the press, are to be
marked for register, in accordance with one of the meth-
ods previously given.
The grained stone is intended to receive the tint, which
may be prepared in the following manner: The margin
and all other parts which are to remain white should be
stopped out with gum. This will be found to be an easier
method than painting in, with lithographic ink, all those
parts which are to remain as tint. If there should be
time to permit of the drying of this tint thoroughly before
the next stage, it will be as well to allow the tint to be
underneath the bronze, more especially if the paper or
card has an absorbent surface. If the tint be a light one
it may underlie any other color which may be intended
to be dusted on. The reason for having the tint thus
to underlie the dusted color is that the paper shall be
less likely to absorb the ink, and weaken its power of
of Lithography. 137
holding the dusted color. Another advantage it would
have would be that of not showing any little inequalities
of registering. When the gum-ink is dry, the stone may
be covered with drawing-ink and turpentine, or in fact
almost any kind of greasy matter free from water. Some
time should then be allowed for it to penetrate the stone,
after which the gum may be washed off and the work
rolled up. The other stones may be drawn upon with
lithographic ink, care being taken to keep each color to its
proper stone ; but where two colors can be kept sufficiently
apart to be applied by the dusting-on process, they may
be drawn on one stone. Thus, in the instance before us,
as we have to use an emerald green, the varnish for it
may be colored to pale blue, and that will take also a blue
dusted color, so that, if not too near each other, both may
be employed on the one printing with a little care. In
filling in the stones the artist should observe that by cov-
ering his outline with each color he will improve his
chances of good register, and where there is a broad black
line he may carry his color considerably beyond its edge,
because the black printing will effectually hide the under
color.
When those colors which are dusted are applied to the
show-card, the vermilion, and then the black, may be
printed next in order. In making up the red stone, it will
be as well to so arrange it that the color may underlie the
black, which will thus have a greater richness. Care
should at the same time be taken that the red is kept
well within the outline of the black, so that it may not
show when a little out of register.
138 Practical Text Book
It must be borne in mind that as the colors are to be
printed over each other they should have dryers in them
to facilitate the work. Under the ordinary circumstances
of one printing the absorption of the ink by the paper
will hasten the drying, but where one color is superim-
posed upon another this does not take place, and it be-
comes necessary to add dryers to the ink.
CHAPTER XIV.
TINTS.
AT the end of the last chapter we described the man-
ner in which to a simple job in colors might be
applied the methods previously detailed for making key-
stone, set-offs and registering. In the practice of chromo-
lithography it is, however, very necessary to become ac-
quainted with the methods of making tints which imitate
more or less effectually light washes of color, as seen in
water-color drawings, etc. These methods we proceed
now to point out.
Different Methods of Making Tints. The method of
producing a tint given in the preceding chapter, though
the simplest one, is only adapted for producing one uni-
form color, and therefore is very limited in its applica-
tion. If the student will examine some of the subjects
frequently to be met with, which are printed in black and
one or two tints, he will notice that each color or tint
consists of more than one gradation. If he will study
also those imitations of chalk drawings on tinted paper
which are generally imported from Paris, he will find
that the lights appear as if they had been laid on with
white chalk.
The modes in common use of producing tints depend
upon the principle of laying some fatty matter on the
stone in such a manner that, if left in that state, it would
140 Practical Text Book
roll up of full strength all over, unless part of it had been
removed by etching with dilute acid or scraping, or both
combined.
Tints in which White Chalk is Imitated. For this
method a somewhat coarse, but very sharp-grained stone
must be employed, and the set-off of the drawing must
be made upon it in such a manner that the subject can
be distinctly seen during the several subsequent stages.
As this imitation of white chalk is to be produced by
scraping, it is desirable that the artist should have his
ground color sufficiently dark to enable him to estimate
properly the effect he is producing. A dark ground
would, however, obliterate an ordinary set-off, but if it
be laid down with turpentine it will show through the
ground. If the ground for the tint is, on the other hand,
so dark as to obscure even this kind of set-off, a dusted
one may be laid on the top of the ground after the
latter has been put on.
The practical treatment will be as follows: On the
grained stone make the set-off. With gum and acid stop
out the margin and high spots. Then lay the ground. If
the set-off do not now show sufficiently, an impression
dusted over with red chalk or vermilion may be registered
upon it, and passed through the press with light pressure,
provided the ground is hard enough to permit of it.
The ground forming the tint must possess the follow-
ing properties: It must be hard enough to allow of the
scraper removing it in parts without smearing. It must
resist the action of the acid sufficiently to roll up solidly,
after an etching which is strong enough to keep the
scraped parts clear. Thus it must not be too greasy, but
of Lithography. 141
must be soluble in solvents that dissolve fatty matters.
There are several substances which can be used for this
purpose, but perhaps the most convenient are asphaltum
or Brunswick black, and copal varnish, the latter of
which will require some coloring matter added to it to
enable the artist to see what he is doing.
The ground, having been laid evenly, must be left un-
til dry enough to permit of the use of the scraper, by
which the lights may be put in so as to imitate the stroke
of the white crayon as closely as the circumstances will
allow. Thanks to the grain underlying the varnish, this
may be accomplished more easily than would at first sight
appear possible. The scraper must be quite sharp, and
should be held lightly in the hand, so as to obtain the
necessary freedom in manipulating it.
The scraping having been done, the stone will require
to be etched, in order to preserve the lights. The
strength of acid necessary for this purpose will depend
a good deal upon the thickness of the varnish. Though
the exact strength cannot be stated, little difficulty will be
experienced if the following expedient be resorted to:
Select a portion of the tint for experiment that is to
remain solid or of full color, and commencing with very
dilute acid, try it upon that portion of the stone until,
by the addition of more acid, the ground is attacked.
Then by diluting the acid it will be brought gradually to
such a condition that it will not attack the ground, but
will be efficient in keeping the scraped parts open. The
solid part that has been used for the acid test may be
restored by rubbing upon it a little soap, which will
effectually restore it to a full tint when rolled up. Any
142 Practical Text Book
of the methods described for etching chalk drawings may
be used in this process, after which the stone may at
once be rolled up by the lithographic roller in black ink,
until the lights become clean and the dark parts quite
solid. It may, previous to the rolling-up in black, be
washed with a mixture of turpentine and oil.
After rolling up in black, if the tint is found to be
satisfactory, it may be dusted with very finely ground
rosin, and acidulated until a perceptible depth is reached.
In this way relief will be imparted to those portions repre-
senting white chalk when the tint is printed in its proper
color on soft paper.
Tints of Several Gradations. Any of the methods
employed in making drawings on stone may be used for
the purpose of producing tints of various gradations,
and are, in fact, so used where exactness and definition
are essential in the practice of chromo-lithography. The
method about to be described is, however, best adapted
when two or three tints are required to be added to a
drawing in black, or in the broader tinted effects in land-
scapes, etc., in colors.
The stone must have a sharp grain, as in the last-
described method, but as this is a more complicated one,
special attention is requisite to the subject of set-offs. If
an ink which will permit of a black set-off being seen
through it be used for rubbing in the ground, as described
further on, such set-off may be made with a good drying
ink and allowed a day or two to dry. If, however, the
ground be too dark, or time cannot be allowed for the
set-off to dry properly, the parts of the stone required to
be defined in the various gradations are usually scratched
of Lithography. 143
with a sharp point through the lines of the set-off. Some-
times a very fine gum outline will be found preferable,
or common black writing ink, if not too gummy, may be
used for a dark outline. The white parts should then be
determined upon and stopped out with gum and acid, and
the stone, when dry, will be ready to receive the ground,
which, however, must not be laid in with the roller, as in
the last method, but as follows:
Set the stone before a fire, and get it hot equally all
over. Now rub over its surface a piece of rubbing-in
ink, and continue rubbing until the grain of the stone is
filled in.
This rubbing-in ink may be obtained of the dealers,
but as its composition is not of any great importance,
most printers who are conversant with the process de-
scribed above have their own favorite recipe. Beeswax
alone is a very good substance for this purpose, but is
better when made dark by ' the addition of some black
pigment. Tallow may be added to the beeswax to make
it softer and more easy to rub in on a moderately hot
stone. Wax, tallow and cuttings of lithographic chalks
also make a very good ink, the latter ingredient rendering
it sufficiently black to enable the artist to see the effect of
his scraping. These different compositions will be found
to vary in their power of resisting acids, and we would
consequently recommend the student to keep to one kind
as soon as he finds it to answer the purpose, as he will
thus be able to know what degree of etching he has to
give to obtain any wished-for effect.
Experience will soon determine the degree of heat
necessary for this operation, and it will vary according to
144 Practical Text Book
the nature of the rubbing-in ink. The superfluous ink is
next to be removed by rubbing the face of the stone with
a large piece of an old coat or other woolen fabric, chang-
ing the dirty part of the cloth for a clean one as may be
necessary, and continuing until a perfectly even surface
is obtained.
The stone, having become cool, may be washed with
water to free it from the gum, so that the effect of the
scraping may be more distinctly seen. This washing
should now be done.
The inks we have described will permit of washing,
but it is quite possible that one bought from the dealer in
these materials may have so much soap in its composition
as to render washing a dangerous operation ; if so, it must
be deferred until the tint has been once etched, but the
scraping must be done previously.
The next thing to be determined is how many grada-
tions of tint are required. For many purposes what is
called full-and-half tint will be sufficient in conjunction
with the scraping ; it will do very well for ordinary fine-
weather clouds, and is thus performed : After the scrap-
ing is done the parts intended to be full tint must be filled
in with thick litho. ink, Brunswick black or copal varnish.
It must be observed, however, that gradation between
full and half tint may be attempted by the use of crayon
laid on in the usual way, or Lemercier's stumping crayon,
applied with the stump ; but it must not be relied upon for
producing the same effect after etching as is seen upon
the stone. The margin and any broad white parts should
also be covered with varnish, but not with litho. ink,
which might penetrate the gum. The reason for so cover-
of Lithography. 145
ing the margin is this : In the process of etching it will
be found that the acid will recede from the edges of the
tint, when there is a space of clear stone alongside it;
consequently, such part of the tint is less acted upon, and
prints darker than is required. If, however, such margin
or other broad spaces be stopped out with a resisting var-
nish, the etching fluid will act more equably where it is
required.
Tint-printing requires considerable experience and
judgment. We may point out, as a general rule, that thin
inks produce soft and wash-like tints, while stiff inks
make the tints look more granular, and keep them in
better condition while being printed. The lighter the tint
is, the less easily can any defects be seen while they are
being inked ; but as light tints show the grain of the stone
less distinctly than darker ones, it follows that stronger
ink may be employed for the purpose of keeping the
work clear. The color which needs most attention in this
respect is yellow, which, on account of its lightness, is
very apt to catch unobserved upon what should be the
clean parts of the stone.
Washing Out Tints After Their First Preparation.
Care must be taken when washing out these tints if they
have been stopped out with varnish made with turpen-
tine. This solvent sometimes dissolves the ink used in
laying the ground, and when the whole comes to be
washed out with turpentine alone there is a likelihood of
those parts of the tint not rolling up properly. This dif-
ficulty may easily be overcome by adding a little grease
or oil of any kind to the turpentine used for washing
out. After it has been once successfully inked in, tur-
10
146 Practical Text Book
pentine alone will usually be sufficient for washing out
when removing the black ink to prepare for color. It
must be borne in mind, however, that the mass of ink is
so much greasy matter, and that when the dirty rag is
changed for a cleaner one the quantity of grease is re-
duced with the next dose of turpentine.
The etching of these tints may be facilitated by the
following operation : After the ground has been rubbed
in, the gum used in stopping out must be thoroughly
washed away and the stone dried. Set the stone in the
press; lay upon it a sheet of paper of the thinnest and
evenest substance procurable; upon this place a thin,
smooth sheet of metal, such as is used for paper-glazing,
and pass the whole through the press with a light, even
pressure. The result will be that some of the ink will be
removed from the upper points of the grain, leaving them
in a better condition for the action of the acid.
Another method of producing a tint of several grada-
tions with one etching: Any kind of set-off is first put
down, so that the margin may be neatly and accurately
gummed out. An impression is then taken upon tracing
paper, or an impression upon ordinary paper is laid upon
gray or somewhat dark paper and passed through the
press so as to get a reversed key. If the corners of the
margin be cut away exactly to the corners of the work,
the impression may be accurately registered to the corre-
sponding corners upon the stone and fastened to the
margin, after the tint has been rubbed in with a soft ink.
The tracing-paper impression, being turned over, will
give the same results as the reversed impression upon the
gray paper, and be equivalent to a set-off. If the desired
of Lithography. 147
effect be now worked up with hard white crayon upon
the paper, a proportionate amount of ink will be removed
from the stone by the back of the paper.
One of the modes invented by Senefelder for pro-
ducing India ink effects may also be employed for tint-
making. A grained stone is first prepared with soap-
water, which, when dry, is removed from the surface
by washing with turpentine. The drawing is then made
with washes of hard ink, containing a considerable pro-
portion of soap. When completed and dry, the drawing
must be rubbed over with a piece of flannel or other
woolen cloth, so as to better expose the points of the
grain to the action of the acid. Even the deepest shades
previously laid will now be assailable; therefore, those
parts which are to remain quite black must be laid in
after the rubbing in has been finished. We think that the
principal difficulty of this process consists in making the
drawing. In practice it is found that the working of the
lithographic ink on stone is so different to that of India
ink on paper that other modes are resorted to in pref-
erence, even though they may be more laborious. When
these drawings are completed they are best etched by sur-
rounding the work with banking wax and pouring very
dilute acid on the work, letting it remain on until bubbles
of gas arise and attach themselves to the points of the
grain. When the work is thus covered with gas-bubbles
the acid is poured off, and these bubbles are thereby
broken up. Another application of dilute acid is made,
and the same action permitted to go on again. This is
repeated until sufficient etching has been given, according
to the subject.
148 Practical Text Book
Stumped-In Tints. The set-off having been made on
a sharp, finely grained stone, the high lights are to be
stopped out with gum. Take a piece of soft wash-leather,
strain it over the finger, and charge it with some of
Lemercier's lithographic stumping crayon. Now go all
over the stone for the light tint, with a light circular
motion of the wash-leather, recharging it with the stump-
ing crayon as often as necessary. The nature of the
work will determine the precise method to be employed.
Rolled wash-leather stumps may be used to lay in forms
of clouds, etc. The scraper may be used to give pre-
cision in lights, and the crayon or ink for the deepest
parts. If it be desired to imitate repeated flat washes of
color, it may be done in the following manner :
The light tint having been laid as before described,
the parts that are to remain of that tint are to be stopped
out with thin gum to which a little ox-gall has been added.
When this is dry the stumping crayon is again used to
give the next gradation, which is in turn stopped out to
preserve it.
Tints Formed by Transferring Lines, Etc. The same
system used in transferring lines in connection with ink-
work may be pursued in getting light tints in color-work
with good effect, and for a simple light tint in conjunction
with full color the mode there described will be all that
is necessary. These lines from plate, however, may be
used very effectively, and four distinct gradations ob-
tained with one printing, by following the instructions
about to be given:
The plate to be used should, of itself, form what may
be denominated a quarter-tint. The parts which are to
of Lithography. 149
be of full strength are drawn in with litho. ink, and those
which are to be white are to be gummed out. The lines
from the copper or steel plate are then to be transferred,
in a horizontal direction. When this first transfer is com-
plete the stone must be washed as clean as water will make
it. It must then be prepared, either by an acid, such as
acetic acid, or a salt, such as the mixture of alum and sal
ammoniac.
Tints from Stippled Plates. In stipple or similar
color-work upon polished stones, where it is small, a sky
or other effect may be chalked upon this paper and trans-
ferred in. Where the surface is large, the plate itself
may be inked in, as for copper-plate transfers, and trans-
ferred to produce a tint. This method may be also fur-
ther utilized by chalking upon the transfer and adding
ink to produce darker effects, the lights being scraped out
previous to transferring. This, however, is scarcely ap-
plicable where there is more than one color in the sky,
as it then becomes necessary to work to the set-off on the
stone so as to secure register. In the pursuit of the art
it is almost imperatively necessary to be practically ac-
quainted with all these methods, so as to be able to
employ the one best suited to the work in hand.
CHAPTER XV.
CHROMO-LITHOGRAPHY PRINTING TREATMENT OF
COLORS DRYERS.
THE two last chapters treated principally of the dif-
ferent modes of putting the chromo-lithographic
subject upon the stones and the means of securing their
proper register. We come now to the printing of these
stones, and shall first of all refer to the qualities of the
colors without entering into the question of their har-
monies, a subject which has been fully treated by more
competent authors.
The pigments employed in lithography embrace nearly
the whole of those produced by the color-makers, but
they are not all equally suitable for lithographic printing.
The two necessary qualities are permanency and ease of
working, but these are possessed in quite different degrees
by the different pigments.* Fortunately, nearly all the
most trustworthy pigments can be successfully used in
printing, but some of the most brilliant ones are not only
unpleasant in use but fugitive in color. This question of
permanency of color is either much misunderstood or not
sufficiently attended to by many among the color printers
* The following inexpensive works may be consulted with
advantage: "Hints on Color and Printing in Colors," by P. B.
Watt. London : Wyman & Sons. "Color," by Professor Church.
Cassell, Petter, & Galpin. "The Principles of Coloring in Paint-
ing/' by Charles Martel. Windsor & Newton.
of Lithography. 151
of the present day. The demand for cheap inks is prob-
ably one great reason why so many of our productions
fade so rapidly, and it is not in lithography alone, but in
typographic block-printing as well, that this defect fre-
quently exhibits itself.
There are three enemies to permanency of color that
are found to act inimically on color prints. They are
light, impure air, and the chemical action of one color
upon another. We shall mention the pigments which are
more or less affected by the first two causes, but detailed
treatment of the third will be beyond the space we can
afford, demanding as it does almost a treatise to itself.
The following are the pigments which are most suitable
for making lithographic inks, but the list does not com-
prise all that may be employed :
Reds Vermilion, Indian red, red ochre, Venetian red,
madder lakes, crimson and scarlet lakes, red lead, chrome
lead.
Yellows Yellow ochre, raw sienna, cadmium yellow,
yellow lake, chrome yellow, mineral yellow.
Browns Raw and burnt umber, Vandyke brown.
Oranges Burnt sienna, York brown, mineral orange,
orpiment, orange lead, chrome orange, laque minerale.
Blues Ultramarine (dusting), cobalt, oriental, Chi-
nese and Prussian blues.
Greens Scheele's greens, green lake.
Purples Mauve ink, mixtures of blues with reds.
The following selection of pigments may be regarded
as permanent under all the ordinary circumstances to
which a chromo-lithograph is likely to be subjected:
Reds Vermilion, Indian red, red ochre, Venetian red,
madder lakes.
152 Practical Text Book
Whites Zinc white, baryta white.
Browns Raw and burnt umber.
Oranges Burnt sienna, York brown, mineral orange.
Blues Ultramarine, cobalt.
Yellows Yellow ochre, raw sienna, cadmium yellow.
The following colors may be used, in addition to the
above, when they are more or less protected from light,
and are therefore useful in book illustrations:
Reds Crimson lake, scarlet lake.
Yellow Yellow lake.
Orange Orpiment.
Purples Mauve ink, purple lake.
Blues Oriental blue, Chinese blue, Prussian blue.
The following colors withstand light and pure air, but
are liable to injury by damp, shade and impure air:
Reds Red lead, chrome lead.
Oranges Orange red, chrome orange, laque minerale.
Yellows Chrome yellows, mineral yellow.
Blues Cobalt blues.
Greens Mineral green or green lake, Scheele's green.
Whites Flake-white and other lead-whites.
The following pigments should not be used with flake-
white or other lead colors: Indian yellow, yellow lake,
Italian pink, orpiment, red lead, crimson and other similar
lakes, carmine and indigo.
Colors which should not be used with others contain-
ing iron: Silver white, King's yellow, patent yellow, Chi-
nese yellow, carmine, scarlet lake, blue verditer.
From the following pigments may be selected the
colors for finishing printings, on account of their trans-
parency : Raw sienna, Indian yellow, Italian pink, yellow
of Lithography. 153
lake, madder lakes, crimson and scarlet lakes, cobalt,
Chinese and Prussian blues, Mars orange, madder purple
and purple lake, Vandyke brown and burnt umber. Black
ink, or other opaque dark color, is used for finishing, on
account of its cutting-up quality.
Treatment of Colors. The proper management of
colors is only to be acquired by study, experience and
observation. We have previously explained the manner
of grinding colors, but in this place there are some special
details of the subject which ought to be mentioned.
Colors differ in the manner of their grinding. Some,
such as carmine, emerald green and ultramarine, can
scarcely be used at all for litho. printing inks, and re-
quire to be dusted upon lighter inks of suitable color.
Some others, like the cochineal lakes, print better when
first ground in water or turpentine, though their bril-
liancy is thereby somewhat reduced.
Some pigments may be ground more easily than
others, some being soft and unctuous, while others are
hard and gritty. Much, however, depends upon the pre-
vious preparation of the pigment by the manufacturer.
Thus, there are natural colors, like York brown, which
are ground easily, while others like Vandyke brown, are
difficult to reduce to the necessary fineness. These and
other colors may be bought after having been ground by
steam power, by which much time is saved. Several of
the large country color printers who employ many ma-
chines on chromo work have small ink-mills, by which
they grind their own inks. In this there is the advantage
of knowing precisely of what pigments the inks are made.
Dryers. We have spoken in the last paragraph of
certain colors which dry too readily. Some colors, on
154 Practical Text Book
the other hand, have the opposite quality, and dry with
difficulty.
What is known as "patent dryers" is a preparation
of litharge, ready ground in oil, and it may be added to
those colors for which it is suitable. "Patent dry dryers*'
is a white powder, which requires very little grinding to
incorporate it with the ink. Acetate of lead, or, as it is
commonly called, sugar of lead, is one of the most useful
dryers, and does not injure the brilliancy of the most
delicate colors. Sulphate of zinc, or white vitriol, or
white copperais, as it is variously called, is less powerful
than lead acetate, but better suited for some colors. These
two substances should not be used together, as if so used
they would probably decompose each other, producing
sulphate of lead (which is an opaque white), and acetate
of zinc, which is a bad dryer. Japanner's gold size is oil
boiled upon litharge, and may be used as a dryer for
lakes. These various dryers properly used will generally
completely answer the printer's purpose. Too much of
the dryers defeats the object of their application and ren-
ders the inks saponaceous.
The following may be taken as good rules for the gen-
eral use of dryers :
First. Not to employ them too freely, as they then
retard drying.
Second. Not to use them in inks which dry fairly by
themselves.
Third. Not to add them to the ink too long before it
is used, which would make them "livery."
Fourth. Not to use more than one dryer at a time.
Fifth. Not to use secret mixtures recommended by
of Lithography. 155
others, but those simple dryers with which you are ac-
quainted.
As dryers we may use oil boiled upon manganese, or
verdigris, in a similar manner to that boiled on litharge.
These will do for dark colors. Some of the fast-drying
pigments may also be used as additions to dark colors,
such as verdigris, or acetate of copper, red lead, massicot
and manganese-brown.
Ink for Tints. Tinting inks are those which are em-
ployed to produce light gradations of color, such as those
found in skies, clouds, flesh, etc. They are produced in
two ways, each of which has its own advantages and
defects.
The reader will easily understand that the greater the
quantity of varnish used, in proportion to the color, the
paler and more transparent will be the resulting tint when
printed. In this state it should be used in nearly all cases
where the under printing is intended to show through it.
There are occasions, however, when it is desirable to have
the tint of an opaque character. It is then usual to grind
some kind of white pigment with the ink, and as the
whites made from lead possess the best covering qualities,
they are frequently employed for this purpose.
The use of white in tinting ink should be confined to
the early printings. Whites are, indeed, very useful in
obtaining effects in imitation of water-color printing.
Another advantage of the use of white in the ink is that,
on account of its requiring to be printed in greater body,
its effect when on the stone is more easily seen than that
of light transparent colors.
In the production of chromos many of our best
156 Practical Text Book
printers almost entirely discard the use of white, which
they consider inimical to softness and brilliancy.
The kind of varnish to be used for tinting ink will
depend upon the nature of the tint to be printed. If it be
quite a plain tint, the varnish may be of the thinnest, but
if it be an etched tint, or one which possesses much fine
work in it, the varnish should be stronger.
Printing Tints. After what has been said of the
nature of tint ink in the last paragraph, little remains to
be told as to the method of printing with it, for all the
principles previously laid down in regard to printing in
black apply to the printing in colors or tints. A great
help to printing tints well and quickly is the use of proper
rollers. These should be quite even on the face, of a
fine texture, and the seam quite invisible. It will save
much time, and add to the probability of clean work, if
five rollers be employed, one each for the blues, reds and
yellows, one for light tints, and another for the dark,
broken colors.
Especial attention must be paid to the thorough clean-
ing of the rollers, both by scraping and washing with
turpentine.
Many attempts have from time to time been made to
make a roller applicable to lithography which should pos-
sess the qualities of good surface, elasticity and imper-
meability to printing ink. Those made of treacle and
glue, which are used by letterpress printers for block or
type printing, possess these qualities, but in lithography
the water used in damping the stone rapidly destroys the
surface of such a roller, so that eventually it will not hold
the ink. Rollers formed principally of india-rubber pos-
of Lithography. 157
sess all the good qualities of the glazed roller, while they
are permanently soft and elastic on the face, and possess
a certain amount of nap, in which the ordinary glazed
roller is deficient. They are in use by some of the best
houses in the trade, and are highly appreciated.
Oleographs. The distinction between oleographs and
chromo-lithographs is only one of name, the real differ-
ence consisting merely in making the print imitate an oil
painting as much as possible. To this end the finished
print is mounted on canvas, sized and varnished. Some-
times the imitation of canvas is produced in the press by
the finished print being pressed in close contact with what
is technically known as a "roughing stone."
Roughing. Some of the most successful copies pro-
duced by chromo-lithography have been those of water-
color paintings. Among the advantages claimed for
water-color paintings are the even granularity of the
paper and the absence of glaze. There are no patches of
thick color to suggest that it is paint we are looking at,
and this grain of the paper is useful in preserving those
aerial effects in which water-color paintings excel all
others. It was soon seen that the lithographic imitation
was wanting in some important particulars, viz., that its
surface was too smooth, and lacked the atmosphere seen
in the original. The defect once observed, the remedy
was obvious to give the picture the necessary granula-
tion by subjecting it to pressure on a rough stone.
The roughing-stone may be surfaced by using very
coarse sand under the levigator ; but if this is not thought
to be rough enough, it may be intensified in the following
or a similar manner: After the stone is dry it may be
158 Practical Text Book
rolled over with a glazed or letterpress roller until all the
points of the grain are covered with ink, the bottom of
the grain remaining bare. Brunswick black may be used
instead of ink; but if the latter is adopted, the stone may
be wetted, rolled up and dusted with rosin. These points
will now resist the action of weak nitric acid, so that the
interstices may be bitten until the desired effect is attained.
A similar result may be obtained by applying stump-
ing chalk to the tips of the grain with wash leather, subse-
quently rolling it up and treating it as before mentioned.
If it be desired to have an exact imitation of rough
drawing paper, the latter may be sent to the stereotyper,
who will furnish a cast of it which may be used instead of
the stone. In the same manner a cast may be taken from
a piece of canvas, if it be first well sized with starch.
Chromo Transfer Prints or Decalcomanie. These are
chromographs which are intended to be transferred from
the paper on which they are printed to some other surface.
Take some thin plate-paper, and brush it over with
flour or starch paste. When this is dry the paper may be
again treated with a strong solution of gum, or gum and
starch. When again dry it is to be well rolled. The
printing is done on this paper, but the colors are worked
in the reverse order to what they would be in ordinary
work. The transparent colors must be printed first, and
the opaque ones last, so that when transferred the two
will stand in their proper order. If these transfers are
intended for being transferred to glass, the natural order
must be observed, because they will be seen through it.
The mode in which these pictures are transferred is
very simple. Either the surface they have to be applied
of Lithography. 159
to or the back of the print is brushed with a varnish such
as copal. When this becomes tacky the two are rubbed
into close contact and allowed to dry. If the paper now
be sponged upon the back, it may be pulled off after soak-
ing for a few seconds, leaving the printing firmly attached
to the other surface.
Multiplication ,of Color Subjects by Transferring.
No doubt most of our readers have seen sheets of
chromos in which the subjects are repeated so as to make
a sheet- full. These are not drawn so many times, but are
transferred. The ordinary process of transferring will
not do for this purpose. To insure success, means must
be taken to prevent the expansion of the work.
There are two methods in use for this purpose. In the
first what is called "unstretchable varnish" transfer paper
is used. Register corners are put to each subject in each
color. In pulling the transfer care must be taken to have
the stone dry for each impression. The principal color,
or the key, is printed upon paper that has been well rolled,
or it may be printed upon a thin sheet of zinc. The
transfers are cut accurately at the register corners, and
are gummed or pasted exactly to the corresponding cor-
ners on the sheet of paper or zinc. The stone having
been adjusted in the press, the sheet is laid upon it and
pulled through once under good pressure, when it will be
found to have absorbed most of the ink from the pieces
of transfer paper. It is afterward treated as an ordinary
transfer.
When paper is used as the medium of carrying the
transfers it will be found a great convenience to have a
framed piece of thick glass which can be set nearly up-
160 Practical Text Book
right or sloped to any convenient angle. The paper key
is secured to the glass by pasting at its corners. The
glass being set against the light of a window, a piece of
white paper or other reflecting surface is used to throw
the light through the glass. The register marks can be
plainly seen through the transfers, which may thus be
placed in position with great accuracy. This instrument
is called the "sticking-up" frame.
The second method is perhaps used more extensively
than the one just described, on account of its possessing
some advantages peculiarly its own. The transfer paper
is transparent or nearly so, being prepared on one side
with a transfer composition which will easily adhere to
a wet stone. Paper coated with a solution of gum arabic
will answer.
The transfers are pulled on this paper and trimmed
round, but not so closely as in the other method, because
to do so would be unnecessary. They are now fitted over
the key (which can be sufficiently seen through them to
insure accurate adjustment), and the corners gummed to
keep the transfers in their places. The gum being dry,
they are ready to be transferred. Zinc may also be used
to attach the transfers to in this, as in the other method,
but the cement used must not get dry, because it is im-
portant that the transfers shall adhere to the stone instead
of the zinc. They may be temporarily attached to the
zinc by means of a little stiff varnish, golden syrup and
strong gum, or other similar adhesive matter that will
hold them in place, and yet allow them to separate from
the zinc when necessary. Thus when they are transferred
to the damp stone they must adhere to it sufficiently for
them to be pulled away from the zinc plate.
of Lithography. 161
If opaque paper be used, the transfers may be accu-
rately set up to register in the following simple manner:
Corners are drawn in the key-stone, which are inked
over in each succeeding color. In each label of the stone
r
first made up the corners are allowed to remain; but in
attaching the transfers of the other colors part of each
corner, the extreme angle, is to be cut away, so that when
one is laid over the other it can be seen plainly whether
the lines correspond.
CHAPTER XVI.
PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHY MODIFIED PROCESSES.
IN this chapter we will treat of those modes of produc-
ing subjects for printing from stone which depend
upon the action of light, and are known by the name of
photo-lithography.
In discussing this subject we do not intend to describe
the various general photographic processes, as there are
many cheap and good treatises on the subject already pub-
lished. Most of these photographic manuals, however,
address themselves to portrait and landscape work, and
we shall briefly point out the specialties of certain instru-
ments which are best adapted to the technical purpose in
view. Before doing so, however, we must give our
readers an idea of the complete process of photography,
so as to enable them to understand the details afterward
to be presented.
Photo-lithography is a method of producing a copy of
a print or drawing in line of the same or altered dimen-
sions. This print is of such a nature that it can be multi-
plied from stone or zinc at the ordinary lithographic press
or machine. It is necessary that the subject to be copied
should consist of visible lines or dots to insure distinctness
in the reproduction. The copying is done by photography
upon glass. What is technically called a "negative" is
first of all produced. If this negative is viewed by trans-
of Lithography. 163
mitted light, it will be seen that those parts which corre-
spond to the white ground of the original drawing or
engraving are more or less dark and opaque, while the
copy of the drawing itself consists of transparent lines.
This negative is put into a photographic printing or
pressure frame, and a piece of chemically prepared paper
is placed face downward upon it, in contact with that side
of the glass upon which the picture has been produced.
The back is then secured in its place and the glass side
exposed to the light. After it has been sufficiently ex-
posed it is carried into a dark room and covered all over
with transfer ink. Upon subsequently washing it the
transfer ink will be removed from those parts upon which
the light could not act ; that is to say, upon the parts corre-
sponding to the white paper ; but it adheres to those parts
upon which the light has acted, namely, the lines. We
have now a photographic transfer, which may be applied
to a stone or zinc plate and printed from in the usual
manner.
After this general outline of the process it is necessary
to explain the chemical nature of the paper as it was ex-
posed to light under the negative. Certain salts of the
metal chromium, notably the bichromates of potash and
ammonia, possess the property of extreme sensitiveness to
light when combined with various organic matters, such as
gelatine, albumen, gum, etc. Being rich in oxygen, they
quickly yield up some of it to the organic substance under
the influence of light, and render it insoluble in water.
Not only is the organic substance rendered insoluble,
but it is to a certain extent resistive of water, so that the
ink applied holds to it tenaciously, while the part not so
164 Practical Text Book
acted upon by light may with proper care be washed away,
This effect also occurs spontaneously even in the dark
when the paper is kept for some time, so that it is best to
prepare it as wanted. Further, the solution itself will
keep for a considerable period without undergoing a
similar change; it is only when it becomes dry that the
change takes place. This is a peculiarity which in prac-
tice is found to be very serviceable. We thus perceive
that the prepared paper must be dry, not only to prevent
staining the negative, but in order to be properly influ-
enced by the light. We are enabled to coat the paper in
ordinary daylight, but it must be dried in the dark.
Let us now glance at the instruments and other
requisites for this process.
The Lens. This is the optical arrangement which
produces the image on the sensitive glass plate. The ordi-
nary lenses used for taking portraits and landscapes are
not adapted for this purpose. It is necessary to have
lenses that will give in the negative straight marginal lines
corresponding to or reproductive of the similar lines in
the original. Suppose, for instance, a very large map is
to be copied by this process. It will have to be divided
into rectangular portions, each one of which must be suit-
able for copying to the required size, according to the lens
used. It is imperative that the marginal lines of each
negative be straight, or they will not join each other.
Now, the picture produced by the ordinary portrait and
landscape combination is somewhat barrel-shaped on its
edges, and it is obvious that these would not correctly
join together. A map is a crucial test, because not only
is accuracy imperative, but any defect is at once visible.
of Lithography. 165
We cannot divide it into sections without cutting through
portions, which would at once show any error when the
sections came to be put together.
The Camera. This is the dark box in which the plate
is exposed while the subject is being copied. We shall
not describe it, because that will be done in the work on
photography that may be selected as a guide-book. As
it is not every lens that will suit our purpose, so it is not
every camera which can be rendered available.
The Negative. A negative for portraiture or land-
scape is best when it is more or less translucent in every
part, but that for our present purpose should be uni-
formly dense or opaque all over, with the exception of
the lines forming the picture. These should be quite
transparent. It is not easy, and not always practicable,
at first, to obtain these qualities, but they should be the
aim of the worker, because after a little experience it is
comparatively easy to produce a good result in photo-
lithography with a suitable negative.
Preparation of the Sensitive Transfer Paper. It has
been stated that gum, albumen and gelatine are the prin-
cipal organic substances employed in photo-lithography.
The chemical differences between the bichromates of am-
monia and potash are in this connection so slight that it
will be sufficient to select one of them say, the bichro-
mate of potash. Gelatine, albumen or gum may be used
separately or in conjunction, but to simplify the manipu-
lation we shall confine our attention at first to the gela-
tine.
Set i oz. of the purest gelatine to soak in as much
water as will cover it. While this is soaking dissolve
166 Practical Text Book
i oz. of bichromate of potash in 5 oz. of water, and filter.
After the gelatine has swollen pour upon it sufficient boil-
ing water to make II ounces, and add the 5 oz. of bi-
chromate solution to it. If put away in a cool place this
will keep good for a considerable time much longer than
will the paper that is afterward prepared.
When used, this bichromatized gelatine should be
poured into a dish, and the temperature raised to about
loo deg. Pahr. Some positive photographic or other fine-
woven paper is taken by the corners and lowered upon it
in such a manner as to exclude air-bubbles. Let it remain
for two minutes, and then hang it up by one corner to dry
in a dark room. When dry it may be again floated upon
the same solution to insure it being uniformly coated, and
hung up by the opposite corner to dry again.
A piece of this paper is placed in the pressure frame.
It will be found upon examination that the back of the
frame is divided into two parts by hinges, so that one
compartment may be lifted and the progress of the action
of light watched from time to time. The exposure may
be for a minute or an hour, and will depend upon the
intensity of the light and the quality of the negative.
Inking and Development of the Transfer. A stone or
metal plate having been adjusted for pressure in the press,
is now inked up in transfer ink. The photographic print
is taken out of its frame, laid face downward upon the
stone and pulled through the press, by which it is uni-
formly covered with transfer ink. It is now laid with its
back upon water warmed to the temperature of 100 deg.
After soaking for a few minutes it is laid upon a slab
and the inked side of the paper sponged with gum-water
of Lithography. 167
until the picture becomes quite clean, after which it is
washed repeatedly by pouring warm water over it. When
dry it is ready for transferring.
Transferring. As a basis upon which to transfer the
print we may use either stone or zinc. For all ordinary
work we have found stone to answer every requirement.
The transfer is placed in the damping book until it
becomes limp; it is then pulled through the press upon
the stone or zinc plate.
When transferred the subject is treated exactly as if
it were an ordinary transfer from stone.
A Modified Process. Some of the most successful
operators use an addition of albumen to the sensitizing
solution. The most available source of albumen is the
whites of eggs. The white being carefully separated from
the yolk, is beaten up until it becomes entirely a froth.
It is set aside, when the chief part recovers the liquid
form, becomes very limpid, and may be filtered, which
before would have been impossible. If only the white of
one egg be operated upon, an equal quantity of water may
be 'added to it, so as to render it more easily beaten.
A little albumen having been mixed with sensitized
gelatine solution, the paper is prepared as before; but
care must be taken that the solution is not heated enough
to produce coagulation of the albumen, which happens at
a temperature above 140 deg. or 160 deg.
This paper is treated precisely as the other, so far as
exposure and inking are concerned, but it must be floated
inky side upward on nearly boiling water.
Lichfdruk or Albertype. The inventor of this process,
Herr Albert, substituted glass as the basis for the gela-
168 Practical Text Book
tine because it gave him the opportunity of hardening the
film from the back by exposure to light. By a prelimi-
nary coating of bichromatized -albumen, also hardened by
exposure from the back, he was enabled to effect his pur-
pose more completely, so that a large number of impres-
sions could be produced of very great beauty, and hardly
distinguishable at a little distance from silver prints from
the same negative.
The Heliotype. In this process the film of gelatine is
made portable. A glass plate having the slightest possible
film of wax upon it is leveled, and the mixture of gelatine
and bichromate of potash, with a small quantity of chrome
alum, is poured upon it to the thickness of cardboard.
When this has dried hard the film can be removed from
the glass and exposed under the negative in the same
manner as a piece of paper. After exposure the soluble
salt is washed out and the film again dried. For printing
from, the film is secured to r a metal plate by a solution of
india rubber run around the edge. It is then treated pre-
cisely as the Albertype plate, but with this difference, that
the inventor, Mr. Edwards, prefers an Albion or similar
letterpress instead of the lithographic one.
CHAPTER XVII.
TRACINGS AUTOGRAPHIC TRANSFERS REVERSING
TRANSFERS.
WITH a view to avoiding confusion in the treat-
ment of our subject, we here refer to a few
processes which do not frequently come within ordinary
practice, but which nevertheless should be understood,
on account of their occasional usefulness. Some of them
might have been included in a previous chapter, but it has
been thought best to allot them a separate one.
Tracing Photographs and Other Subjects of Indistinct
Outline. It often happens that the lithographer requires
an outline tracing of a subject which, though tolerably
clear in itself, becomes very confused when seen through
the ordinary tracing paper. There are several methods
of overcoming this difficulty, and are accurately described
under the heading "Keystones" in Chapter XL
Autographic Transfers by Turpentine. The method
of transferring by means of turpentine, described in the
chapter on keystones, is capable of still wider application.
Writings in lithographic ink, and recent impressions from
stone and type on plain paper, may be transferred success-
fully in a similar manner ; indeed, we much doubt whether
they may not be more certainly and better executed by
this method than by the Anastatic process.
Reversing Transfers. Circumstances sometimes arise
170 Practical Text Book
in which the lithographer desires to reproduce automat-
ically subjects which involve much labor when executed
by hand. Of designs which are repeated, like some kinds
of borders, a portion only may be drawn upon the stone
or transfer paper, and be completed by taking retransfers
of such portion, mounting them in the manner required
upon a piece of paper, and transferring the whole to the
stone, when any defects may be remedied by the methods
we described when treating of corrections. It sometimes
happens, however, that the design is of such a character
as not to contain elements that are often repeated, but
which require a duplicate in reverse, in regard to right
and left. The design may be an ornamental one, involv-
ing much intricate drawing, and the artist may be desirous
of avoiding the tracing, retracing and drawing that would
be necessary to repeat the design for the other half of the
border.
Transposition of Black and White. It is sometimes
desirable to be able to change dark letters, etc., on a light
ground to light letters on a dark ground. This will be
found of great advantage in some kinds of color printing,
as in the instance of printing in bronze or silver on dark
glazed paper.
First. If the subject be a copper-plate engraving, the
transfer ink or letterpress printing ink may be applied
directly to its surface by means of a letterpress roller,
using it lightly and with as little ink as will answer the
purpose of transferring. The impression may be taken
at the lithographic press, but instead of laying a soft
material at the back of the transfer paper, -a piece of very
smooth cardboard should be used. If this is properly
of Lithography. 171
done, there will be no difficulty in transferring it by one
of the methods hereinbefore described.
Second. In this system any subject that can be
printed from a polished stone may be changed from a
light ground to a dark one or wee versa. The subject
having been protected by rosin, is to be acidulated until
it stands perceptibly in relief, the thickness of the resinous
coating being allowed for. Wash the ink, etc., away with
turpentine, and the whole stone quite clean with water,
using clean water, containing about one per cent of acid,
for the final wash. The stone having become dry, cover
the work to the extent desired for the ground with litho-
graphic writing ink, which must be permitted to dry,
when the whole may be rolled up in printing ink. This
covering with lithographic ink may, if the operator wishes,
be done after the etching operation, allowing the stone to
dry. The work and the ground being now equally black,
the ink has to be removed from the parts in relief, so that
they may be reversed from black to white. Take a piece
of snake-stone, making it quite flat by rubbing it upon the
margin of the stone ; then polish away the surface of the
raised portion until the design becomes quite clear. If
any part of the ground should be accidentally damaged,
it must be touched up with lithographic ink to repair it.
Gum the stone, dry, and roll up. It may be again
rosined and etched, in the same way as before, if it is
thought worth while, to reduce the parts in relief to
the level of the ground. Many examples of this kind
of work will be found among labels and show-cards the
uninitiated sometimes thinking they are printed in white,
more especially when the sample has first been set up
in type.
172 Practical Text Book*
Third. If an impression of the subject to be trans-
posed be taken in a strong ink, it may be dusted over with
finely powdered dry gum arabic or with dextrine, which
may subsequently be placed in a damp place until it be-
comes sticky. In this state it may be laid face downward
on a damp stone, and the gummy coating transferred to
the stone. The margin may now be protected by gum-
ming it round to the shape and drying it. If a roller with
greasy ink be applied to the dry stone, it will be covered
all over ; but, on subsequently washing with water, the ink
will come away where the stone was protected by the
gummy covering transferred to it from the design.
Fourth. At least partial success may be obtained by
gumming the stone all over, drying it, washing it off, and
again drying. The transfer in greasy ink is now to be
made with care. A very weak etching water must next
be applied to clear the stone of gum only, with the excep-
tion of that lying under the design. Dry again, and roll
in with printing ink. If the stone be now damped and
rolled in with very stiff ink, the parts of the design where
the gum was not etched away will probably yield the ink
of the transfer and become white, which may then be
kept pure and open by another application of the etching
water.
Fifth. A process similar to the last is the following:
Apply to the surface of the stone a solution of silicate of
potash (commonly known as water-glass) ; make the
transfer ; dust with powder rosin, and remove the water-
glass with a solution of alum; ink in, and proceed as
before described.
Sixth. Transposition may be effected by photo-
of Lithography. 173
lithography. Take a clean piece of sensitized photo-
lithographic paper, print the design upon it, and dust it
with bronze powder to make it more impenetrable to the
action of light ; expose it to light, and treat it as a photo-
graphic transfer.
CHAPTER XVIII.
LABELS BRONZING GILDING DUSTING DABBING
STYLE.
MAKING Up Sheets of Labels, Etc. Having
determined upon the size of the sheet, or
portion of the sheet, upon which it is proposed to
print, it must be set out with a pair of dividers
and ruled with pencil into as many squares, oblongs
or other shapes as are to be printed at one time.
By the method already described for taking trans-
fers, pull as many transfers as required, taking
notice that each one is good enough for the purpose.
Trim them round neatly with a pair of scissors, a little
within the size of the space marked on the paper, holding
them in such a manner as not in any way to soil them.
With a small stiff brush, or other convenient instrument,
lay a little thick paste at the corners of the spaces marked,
and carefully lay the transfer upon it, sliding it or shift-
ing it into position by the help of a pointed penknife or
any similar tool, using the same to press the transfer upon
the pasted portion of the paper, so as to maintain it in
place. See that it is right by the help of a straight-edge
or parallel ruler, and proceed to the next transfer, and
so on until all are done. When the pieces to be handled
are very small, and have comparatively no margin, a pair
of spring forceps, such as are used by watchmakers, will
of Lithography. 175
be found very convenient in laying the little pieces in
position.
In printing labels, every care must be taken in laying
the sheet exactly to the mark, so that when carefully
"knocked up" they may be exactly over each other. Some-
times the sheet has a cross or other mark printed at each
end of it, which forms a guide to thread the sheets on
two fine wires so as to get them in exact position.
The subject of "sticking up" colored labels was, how-
ever, treated of in the chapter devoted to chromo-lithog-
raphy.
Bronzing, dusting and metaling, though more usually
connected with color printing, will be described in this
place, because they are often required unaccompanied
by other colors.
The principle of the operation is very simple. An im-
pression having been taken in a suitable adhesive ink, the
bronze powder, silver or gold powder or dust color is
applied to the wet ink by means of a pad of cotton wool,
proportioned in size to the space to be covered, the super-
fluous powder being afterward removed by a soft cloth.
When dry, much brilliancy may be added by rolling the
impression on a finely polished metal plate.
In selecting a paper for this work regard must first of
all be had to the purpose it is intended for. Writing
paper answers very well because it is, when good, suf-
ficiently sized as not to absorb the ink, and consequently
enough of the ink is left upon the surface to retain the
powder. Enameled and plate papers, having an absorbent
ground, require more and stronger ink, so that at least
some may remain on the surface.
176 Practical Text Book
Metal is, of course, applied differently to the powdei ,?
Dutch metal, Planier metal and Lane's metal may be
brought to a suitable size by cutting through the book
which holds it. The "laying on" is performed by a boy,
who, removing the printed sheet to a convenient table,
takes the book or part book of metal and lays it upon
his left hand, with its joint toward the right ; folding back
the thin upper paper, he turns it under the book, thus
exposing the leaf of metal. Taking the joint of the book
between the thumb and ringer of the right hand, he dex-
trously turns the sheet of metal over into its place on the
printed sheet.
Real gold leaf is more difficult to handle, and, being
so exceedingly thin, cannot be applied immediately after
printing without the ink coming through; consequently,
some time must be allowed to elapse between printing and
gilding. The following is the method employed among
gilders for applying the gold:
The tools are a cushion, tip, knife, dabber and soft-
ener. The cushion is a kind of wooden palette, about
9 by 6 inches, covered with smooth leather, stuffed with
wool. The tip is a peculiar kind of brush, consisting
of a thin line of badger's hair placed between two pieces
of cardboard. The knife is similar in appearance to a
palette-knife, and is made to cut along one edge only.
The dabber is a tuft of cotton wool covered with some
very thin silk. The softener is a long-haired brush, used
to remove the superfluous gold.
The manipulation is as follows: The leaf of gold is
first removed from the book, and laid upon the cushion by
means of the knife, which alone must touch it. This
of Lithography. 177
operation requires some experience in order that it may
be properly performed. A gentle breathing under the
leaf should so lift it as to permit of the knife being in-
serted under it. It is then lifted to the cushion, and
flattened upon it by a similar emission of the breath. The
gold is divided into strips, squares, or oblongs of suitable
size for the work by the aid of the knife. The "tip" being
drawn across the gilder's face or hair, and applied to the
gold on the cushion, will lift it off. It may then be laid
down on the prepared surface, and pressed gently into its
place by the dabber. The whole being covered, it is set
aside to dry, when the superfluous gold may be removed
with the softener.
12
CHAPTER XIX.
ENGRAVING ON STONE.
WE have, in preceding chapters, described all the
methods of producing lithographs in black and
colors, in which the application of suitable ink or crayon
to the surface of the stone has depended upon the manip-
ulative skill and knowledge of form possessed by the
artist. We have also described the various methods of
transferring. There still remain to be treated of: En-
graving on Stone; Zincography, as an application of the
principles of lithography to printing from metal plates.
Engraving ion Stone may be said to be connected
with Lithography only by the chemical nature of the
processes of printing, for in every other respect it is an en-
tirely distinct mode of reproduction. We describe it in
this place, however, in accordance with our plan of de-
scribing all those manual methods of Lithography in
which color is used.
Engraving on stone is performed by cutting through
a film of gum on or in the surface of the stone, and
filling up the incised parts with a fatty ink. The print-
ing is performed by a combination of the dabbing method
of copperplate and the damping method of lithographic
printing. Its advantages are facility of production; ac-
curacy of drawing; minuteness of detail; and clearness
of impression. It is especially applicable to the reproduc-
of Lithography. 179
tion of drawings by architects and civil and mechanical
engineers when drawn to a small scale, and being per-
formed by tools analogous to those employed by the archi-
tect and engineer themselves, errors due to freehand
engraving or drawing can be entirely avoided.
The Tools. These will not involve the lithographer
in much extra expense, as he may make some of them
himself. A diamond point is undoubtedly a very useful
instrument, but it is expensive, and will cost as much,
perhaps, as all the rest of the tools put together. Added
to this, the beginner will find that it requires more practice
to use it properly, and will not equal the precision of the
steel points about to be described. From a tailors'
trimming warehouse, or elsewhere, obtain a packet of
strong needles, such as tailors use for sewing on buttons.
From a toy-shop procure a common cane, about as thick
as an ordinary lead pencil, and cut it into pieces about
three and a-half or four inches long, rejecting the joints.
These pieces should be cut square across, and a centre
made with a point, as accurately as possible. Having
obtained access to a vise, oil the needle and screw it up
lightly in a horizontal direction, leaving about a quarter
of an inch of it projecting; adjust the marked centre to
the needle, hold the cane in a line with the needle, and
push it on until it reaches the jaws of the vise ; loosen the
vise, screw up again, leaving a little more of the needle
to project, and push the cane further on as before. Re-
peat this until nearly the whole of the needle is pushed
into the cane. By adopting this method of supporting
the needle in the vise, and pushing the cane onto
it by degrees, we are enabled to effect our purpose
180 Practical Text Book
without breaking the needle. The cane may now be
cut in the manner of a black-lead pencil, and the
point may be shaped upon an Arkansas oilstone. Two
conical points will be required, one long and tapering
almost as much as the original point of the needle
and the other more obtuse, for stronger lines. For
shade lines, rub a flat side on the thicker part of the
needle, and opposite to it make it round; this will make
the point somewhat spoon-shape, and will be found to
have the most useful form for ordinary work. The flat
side is intended for the cutting part. When broad points
are desired, the eye of the needle may be left projecting,
instead of the point. A very good tracing point may be
made by first breaking off about one-eighth of an inch
of the needle, and then rubbing the broken part on the
oilstone until it becomes round and without any angle
which would scratch the paper. When found to be free
from a tendency to scratch, it may be polished on a piece
of leather covered with crocus or red oxide of iron. The
compasses for engraving may be the best Lancashire
spring dividers. Choose two of each of the sizes suitable
for the work. Make one leg a smoothly-pointed cone
the smoother and more pointed it is the better, as it will
then hold to its work and may be kept to a smaller
centre hole than it would otherwise require. The other
legs should be brought to a V shape and spoon shape
respectively the one for fine lines and the other for
enlarging them into shade lines. For the smaller circles,
a bow pencil with a stiff spring may be used, by sub-
stituting a steel point for the pencil. The points for
the fine lines will require frequent sharpening in the
of Lithography. 181
course of the work, and the oilstone must be constantly
kept by the engraver's side. Very nice but expensive
tools may be bought suitable for this class of work, but
those just described will produce as good a quality of
work as any.
Preparation of the Stone The instructions usually
given recommend a film of gum to be left upon the
surface of the stone. This may be regarded as impossible
in practice, for the film is certain to be thicker in some
places than others, and if any mode of wiping has been
used streaks will be left, over which the tool will partially
jump and cause an uneven line when a fine one is
attempted. Fortunately it is unnecessary to leave any
gum upon the surface of the stone, all that is required
being to fill the pores of the surface.
The stone should have as perfect a surface as possible.
This being obtained, the stone must be dried and then
gummed, and dried again. The gum must not be too
thin, but it will be sufficiently thick if it dries upon the
stone with a good gloss. If a little nitric acid be added
to the gum the subsequent colored coating will be darker,
but we think that the acid makes the stone harder to cut.
If the stone has been warmed to dry the gum, it should
be allowed to cool again. The stone is now to be covered
with water, until all the gum has become dissolved; if
the gum was previously strained, this dissolving will soon
take place, but if the surface before moistening appeared
rough, the hand had better be passed over to feel if any
specks are left upon the stone. All the gum being now
in a state of solution the stone must be placed in a
slanting position, and plenty of water poured over to
182 Practical Text Book
wash off the gum. It is best not to rub the stone with
the hand in this operation, because all the gum that is
in the stone should be kept there. When the stone is
dry it will be seen whether it has been sufficiently washed,
by its presenting an even appearance; if it shines in
streaks or patches it was not washed enough.
As in executing this style of work the lines are to
show up light on a dark ground, it will be necessary to
color its surface. For a black ground rub in some best
Paris black until the ground is as dark as it can be made.
The superfluous quantity must be removed with a soft
cloth, or the tracing will not adhere. A red ground may
be laid with red chalk, but be sure it is red chalk, as
sometimes common Venetian red is substituted for it.
Red chalk may be known by being smooth to the touch,
and will polish when rubbed with the finger. Anything
gritty or abrading must be avoided in laying grounds, and
any scratches made in this operation will print.
The Tracing is best made on the black stone with
paper prepared with chrome-yellow ; but on the red stone
it must be done with a paper covered on one side with
Paris black, the ordinary black-lead paper not being suffi-
ciently intense. Where great accuracy is required, the
tracing may be neatly made in indian-ink, to which a
little sugar, gum, and ox-gall have been added. The
tracing having been made, is to be placed between damp
sheets of paper for a few minutes, so that the ink may
become slightly moist. When it is found to shine, it
must be laid face downwards upon the stone and passed
once through the press, when sufficient of the ink will
have set off to enable the draughtsman to see his work
very well.
of Lithography, 183
The Engraving is so simple as to scarcely require
description. It more resembles etching upon copper than
engraving, but as the term etching is in lithography appro-
priated to the acidulation of the stone, usage has decided
in favor of this mode being called engraving upon stone.
Let it be supposed that the subject to be engraved
is a piece of machinery. Begin by determining the junc-
tion of the circular arcs with the straight lines, marking
them with a pencil. As it is easier to join straight lines
to circular arcs than the reverse, it is preferable, in most
instances, to put the curves and circles in first, with the
compasses. In doing this care must be taken that in
making small circles the stationary leg of the compasses
must be slightly longer than the moving one, or it will
be apt to slip out when making the cut with the other
leg. A sharp point, practice, and perseverance will
enable the young engraver to do this without making a
large centre hole. The circular portions having been
executed, proceed to the straight lines by the help of
the parallel rulers and a point not too fine. The facility
with which thin lines may be made in this process gener-
ally tempts the student to employ them for outlining
the subject. This is a mistake. They should be reserved
for tinting and shading, especially in those parts that
approach the light. When the whole has been firmly
outlined, the compasses having the spoon-shaped point
may be used for thickening the shade-lines, and a similar
point, with the ruler for a guide, for strengthening the
straight lines on the dark side.
The thin, taper, and very sharp point may now be
used for the delicate lines of cylindrical and other shading
184 Practical Text Book
next the light, deepening the lines and exchanging the
point for a broader tool as the darker portions are
reached. A little practice, and the study of good ex-
amples will teach the student more of this work than
can possibly be conveyed by writing.
The engraving having been completed, the centre-
holes and other parts that must not be printed may be
stopped out with a little acidulated gum-water, colored
with any convenient pigment to enable it to be seen, and
applied with the point of a sable pencil.
In working, iavoid the condensation of the breath upon
the stone, which may cause the gum in the stone to
spread, and injure the more delicate lines. For a similar
reason, guard the stone against the reception of any kind
of mucilaginous matter.
Corrections in this kind of work must be avoided as
far as possible. If it be imperative that any should be
made during the progress of the work the part must be
scraped out as smoothly as possible, and a new ground
laid. This may be done by painting over the place neatly
with the ordinary cake water-colors of any convenient
tint. Red chalk or light red will do very well, but it must
be understood that this, though an effectual "stop," will
not be so pleasant to work upon as the original ground.
Let it be supposed that the work is finished ; it must
next be made ready for the printer. Take, upon a soft rag
some thin printing ink, boiled oil, thin varnish, tallow, or
in fact any kind of grease, and rub it into the lines form-
ing the engraving. Though any of these substances will
answer the purpose, yet, in practice, thin printing ink will
be found most convenient, because it is always at hand.
of Lithography. 185
and shows distinctly when the lines have been filled,
which is very important. After being sure that every
line has received some ink, remove the superfluity from
the stone, and cover it with gum water.
Dabbers are used for inking instead of the rollers
used in other styles of lithographic printing, and may be
made as follows: Take two pieces of wood of a con-
venient size for the stone to be printed, and about two
inches thick; the underside, which must be quite flat,
should be covered with the coarsest and thickest printers'
blanket, strained over and tacked to the sides. Cover one
of them in a similar way, and the other with a piece of
fine blanket. Charge the coarse one well with thin ink,
and the fine one with stiffer ink, and work it about on the
slab until only a small quantity remains on its surface,
and it will be fit for use, its office being to clear the stone
of superfluous ink.
Printing. Damp the stone as if for printing with the
roller. Take the coarse dabber, well charged with thin
ink, and apply it to the stone, with pressure from the
shoulders, at the same time twisting it about until the
stone is gone all over, when the dabber may be moved
about in circular strokes to remove some of the super-
fluous ink. Putting this upon the ink-slab, take up the
fine dabber, and use that in the circular, wiping manner
only. The stone should now be pretty free from surface-
ink, but a wipe with the damping cloth will finish it. If
the stone becomes dry, it must again be wetted. After
the dabbers have been got into working order, the fine
one will effectually clear the stone without the subse-
quent use of the damping-cloth, and will do it more
186 Practical Text Book
clearly and effectually. The position of the printer
should be such as to avoid all chance of any dirt falling
from the ceiling, &c. The stone having been fully inked
in, may be etched all over with weak etching-water, to
finally remove any scum arising from the first inking,
and afterwards gummed and dried.
The other essentials in printing are an elastic backing
of printers' blanket as described under backing-sheets, and
some damped paper. The printing, when all is in working
order, may be carried on nearly as quickly as when using
the roller. This will be understood when it is considered
that in rolling, the surface of the roller in contact with
the stone is successively lifted nearly perpendicularly,
while the action of the fine dabber is almost exclusively
a wiping one, and consequently leaves the ink in the lines.
CHAPTER XX.
ZINCOGRAPHY. ITS PRINCIPLES SCRAPING, POLISHING,
AND GRAINING THE PLATES ETCHING RECIPES.
THIS important branch of the art will require only a
short chapter, not because we underrate its merits,
but because nearly all that has been said on drawing and
printing on stone is equally applicable to working on
metal plates, and consequently no necessity exists for ex-
tending the previous instructions on those points.
To those who desire extended information on this
subject we recommend "Metal Plate Printing," published
by THE NATIONAL LITHOGRAPHER, New York. Price $2
the copy.
The Principles of Zincography are almost identical
with those of lithography ; and all ordinary styles of draw-
ing may be performed upon zinc plates instead of on
stone; the chief distinctions being that blacklead pencil-
marks are apt to roll up in printing and that the two- and
three-line lettering-gauges used by copperplate engravers
may be used to mark direct upon the zinc. The materials
used are the same, and the mode of printing is identical.
Zinc plates have the advantage over large stones in being
less in first cost, and being much more portable. Hence,
they are used very extensively in many printing establish-
188 Practical Text Book
ments for a variety of work; the chief among which, it
may be mentioned, are large plans and wall-advertise-
ments. As neither ink, crayon, nor gum penetrates the
zinc in the same manner tas they do stone, the printing
is more liable to accident, and requires great attention
and skill on the part of the printer. One very marked
difference between the zinc and stone, is that the former
is subject to oxidation by contact with a moist atmos-
phere. For this reason, great care must be exercised in
drying the plates off quickly after their preparation for
drawing, and during the printing, to prevent the gummy
preparation from being actually removed. The principle
difference in the treatment of zinc plates by the printer,
as compared with lithography, is the substitution of in-
fusion of nutgalls for nitric and hydrochloric acid.
The theory in brief is that the drawing-ink and chalk
form a metallic soap with the zinc plate. That this metal-
lic soap has a great affinity for the zinc, so that the ink on
the roller has little influence in pulling it off the plate.
That the brown insoluble compound produced by the
action of the nut-galls upon the plate, resists the printing-
ink in a similar manner to the gum upon the stone. That
these two opposite forces acting at the same time enable
the printer to take a larger number of impressions than
could possibly be the case if the only principle involved
was that of the antipathy of grease and water.
Preparation of the Plates. Zinc plates may be ob-
tained ready polished or grained, of the dealers in litho-
graphic materials ; but as their subsequent preparation will
in all probability have to be done at home, it will be as
well to describe how they may be made ready for use
of Lithography. 189
after being purchased, as they may sometimes have to be,
of the metal dealer.
The zinc should be of the quality known as "best
rolled and selected" It may be made into convenient
sizes, by cutting a groove with a V-pointed chisel
and hammer, in the direction required, but the cut must
be quite straight across the whole. It is only necessary
to cut about half through, when, by bringing the groove
just over the edge of the table, the plate may be broken
through by a sudden pressure on the part overhanging.
The rough edges and corners may now be taken off with
a file. Next, place it on a stone in the press, smoothest
side uppermost, lay on a few sheets of paper, and pull
through under heavy pressure. If the plate is found to
be generally flat, it may still further be tested by drawing
some pencil-lines across the plate with an HB lead pencil.
If the plate is fairly level, these lines will show on the
paper when pulled through again. Convexity may be
remedied by putting some blanket or soft paper on the
stone, and pulling through the press with convex side
up, with light pressure first, increasing it gently until the
effect sought is obtained. If there should be any bruises
in the plate, it may be sent to a coppersmith to remedy
them.
The surface of the plate as it comes from the rolling-
mill and as usually sold, is contaminated with scale and
oxide, which must be cleared off. This is done by re-
moving the surface of the zinc by means of a sharp
scraper. The scraper used by the cabinetmaker will
answer the purpose. It should be set in wood to get a
convenient "grip" upon it, and may best be sharpened
190 Practical Text Book
by burnishing its edge, holding the burnisher in such a
manner that it may be at a right angle to the scraper.
This will, if properly done, produce a good scraping
edge on each side. A tool that will answer still better
may be made of an old smoothing-plane, the face of
which has been somewhat removed at its front part, so
as to bring the knife more upright. The knife must be
ground at a very obtuse angle, so as to produce more of
a scraping than a direct, cutting action. If the surface
be removed by this tool, it will be done more evenly than
by the other kind of scraper, because the wood of the
plane prevents the knife sinking into any hollow places.
The plate having been scraped level all over, is to be
treated as described for stone with pumice and snake-
stone. However, unlike stone, all drawings on zinc,
whether in ink or chalk, should be executed on a grained
surface, to produce which proceed exactly as in graining
a stone, substituting, however, a muller of zinc for one of
stone. A plate about 24 by 18 inches will take a man an
hour or more to grain because the zinc is less easily
abraded than the stone. When the plate is done, wash
it well, finish with hot water, and rear it up to dry off
quickly, so as to prevent corrosion.
Printing from Zinc. The drawing having been done
precisely in the manner described in our chapters on
drawing on stone, is handed to the printer, who etches
it by applying the following mixture with a flat camel-
hair brush:
Decoction of nut-galls
Solution of gum (thickness of cream) . . *
Solution phosphoric acid 3 drachms
of Lithography. 191
letting it stay on half a minute or more, according to the
nature of the work. To make the decoction of nut-galls,
steep 4 oz. in 3 quarts of water for 24 hours, and then
boil up and strain.
To make the solution of phosphoric acid, put some
sticks of phosphorus into a bottle, taking care not to
handle them with the fingers. Pour water upon them,
but not quite sufficient to cover them. Close the bottle
with a cork having a notch cut out of its side to admit
air. Set the bottle aside for a few days, and the air will
oxidize the phosphorus, making phosphoric acid, which
will be dissolved by the water, and the solution in that
time will be strong enough far use.
CHAPTER XXI.
CYLINDER PRESS PRINTING THE SELECTION AND CARE
OF A PRESS INKING AND DAMPING ROLLERS THE
CYLINDER AND ITS COVERING.
WE would especially direct the attention of the
young printer to this branch of lithographic
printing, because of its daily increasing importance,
as machinery is now being generally acknowledged
to be equal, under proper management, to the de-
mands of very excellent work either in black or
colors. Young men of intelligence whose minds are
open to the reception of new ideas should pay
great attention to this department of lithography, and
should omit no opportunity to qualify themselves for any
opening that may occur, because machinery has come so
rapidly into use that the number of trained lithographic
pressmen is very far below the actual requirements of the
business. Hence, when a machine is newly introduced
into an office, it is frequently found necessary to take a
printer fresh from the hand-press and place him in the
position of manager of a delicate and complicated piece
of mechanism, with the principles of which he has no
acquaintance whatever. To some men who have a me-
chanical aptitude the change is novel and agreeable, and
provided that they have mastered the theory as well as
of Lithography. 193
the practice of lithography, they probably soon develop
into competent pressmen. On the other hand, the newly
appointed pressman may have been chosen merely because
he was a good hand-printer, and may have no mechanical
proclivities. Such a man will most likely soon feel that
he has had a responsibility placed upon him for which
he is unsuited and will wish himself back at his hand
press. To men placed in this position our instructions
will, we hope, be of much use ; while they may materially
help others upon whom the necessity has not actually
been imposed of adapting themselves to a novel and un-
accustomed calling, yet who are animated by a desire
and a very honorable and worthy one of understanding
every branch and not merely one department of their
business. A great living author and statesman has said
that the true secret of "getting on" in the world is to be
ready and qualified for an opportunity of advancement
whenever that opportunity presents itself; and an ex-
emplification of the truth of the remark is seen in every
large establishment. The man who "gets on" is he who
knows something more than his actual routine of work
demands, and who is conscious that if his employer set
him a little higher he would be capable of occupying
the place. There are printers at press who think that
because they have always made a living hitherto, and
most probably will do the same in the future, the acquire-
ment of any further technical knowledge is quite un-
necessary and superfluous.
Having selected his cylinder press, the lithographer
requires to know how to make the most of it, or, in other
words, how to keep it in the best working condition. We
13
194 Practical Text Book
would point out, in the first place, that great and un-
ceasing attention must be paid to oiling it and keeping it
thoroughly clean. It should be the pride of every press-
man not only that his press should look clean, but that it
be clean. It is quite possible for it to look well and yet
be really very dirty in the parts less in sight.
The temperature of the printing room should also be
taken into consideration in the intelligent employment
of lubricants. It is not saying too much to assert that a
press will last many years longer when good oil is used
than when bad is employed, so that there is no advantage
in using the latter because it is low in price.
When a press is bought new it will not entail much
trouble to preserve its good looks. When it is standing
still, either from want of work, the setting of the stone,
or scraping of the rollers, the boys should be instructed
to rub up the bright parts and wipe away the superfluous
oil. At least once a week this should be more thoroughly
done, giving special attention to the working parts that
are out of sight. As often as the work will allow, but
at least once in three months, the press should be well
cleaned in every part. Good oil will much facilitate these
cleanings, and such attention as we are recommending will
cause a machine to work much easier than a badly kept
one.
As a rule, too, it may be truly said, that a well-kept
press is prima facie evidence that good work is turned
out from it and that a good man has control of it.
When a machine is newly erected it frequently hap-
pens that the vibration in working causes some of the
nuts and screws to become loose; it is very essential,
of Lithography. 195
therefore, that the pressman should try them occasionally
until he finds from experience that they keep to their
work.
The Inking Rollers. These, when new, require a pre-
vious preparation of the same kind as hand-rollers. They
may have rubbed into them either tallow, lard, or olive
oil, which, after having saturated the skin, is to be well
cleaned off by scraping. The rollers are next to be
placed in the machine, which must be set running after
they have received a supply of medium varnish. After
running some hours the varnish must be scraped off, new
supplied, and the machine put in motion again. It will
be found, upon trying it with the palette knife, that the
new leather has altered the character of the varnish,
making it less liable to separate from the rollers. When
this effect ceases to be produced the varnish may be
thoroughly scraped off, its place supplied with printing
ink, and the rollers tried first upon a heavy job.
The Damping Rollers. If the stocks of these are
made of iron, care should be taken to cover them with
some waterproof substance, such as red lead paint, india-
rubber varnish, oilcloth, American leather, or any other
convenient material. They are then usually supplied with
several folds of soft flannel, or some thick, soft felt,
brought to join neatly without overlapping. The best
thing of this class, however, is the fine india-rubber
covered felt known by the name of spangeo-piline. The
roller must be covered outside with some cotton or linen
fabric. Canvas, a cotton material called swansdown,
velveteen, and another named moleskin, are all in use,
but we have a decided preference for the latter.
In regard to the general treatment of damping rollers,
196 Practical Text Book
they should be taken out of the machine every evening
and set up on end, which will keep them in working con-
dition better than leaving them in the machine. At this
time they should be examined to see if they have accumu-
lated any ink upon them, and if they have it should be
at once removed by turpentine or benzoline.
The Cylinder and Its Covering. With an ordinary
blanket the cylinder will soon deteriorate, owing to the
formation of rust, unless means be used to prevent it, and
we recommend the following: Wash the surface of the
iron with turpentine to remove grease, and then intro-
duce some kind of gas arrangement by which the cylinder
may be heated. The cylinder having a considerable
weight, it will take a good while to get the metal warm,
and a quantity of moisture will collect inside from the
products of combustion, but that will be expelled as the
iron gets hot. The surface may now be thinly and evenly
painted with a mixture of red lead, drying oil, and
Brunswick black or copal varnish. This will soon dry
hard and prevent the moisture, which penetrates the
blanket, attacking the iron.
A fine, but thick, or treble-milled printer's blanket may
be used for covering the cylinder. For small machines a
finer and thinner blanket may be used, because less varia-
tion in the surface of the stone may be expected when it
is small. The more true the surface of the cylinder and
stone are, the less necessity is there for thick blanket. If
they were perfect, all that would be necessary would be
something to prevent the stone and cylinder touching in
those parts not covered by the paper; but as this per-
fection cannot be attained in practice, an elastic surface of
appreciable thickness is required for the cylinder.
CHAPTER XXII.
PREPARATION OF THE STONE PREPARATION OF THE
WORK ETCHING FOR MACHINE PRINTING INKING
DISTRIBUTION REFRESHENING THE ROLLER'S
SURFACED QUALITY OF INK How TO REDUCE THE
TENACITY OF INK SETTING THE STONE.
HAVING selected his press, and got the rollers and
the cylinder into proper order, the printer is
ready to begin the actual working of it. The first thing
to be attended to is the preparation of the stone.
The stone-grinder should remember, when preparing
a stone for the machine, that the printer cannot adapt
his cylinder to its surface, as is frequently done at hand-
press, by means of a scraper. Every care, therefore,
must be taken to have the stone true (back as well as
front), more especially in the direction of the stone's
length, because that is the way in which the cylinder
is applied to it. Its two longer edges must also be not
only well rounded, but stand fairly the test of the straight-
edge along the rounded part. If this be not attended to
the paper will be liable to crease. We know that the
paper will sometimes crease from other causes, but this,
is one that is sometimes overlooked. The stone is easily
tested by a straight-edge, which should hold a piece of
ordinary post paper when applied at any part between it
and the stone. Besides the general evenness of surface,
198 Practical Text Book
the stone should be well polished, for it then not only
receives the drawing or transfer more perfectly, but is
less liable in printing to catch the ink in those places
which are intended to receive none.
Preparation of the Work. Before a drawing or trans-
fer is put upon the stone for machine printing, the size
of the paper on which it is to be printed should be
determined. The width of paper to be held by the gripper
should then be ascertained, and a little more than that
width should be allowed to project over the edge, so that
the gripper shall not come in contact with the stone,
which, if allowed to occur, would roughen it, remove the
gum, and cause it at that part to accumulate ink from the
rollers.
Etching for Cylinder Press Printing. It is usual for
cylinder press printers, previously to printing at the ma-
chine, to etch the work into relief, in the following man-
ner: After cleaning the work sufficiently, ink it up
strongly but clearly, and dust it with finely powdered
resin or bronze powder, but preferably with resin; etch
with dilute nitric acid, sufficiently tart to produce a pretty
brisk effervescence ; ink again, and repeat the dusting and
etching for a second and a third time. It must not be
understood that we recommend this process to be carried
far enough to produce any considerable amount of relief.
As a matter of fact, a printer used to the work would
produce sufficient with one dusting and etching; but the
beginner is asked to err on the right side by giving the
work plenty of resin. If too much relief be given, an
impression will probably occur from the sides of the lines
as well as from their tops, and the work will have a
of Lithography. 199
thicker appearance than if only etched in the manner
usual for hand-printing. The etching having been
finished, the resin must be removed as follows: Wash
off all trace of the acid, gum in, and remove the ink and
resin with turpentine to which some oil, transfer ink or
other fatty matter has been added. This is very impor-
tant, because, as a rule, the work has been newly trans-
ferred or drawn on the stone, and sufficient time has not
been given for the subject to take firm hold of it, and,
under such circumstances, there is great risk in using tur-
pentine alone. For the same reason it is important that
the sponge and cloth used previously to re-inking should
be quite clean and free from any trace of acid or sour
gum. The stone must now be re-inked, gummed and
dried, and is then ready for working.
Inking. This process naturally divides itself into
three parts I, the distribution; 2, the refreshening of
the surface of the rollers by means of the "riders" ; 3, the
quantity and properties of the ink. We will treat of these
in regular order.
Distribution. By this term is to be understood the
spreading of the ink in an even manner over the surface
of the ink-table and the rollers. Some patented machines
have special contrivances for this purpose, of more or less
practical use, but there are tolerably efficient means com-
mon to all machines which must be mentioned here. The
principal distribution is effected by setting two or more
rollers obliquely across the machine, so that when the ink-
table passes beneath them they will roll over it in a diag-
onal direction, and by setting them to run opposite ways,
the distribution is doubled.
200 Practical Text Book
The refreshening of the surface of the roller is
effected by the riders before mentioned. When the roller
passes over the wet stone, it becomes much smoother on
its surface, and somewhat damp, which would in a degree
render it less effective in leaving its ink upon the drawing
in the next revolution, but as soon as it comes in contact
with the upper roller this glazing is destroyed.
The quality of the ink to be used for any given job
will depend upon various circumstances, which the
printer must duly take into account. The chief elements
in the calculation are quality of paper, speed of machine,
quantity of ink requisite for each impression.
As a general rule, the greater the speed at which the
rollers run, the less tenacious must be the ink. The
pressman must here be cautioned against confounding
this speed of the rollers or table with the number of
impressions printed in a given time; it only corresponds
in the same or nearly similar sized machines. If one
machine has a traverse of six feet for its table, and
another four feet, and both are printing 500 per hour,
the rollers of the former will be running at the rate of
100 feet per minute, while the speed of the latter will be
only about 66 feet in the same time. This may be taken
only as a general proposition, because the amount of
water used in damping must also be taken into consid-
eration. We may, however, embody this in another
proposition: The more water is used for the purpose of
damping the stone, the thinner and more greasy may the
ink be.
How to Reduce the Tenacity of Ink. Without speci-
fying in this place the circumstances under which thin
of Lithography. 201
ink is to be used, we will give the mocks by which the
tenacity of ink generally may be reduced.
First. By thin varnish. We must, however, be cau-
tious not to add too much to the ink, or the impressions
will be pale when a proper amount is used on the rollers,
while, on the other hand, if sufficient of such thin ink be
employed to yield black impressions, they will be so over-
charged as to be blurred; the close parts will run to-
gether, and the work will easily set off when a few sheets
are placed upon each other. To combine thinness with
depth of color, we may add :
Second. Oil, either raw or boiled.
Third. The addition of certain solid fatty matters will
render the ink less tenacious or stringy without increasing
its fluidity. The main object is to make the ink part
readily from the roller to the stone at an increased speed,
and as some solid fatty matters are found to effect this
without thinning the ink, they answer some kinds of
printing better than the softer and thinner materials.
The less water used in damping the stone, the stronger
and stiffer may be the ink. Though this may be remem-
bered as a general rule, yet it not to be forgotten that the
circumstances of speed, and the nature of the paper and
the subject, must also be taken into account.
Setting the Stone in the Press. When care is exer-
cised in putting the work on the stone, scarcely any alter-
ation is needed in fixing the front stop for different
stones ; but should any be required, the way to do it will
be obvious. For bringing the stone approximately to the
proper height, some machines are provided by the makers
with a gauge to be set across the table, and to this gauge
202 Practical Text Book
the stone is raised before being tried by taking an impres-
sion.
If the stone is found uneven, packing must be resorted
to, as in the hand-press.
Starting the Press: Inking. When the press will not
permit of the rollers being set so as to run upon the ink-
table while they do not touch the stone, the stone should
be lowered in its bed, or taken out of the press while
they are being prepared for inking ; or the inking may be
seen to before the stone is put in the machine. After the
rollers have been scraped, a little ink may be applied to
the wavers or distributors, and the machine set running
until it is properly distributed over all the rollers. Though
nearly all presses are supplied with an ink duct, the be-
ginner is recommended to apply his ink in the same man-
ner until he has mastered the working of the machine in
a sufficiently general manner as to be able to turn out a
fair quality of work. This will be facilitated by moving
the distributors about and turning them end for end.
Damping. The damping rollers have already been
described, and we have now to speak of the actual wet-
ting of the stone when printing.
Some presses are provided with arrangements for
damping that are intended to be more or less automatic,
but however perfect they may be they will always require
attention.
After the damping rollers have become dry, care must
be taken that the newly applied water penetrates them
thoroughly before proceeding to print.
The degree of damping will greatly depend on the
kind of ink in use. The machine minder will find it nee-
of Lithography. 203
essary to watch the work, sponge in hand, and to apply
the water where most wanted, which is usually at the
edges, and sides, and occasionally to sponge the damping
slab, or rollers, so as to keep up the supply.
The proper regulation of the water is more difficult
than that of the ink.
CHAPTER XXIII.
PROPER CHOICE OF PAPER REGISTERING SETTING A
STONE FOR REGISTER COLOR PRINTING COMPO-
SITION AND GLAZED ROLLERS THE INK-DUCT
DEFECTS IN INK-DUCTS.
INTIMATELY connected with the subject of cylinder-
press printing is that of the proper qualities and de-
scriptions of paper to be used, and we may advantageous-
ly devote a few paragraphs to it. We may say at the out-
set that it is to be regretted that clerks and travelers who
take orders for printing do not make themselves better
acquainted with the fitness of papers for the various
kinds of work. The proper choice of paper in many
instances makes all the difference between good and bad
printing, and a suggestion from the person who is taking
the order would, we think, be generally favorably enter-
tained.
Writing, drawing, loan or other hard-made English-
sized papers should never be used for printing upon when
beauty of impression is the chief consideration. The use
of such papers should be restricted to note, letter and
invoice heading and other similar work, in which the
appearance of the printing is secondary to its use for
writing upon.
To produce the best printing, the paper must be
somewhat absorbent, and that is the well-known character
of Lithography. 205
of printing and plate papers, the latter being still less
sized than the former. If a good printing paper be well
glazed, it will resemble writing paper sufficiently to be
used for circulars and such-like work, and will take a
much better impression than can be got upon the harder
sized material, while it will bear writing upon well enough
for all ordinary purposes of adding names, prices, etc.
Now, suppose a smooth, hard-sized writing paper is
to be printed, let us study the circumstances : First. Too
much water must not be used, or the surface will be
injured. Second. The minimum quantity of ink that
will produce blackness must only be employed, so as to
prevent the setting off to which such paper is very liable,
and to facilitate the drying. Strong and medium var-
nishes will print cleanly on slightly damped stones, but
would not do for this purpose because too much ink would
then be required for the kind of paper we are supposing
to be used. The ink must therefore be thinned as little
as possible with weak varnish, or even oil, with a little
dryers, and the machine be run at such a speed as will
permit of such ink being used, when, with proper man-
agement, good work will be produced.
Such being the principles involved in working hard-
sized paper, it is not difficult to comprehend what is to be
done when the paper is more absorbent, and the following
general rule gives the key to the whole : The more ab-
sorbent the paper is, the more water and ink may be used,
the thinner the ink may be, and consequently the higher
may be the speed of the machine.
Registering at a good press can be performed with
greater facility and exactitude than at hand-press, when
206 Practical Text Book
once the stone is properly set; but to insure success it.
must be driven at a moderate and uniform speed, and the
stone be so beveled on the edge that first meets the cylin-
der that it may cause no jolting or other motion tending
to move either out of its place.
It is almost impossible to overestimate the importance
of register in lithographic machine printing, and any sug-
gestions which are likely to be of assistance to the printer
in this matter will no doubt be welcomed.
Variable atmospheric conditions, insufficiently ma-
tured paper or constitutional defects in the machine are
frequent sources of inaccurate register. These may be
to some extent unavoidable and therefore beyond the
printer's control, but there are numerous other points
which have an important bearing upon the accurate fitting
of one color or form with another, and therefore re-
quire care and attention. The following method of pro-
cedure is well worth consideration, as it has decided ad-
vantages over many others:
The key, or outline form, to which the color forms
have been set up, is put into the machine at the beginning
of the printing operations. The exact position of the
design on the sheet is arranged, and twenty or thirty
impressions taken on a reliable paper. With these im-
pressions as a guide, it is a comparatively easy matter
to register each color accurately. This effects a saving
both in time and material, and rarely fails to produce
satisfactory results. During the early stages of the
printing, when it is difficult to detect any slight movement
of the stone in the machine, a sheet bearing an impres-
sion of the key may be printed in the usual way, when
of Lithography. 207
any variation in register will be revealed at a glance.
The relative positions of the side lay and gripper seldom
receive the consideration they ought to have. The gripper
and side lay should be exactly at right angles to each
other, and any divergence whatever from this rule simply
courts disaster. If they form an acute angle, there is
danger of the sheet moving forward a little as the gripper
closes. If, on the other hand, they are fixed at an obtuse
angle, there is a proportionate risk of the sheet falling
back as the gripper closes. If any degree of uniformity
could be guaranteed in these movements, then all would
still be well, but unfortunately no such guarantee can be
given, owing to a possible variation in the cutting of dif-
ferent batches of paper.
Another matter of a similar character and quite as
important in its issues is more directly connected with the
gripper.
The continuous type of gripper is probably the best
for general use. It enables the printer to use two or
more pins upon which to rest his sheet, according to the
particular requirements of his work. Two pins are
usually sufficient, and answer best, for the following
reasons : It is by no means unusual to find that the paper,
trimmed though it may be, has slightly convex or concave
edges, owing either to insufficient damping or an inaccu-
rate setting of the knife in the guillotine cutting machine.
This can, of course, be avoided, but the point at present
under consideration is one of possible effects.
Setting a Stone for Register. Take a straight, wide,
but thin piece of metal long enough to rest on the racks of
the table ; through each end and into a tooth of each rack
208 Practical Text Book*
drill a small hole. To each hole of the metal strip fasten
a pin to just fit the hole in the tooth of the rack. It
should now be easy to set this strip accurately to these
holes at any time, and if register marks be put upon the
stone to correspond to the edge of this rule, the stone
may be rapidly adjusted in register without taking an
impression.
Color Printing: Rollers. In color printing one of the
most essential conditions is clean rollers, and one of the
best means of obtaining them is to have two sets (besides
the black ones), one set being kept for tints and another
for the stronger and darker colors. When there is much
color work done, we should even recommend three sets,
as it would be very advantageous to keep one for yellow,
red and orange tints, and another for dark blue, green,
purple and the tertiary colors.
Washable Rollers. Attempts have from time to time
been made to manufacture rollers for lithographic print-
ing having the advantages of the composition of glue,
treacle, etc., used by letterpress printers, and thus making
one set do for all purposes ; but on account of the soluble
nature of the materials much difficulty has been experi-
enced in making them work upon the wet stone.
Glazed rollers are much used on cylinder presses, and
may be prepared for such use in a similar manner to
hand-rollers. After the drying ink has been well dis-
tributed upon them, the riders (if used) are to be taken
off them, and the rollers run over a wet stone until they
become nicely smooth ; they are then allowed to dry, after
which the operation may be repeated, alternately rolling
them up and drying them until they are quite smooth
upon the surface.
of Lithography. 209
The Ink-duct. There is great difference of opinion
among lithographic machinists as to the value of the ink-
duct. We think their non-use may be traced to three
causes : First, the printer does not like to grind a large
quantity of ink, to add dryers which prevent its keeping,
and then have to throw the unused portion away; second,
a want of mechanical knowledge of the capabilities of this
part of the press, and a lack of delicacy in regulating the
adjusting screws ; third, faulty construction of the mech-
anism.
Defects in Ink-ducts. Passing over causes No. I and
No. 2, we have something to say as to No. 3. The ink-
duct may be faulty by reason of the knife not fitting the
ink-cylinder, but this may be cured by grinding the knife.
The greatest fault, however, is that of the ink-cylinder
being kept constantly running, as it is in some machines.
Speed, as has already been pointed out, is a very im-
portant factor in lithographic machine printing. It has
become quite a necessity, and everything which conduces
to it should receive the most careful consideration.
Economy of power is too seldom regarded as a standard
of efficiency in the printer. At any rate, as far as this
is concerned it is doubtful if he fully realizes the effect
of what may appear to him as insignificant matters. A
little pressure more or less on the stone may be in itself
a mere trifle ; so also would be a careless arrangement of
the inking rollers or indiscriminate damping of the stones,
yet, when taken together, what a considerable waste of
power they might cause a waste which is altogether un-
necessary and could easily be obviated by care and fore-
thought. Excessive pressure is frequently resorted to in
210 Practical Text Book
order to "bring up" an impression which is defective
owing to some error of judgment in its preparation. It
undoubtedly secures the desired effect, but at what a cost !
There is a proportionately heavier drag on the machine
and a greater strain on its most vital parts. The follow-
ing view of this matter may be regarded as somewhat
exaggerated, but it is by no means an uncommon state of
affairs, and will at least serve to emphasize the impor-
tance of this point: It is a popular fallacy to suppose
that in adjusting the litho. stone to the bed of the print-
ing machine it should be made perfectly level. As a
matter of fact, a much easier and more satisfactory im-
pression can be made from a stone which is worked just
a little higher at the front or gripper edge than at the
back, and for this reason: The drag on the cylinder as
it makes the impression is appreciably greater at the back
than at the front, and when the pressure is heavy it has
a tendency to leave the back edge with a very decided
jerk. The remedy is obvious and simple. As already
suggested, the stone should be set in the machine with
the least possible inclination toward the front. This ad-
justment is easily effected by a judicious arrangement of
a few layers of brown paper. Just think for a moment
of the effect likely to be produced by such a jerk or jar,
which would under ordinary working conditions occur
from twelve to fourteen times per minute while the ma-
chine was in motion!
We think we have now given nearly all the informa-
tion on this subject that can be conveyed by means of
writing. For the rest, we recommend practice, study and
perseverance ; and with these may be built up a valuable
experience.
CHAPTER XXIV.
MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES AND RECIPES.
SOAP as a Lithographic Material. Soap consists
of an alkali in combination with a fatty
acid. The alkalies used in soap manufacture are
soda, potash and ammonia; the acids are chiefly
oleic, stearic, palmitic and margaric. Soda forms
the "hard" soap; potash, the "sweet" or soft soap;
and ammonia, the kind of soap used in medicine, tech-
nically called liniment. Soda soaps will vary in hard-
ness according to the acid employed. Stearic and mar-
garic acids yield harder soaps than the oleic and palmitic.
Soap, although it is of so much importance, is one of the
least reliable compounds which the lithographer has to
use. Best white or yellow is what we employ. Seeing
that soap may by dextrous management be made to con-
tain 80 per cent of water, that 20 per cent may be con-
sidered a minimum, and 40 per cent an average amount,
it is no wonder that various results are obtained from
apparently the same material. Supposing that it is desir-
able that soap for lithographic ink should consist of
stearate of soda only, there is little chance of securing it
of pure quality, when various samples of commercial
soap are found to contain the following substances:
Glycerine; silicate, sulphate, chloride and carbonate of
soda; rosin; gelatine; fuller's earth; Cornish clay;
212 Practical Text Book
ground flints; potter's slip; farina; dextrine, and other
substances.
The principal object of the soap in lithographic ink is
to render the other ingredients soluble in water ; and any
considerable quantity beyond that will be of doubtful
benefit, because the more soap the ink contains the more
liable it is, when dissolved, to pass from the state of a
liquid to that of an emulsion. It is desirable, then, that
the soap should maintain a proper proportion to the other
ingredients, to effect which it must have the water re-
moved from it by drying.
Cut the soap into thin shavings or scrape it with a
piece of glass ; set it upon a dish before the fire, or on the
hob, until quite dry. A cleaner way will be to put the
shavings into an earthenware jar ; set that in a saucepan
of water and allow it to boil, and maintain it at that heat
until the soap is quite dry. It may then be preserved in
corked bottles for future use. Soap for chalk-making
may be treated in the same way.
Lithographic Writing and Drawing Ink. Many
recipes for this ink have been published from time to
time, but the one to which we give preference is one of
the oldest of them, having been published in France about
sixty years ago:
Take of Tallow 4 oz.
Wax 4 "
Soap 4 "
Shellac 4 "
Fine Paris Black Quant, suff.
This recipe makes the best ink we have ever used for
drawing on stone, though for transfer paper we have
of Lithography. 213
thought we have improved it by adopting the following
proportions :
Tallow 4 oz.
Wax 5 "
Soap 4 "
Shellac 3 "
Black About half the quantity used for stone.
For retouching the latter ink is excellent, as it will
frequently hold firmly to the stone, if only well washed,
without any acidulous preparation ; not that this course is
to be recommended, it being mentioned only to point out
the quality of the ink.
Recipes are frequently of very little use unless accom-
panied by a description of the precise manipulation; and
we think we shall be able to point out a mode of making
lithographic ink that, if followed, will lead to success :
Take a small saucepan (one that will hold a quart will
do for the above quantity) and fit a handle of wood inside
its iron one, so that it may be about a foot longer. This
will enable the operator to have command of it when its
ordinary handle becomes too hot. Make another wooden
handle 12 inches long, and fit it to the handle already upon
the lid in such a manner that it may, when on the sauce-
pan, project horizontally. If the flame in burning the ink
should become too high, it may be removed from the fire,
and by means of the handle last described the lid may be
put on without fear of burning the fingers, and the flame
extinguished by cutting off the source of oxygen the
external air without which it does not burn. These
simple contrivances will render the operation a safe one
with persons of ordinary care and intelligence, and will
214 Practical Text Book
enable them to devote their attention more satisfactorily
to the ink manufacture. Put any kind of oil or rough fat
into the saucepan and heat it until its tin lining becomes
melted, when it and the oil may be poured away together ;
or the saucepan may be gradually brought to a red heat
and the tin burned away. We prefer the first method.
The fire for ink-making should be a clear one, yet not
low, as the operation will require a considerable time;
putting on new coals would perhaps cause a flame to play
around the saucepan and set fire to its contents at an in-
convenient moment.
Put into the saucepan the tallow and wax, and when
melted throw in the soap a little at a time. Contrary to
the teaching of some manipulators, we can assure the
student that it is not at all essential to have the soap pre-
viously dried, if caution be observed in putting it in. The
principle is this: Common soap, as shown in the last
paragraph, contains a considerable quantity of water,
which is readily parted with at its boiling-point. The
tallow and wax in the saucepan soon exceed this heat, -and
when the soap is thrown in, its water is violently ex-
pelled ; and if too much be added at a time, the whole may
boil over into the fire and cause mischief; but if it be
thrown in in small pieces, and time be allowed for each
piece to part with its water (which may be known by the
cessation of the ebullition it at first causes), its solution
in the wax and tallow may be safely performed. When
this has taken place, the heat must be continued until the
dense light-colored fumes passing off can be ignited upon
the application of a light. If the flame be two or three
inches high, the saucepan may be removed from the fire,
when the burning will most probably be continued with-
of Lithography. 215
out further application of heat to the bottom. Stirring
with a rod will facilitate the passing off of the vapor, and
will raise the flame higher. If the quantity herein named
be used, it may be burnt perhaps for half an hour; but
whether a longer or shorter time be involved, it must
burn till the twelve ounces are reduced to nearly eight.
This may easily be found by weighing the saucepan at
starting and afterward making an allowance for that
weight during the burning. Arriving at this stage, put
out the flame and add the shellac a little at a time, taking
care that it does not boil over. Add now the black.
We do not allow the mixture to ignite after the shellac
and black have been added, because it is apt to form a
carbonaceous crust on the top. If afterward it is found,
as it probably will be, that the burning has not been con-
tinued long enough, it may be again heated, and the effect
estimated by observing the density of the light-colored
vapor passing off.
It is important that the black should be ground. This
cannot be easily done with any of the ingredients used for
the ink, but if it be ground in turpentine and cautiously
added to the ink, the heat will vaporize the turpentine,
whose place will then be taken by the other molten ingre-
dients, whereas if it were added in the state of dry pow-
der there would be considerable difficulty in properly dif-
fusing it throughout the mass. Good lithographic print-
ing ink, in the same condition as bought from the maker,
may be used for this purpose if an allowance be made for
the small quantity of varnish with which it is ground.
Considerable difference of opinion appears to exist as
to the amount of black to be used. On reference to for-
mulae in our possession, we find it variously stated at
216 Practical Text Book
from one-sixth to one-twentieth of the whole. The fol-
lowing considerations may decide the matter : First. All
blacks are not equally powerful. Second. Ink for use on
stone may have more than that for use upon transfer
paper. Third. Ink with little black makes purer and finer
lines with the ruling-pen than that which has much.
Fourth. Ink for transfer paper should show a gloss when
it becomes dry in the saucer, and the color of a thin solu-
tion should be brown rather than gray. In practice it is
better to err on the side of putting too little than too
much black, because the former can easily be remedied.
The ink, having been brought to this stage, requires
now to be tested to determine whether it is sufficiently
burnt, and we believe we can claim the credit of being the
first to draw attention to, if not to discover, a simple
method for determining this important point. Ink that is
not sufficiently burnt becomes thick and slimy on standing
for two or three hours after mixing with water, but our
method shows at once whether it is burnt enough. Place
about a grain or so on a saucer, and drop upon it a little
distilled water; watch it for a few seconds, and notice
whether the ink appears to become lighter in color; if it
does, it is a sign that the burning has been insufficient.
Heat again, and allow the white fumes to pass off for a
few minutes without catching fire. Try the ink again.
When it retains its blackness upon the addition of water,
we have found that it will also keep in a good working
state, and have made it for law-writing, by the pint.
The ink, having been proved, may now be cast into
sticks for convenient use.
Other substances, such as gum-mastic and Venice tur-
pentine, may be used in making ink.
of Lithography.
217
Type RJ-transfer Ink or Ink for Stone-to-Stone Re-
transfers. Melt two ounces of lithographic writing ink
in a saucepan over the fire. While this is melting mix
two ounces of litho. printing ink with two ounces of var-
nish, add it to the writing ink, and well mix the whole
while it is hot. This may be set aside for use, and will
keep indefinitely.
Ink for the Dabbing Style. This may be made as the
last, with the varnish omitted.
Plate Transfer Ink. The making of re-transfer ink
for taking impressions from copper plates is conducted in
the same manner as that for writing and drawing.
Lithographic Crayons. These are made in precisely
the same manner as the ink, and may even be made of the
same materials if they are burnt sufficiently hard for use
in drawing. A good, useful chalk that will keep well can
be made from equal parts of wax and dry soap.
Crayons may be cast in the flat cake and then cut up
with a saw or hot knife into square pencils, but they are
better cast in a grooved box similar to a druggist's pill-
machine, and pressure applied while hot.
Crayons may be well kept in wide-mouthed bottles
tightly corked.
SENEFELDER'S COMPOSITIONS FOR CRAYONS
No.
Black
Soap
Wax
Tallow
Shellac
Spermaceti
1
2
6
4
2
2
4
8
3
2
4
4
4
4
2
4
8
4
' 3.
5
3
5
8
4
6
3
5
8
2
4
7
3
6
8
4
218 Practical Text Book
Lithographic Varnish. Put two quarts of the best
linseed oil into a saucepan large enough to hold a gallon.
The lid should have a long handle, so that it may be put
on the vessel with safety while the contents are burning.
Set it on a clear fire until white fumes arise. Apply a
lighted paper occasionally until these fumes catch fire and
burn. It must now be watched carefully, so that the
flame shall not become unmanageable. If the flame goes
down a little, it may be increased by stirring with an iron
rod. If it shows a tendency to rise too high, it may be
removed from the fire, when it will still continue to burn.
If it rise too high and threaten to become dangerous, the
lid must be put on, when the flame, being deprived of the
access of air, will be extinguished. If the flame has been
very high, the lid should be kept on long enough to allow
the whole of the oil to cool down a little, for if it were
merely extinguished and reopened it would take fire spon-
taneously and flare up nearly as much as before.
The oil is burnt until it becomes one-sixth less. A
thick slice of bread is now put in and moved about with
a fork until it is browned. It is then allowed to burn a
little more, it being set on the fire again to revive the
flame if the latter has become dull. A second slice is
now put in and cooked in a similar manner. This pro-
ceeding is said to free the oil from its more greasy par-
ticles.
One- fourth of the oil may now be taken away. If on
becoming cold it is of a syrupy nature, it may be set
aside for thin varnish.
The rest having been burnt again for a short time, a
third part of the rest is to be taken away. This is medium
varnish.
of Lithography. 219
The remainder is again burnt, and one-half of it set
aside for strong varnish.
The fourth portion is again burnt, and when cold it
should be thick and ropy.
If these varnishes are not as strong as expected, they
may be burnt again until they become of the required
consistency.
It is necessary to take every precaution to guard
against accident. The operation should not be carried on
in an ordinary apartment, but in a back kitchen or other
place where there are few things about likely to catch fire
or be spoiled by an accident.
Transfer Paper. In an early chapter we explained
the general nature of transfer paper, but now we give a
few recipes.
In making papers for transferring, care should be
taken to select the proper material, so that when coated
with the transfer composition each paper will be best
suited for the work for which it is intended.
For autographic work a good, smooth bond paper
should be used. This same paper can be used for
typewritten work, the only change necessary being the
use of a black ribbon to which some transferring ink and
a drop or two of lavender oil have been added.
For transferring from engraved stones, the best paper
is India or Japanese paper, which has a pliable body, is
readily dampened, and enters into the engraved parts of
the stone under moderate pressure.
Label. For ordinary label work, French folio is best.
It is a closely woven and rolled paper, and in color work
will not distort easily.
220 Practical Text Book
Many labels must be got out at moderate cost and on
cheap grades of paper, which oftentimes will stretch or
shrink in the press during the printing of the colors. In
such cases transparent transfer paper is of much value,
as it allows the pasting up of impressions to a sheet of the
run of the steam press. To insure a perfect register,
even on a cheap grade of stock, tracing transfer paper
should be used, which is made of French tracing paper
covered with the same transfer solution used on the
papers previously mentioned.
Type. For making transfers from type on an ordi-
nary type press, use lightweight coated stock covered
with a firm, smooth coat similar to paper first mentioned
above. It frequently happens in the making of type trans-
fer impressions scraps of India transfer paper are sent to
the type-press room. It is evident that if a soft-bodied
paper be used for that purpose the type impressions will
be indented in the paper to a greater extent than if a
hard-bodied paper be used. Experience proves that even
with the greatest care transfer work spreads more than
original work. Therefore, if a type transfer impression
is not pulled as sharply, clearly and with the least possible
indentation to the transfer paper, the resulting transfer
will bear a thick, heavy appearance when compared with
an impression on paper from the same types.
Transfer Composition. A good coating for transfer
paper can be made from four ounces of starch, eight
ounces of French glue or gelatine, both of which have
been soaked in sufficient water to thoroughly soften
them. Sixteen ounces of boiling water should be poured
slowly into the starch, stirring same steadily. When
of Lithography. 221
thoroughly cooked, add first the French glue or gelatine,
then six ounces of glycerine to produce papers number
one, three, four and five. To transfer paper for en-
graved work, use ten ounces of glycerine. A drop of
gum, with a little coloring matter, will show which side
of the paper carries the coating. The addition of the
white of one or two eggs, thoroughly beaten, to this
composition will improve its transferring qualities.
In practice the imported paper and the French folio
paper are dampened, previous to their use, on the back
with a mixture of one ounce of glycerine to two, three
or four ounces of water, which will keep the transfer
coating of the paper moist from twelve to twenty-four
hours. This dampening solution must vary according to
weather conditions, as on a dry day more glycerine is
necessary to keep the paper in a moist condition than on
a damp day. Experience can alone determine this. In
all large establishments a supply of wet, medium and dry
papers are always kept on hand. Many varieties of the
coating composition can be tried and worked successfully,
but the use of one simple and sure composition is pref-
erable to too many experiments.
Columbia paper, which is made in two grades, moist
and dry, which is exceptionally useful and also reliable
for fine color transferring, is imported from Germany.
It is a machine-made product, uniform in quality through-
out, and, for that reason, superior to a hand-prepared
paper. For all practical purposes, however, the papers
enumerated above, which can be easily prepared with
very little trouble in any establishment, will prove their
value and usefulness.
222 Practical Text Book
Transfer Paper for Warm Stones. Make a size by
boiling parchment cuttings. Let it be so strong that when
cold it will be firm jelly. Grind dry flake-white with
water, add it to the size after warming it, well mix, and
rub through a sieve. The proportion of flake-white may
vary with circumstances. If too much be used, pens will
not work upon it properly, and probably the finest lines
will fail in transferring. Coat the paper with the com-
position with a full brush, or use a sponge, and give two
coats the second when the first is dry. If for writing,
the paper may be thin; if for drawing, it should be
thicker, using drawing paper for very large subjects. The
stone for this paper should be quite warm.
Paper for Cold Stones. Take four ounces of starch
and one ounce of best pale-colored glue. Break the glue
and put it in cold water over night to soak. Mix the
starch with a little cold water, and then pour boiling
water upon it until it thickens, stirring it all the time.
Now put in the glue, and boil over a slow fire or gas-jet;
brush over the paper while warm. This may be used on
tracing paper, printing paper or writing paper.
Coloring Transfer Paper. The addition of coloring
matter to transfer paper is for the more ready determina-
tion of the coated side. Gamboge is generally used, but
any kind of coloring matter will answer the purpose. We
somewhat prefer a light pink tint, because that is distin-
guishable by artificial light, while a yellow is scarcely
visible. Rose-pink, or a solution of cochineal in am-
monia, answers this purpose.
Glazing Transfer Paper. The paper may be pulled
through the litho. press, face down, on a smooth stone;
of Lithography. 223
but it is much better to send it to a hot-presser to have it
properly rolled.
Hanging Transfer Paper Up to Dry. Put lines across
a room, about nine inches apart. Lay the wet paper over
T-shaped piece of wood, and place it on the lines neatly
and cleanly.
Scotch Re-transfer Paper for Plate. The recipe for
this paper has been given in many works treating of
lithography, but, so far as we are aware, always un-
accompanied by the details of manipulation, without
which the formula is comparatively worthless.
Take of plaster of Paris and best seconds flour equal
parts by weight, to which add sufficient coloring matter to
be able to know one side from the other either by day-
light or artificial light. We recommend something of a
red or green hue, because that can be more easily distin-
guished by gaslight than a yellow tint.
To Prepare the Plaster. In this lies the secret of
success. Obtain the best fine plaster from the manu-
facturer of plaster of Paris images, etc. That to be
found in country towns in use by plasterers and others is
usually so coarse as to be worthless for this purpose.
Put half a pound of plaster into a basin that will hold
about two quarts ; pour upon it a little water and mix it
up with a wood spatula until of the consistency of cream.
If it were now let alone it would soon set into a hard,
stone-like mass, but this must be prevented by constant
stirring and the addition of small quantities of water
whenever the plaster shows a tendency to thicken. This
constant stirring and watering will occupy half an hour,
by which time the "setting'' quality of the plaster will be
224 Practical Text Book
destroyed, and may be left while the paste is made from
the flour. Mix half a pound of flour into a smooth paste
with a little water, then add sufficient water to make it
into paste of ordinary consistency when boiled. Set it on
the fire while cold, stir it constantly until it boils, and let
it boil for five minutes. The saucepan should be large
enough to hold twice as much, and the fire a slow one, or
the paste may be expected to boil over. If this should
happen, some will be lost and the proportions destroyed,
when it will be better to make a new lot than to run the
risk of spoiling the transfer paper.
The paste is now to be added to the plaster and well
mixed, after which it must be passed through a piece of
cloth or fine sieve (the i2O-hole 'sieve for sifting graining
sand will do admirably) by putting in a little at a time
and rubbing it through with a stumpy hog-hair brush.
When all has been passed through, the composition may
be applied to the paper with a large flat camel-hair brush
about four inches wide. If any difficulty is experienced
in spreading it evenly, it may be too thick, and can be
diluted with water to a proper working consistency, a
matter to be determined by experience. Our practice is
to brush it on in one direction, and then to lightly brush
it at right angles until it presents a uniform layer of
about the thickness of thin cardboard. We recommend
the beginner to use a tablespoon or other similar con-
venient measure for measuring an equal quantity for
each sheet ; by adopting this method sufficient composition
may be applied at one operation. Some recommend two
coatings to be given with a sponge, but a sponge is not at
all suitable for laying it on; something is required that
of Lithography. 225
will glide over the surface and leave a body underneath.
If some suitable coloring matter be used, it will ma-
terially assist the beginner by enabling him to see whether
the composition is laid on evenly. The sheet, haying
been coated, is to be hung on a line to dry as in making
other transfer paper. A thin demy printing paper, about
fifteen pounds to the ream, will be good enough for this
purpose.
Red and Black Tracing Papers. The preparation of
these is very simple. Tissue paper is a much better
foundation than tracing paper, the varnish of which is
apt to unite with the coloring matter and prevent its
transference to the stone. Lay out the paper upon a
smooth board, sift upon* it some powdered red chalk or
black lead and rub it in, being careful not to tear the
paper; when the paper is well covered, the superfluous
color may be first removed with a hard brush and finally
wiped with a cloth. Its effect may now be tried on stone
or paper. If it is too dark, more color may be removed
with a cloth.
Red chalk paper should be used for lithography, and
blacklead paper for designs, etc., on paper, because the
blacklead can be removed with india-rubber, though the
red chalk may be removed by bread-crumbs.
Chrome yellow may be used for paper employed in
tracing on black grounds in engraving on stone ; when the
color of the ground is red, fine Paris black makes the best
tracing paper (see Engraving on Stone).
Transfer Papers for Re -transferring Color Wark.
The Scotch transfer paper will answer almost every pur-
pose for re-transferring where correct register is not re-
226 Practical Text Book
quired, as in the multiplication of color subjects. For
this purpose thin foreign post paper may be coated with
starch paste and afterward well rolled when dry, so as to
restore its semi-transparency and render it in other re-
spects suitable for the purpose. Stout tracing paper may
be employed with the same treatment where a more
transparent paper is required. Copying letter paper may
also be employed. When the main object, of seeing the
work sufficiently well through the paper, is secured, it
only remains to give such a coating as will take a good
impression and stick sufficiently to the wet stone.
Transfer Paper for Chalk Drawings. Stout printing
paper is thickly coated with the Scotch transfer composi-
tion, to which a little glue has been added. After drying,
it is rolled on the stippled plates, or pulled once through
the press under heavy pressure on a grained stone.
Porcelain or Enamel Paper. This paper is employed
in printing where brilliancy of effect is sought, whether
for color or bronze work. Although we do not wish to
recommend its manufacture by the printer, it will be as
well for him to understand something of its make and
properties.
Ordinary enamel paper is prepared by brushing over
common printing paper a mixture of flake or Kremnitz
white with fine light-colored glue and a little alum. The
glue must be only sufficient to prevent the white from
peeling off the paper during printing. If too much were
used, the paper would be hard and non-absorbent. If
zinc-white be used instead of the lead-white, it will be
less liable to change color in impure air. The mixture
may consist of 4 oz, of Russian glue dissolved in 3 quarts
of Lithography. 227
of water; in this grind 1^2, Ibs. of zinc-white and pass
through a sieve. Apply two coats. When dry, the paper
may be polished by brushing with a somewhat hard hair-
brush, and subsequently further glazed by rolling on pol-
ished metal plates.
We believe that sulphate of baryta is sometimes used
instead of zinc-white, and that a mixture of white, turp-
entine, and oil varnish is also used for a similar purpose.
Enamel cards are damped by placing them between
sheets of damp paper.
Preserving the Drawings on Stone after Printing.
It is too often the practice in lithographic printing offices
to take but little notice of the stone when the first order
from it has been executed, but if there is only a remote
chance of its being required again, means ought to be
taken, as far as possible, to insure that the stone be in
fair printing condition when another edition is called for.
Drawings may be preserved by using the following ink :
Ordinary printing-ink, as bought from the ink-
maker 2 OZ.
Tallow 2 oz.
Beeswax 4 oz.
The tallow and wax are to be melted over the fire,
and the printing-ink added a little at a time until dis-
solved.
When about to be used, a small quantity must be
ground with turpentine until of the consistency of ordin-
ary printing ink. Wash out the drawing with the wash-
ing-out mixture, or with turpentine only, and roll in with
the above ink until the drawing shows clearly, using a
small quantity of gum on the stone to keep it quite clean.
228 Practical Text Book
Set the stone aside for a few hours until the turpentine
has quite evaporated, and then gum in with gum-water
containing carbolic acid.
Another Method: Roll the stone with ordinary print-
ing ink. Dust with powdered resin and allow time for the
ink and resin to incorporate and become hard. Take a
spoilt impression of the job, and brush over the back of it
with gum-water; lay its gummed side to the stone and
pull through the press. Gumming the paper instead of
the stone will more effectually exclude the air, and thus
prevent "oxidation" of the ink, for which "drying" is
only another name. The resin, having no tendency to
dry, will very materially assist the preservation of the ink
in such a condition as to be soluble in turpentine.
If the stone is to be laid by in a very dry place, the
addition of a little glycerine to the gum will prevent its
cracking. It is better than sugar, molasses, etc.
Rolling Up Drawings that Have Been Laid Aside For
a Long Time. First try the effect of turpentine mixed
with a little oil after the gum has been moistened. If
this does not remove the old ink, gum the stone again,
dab it over with the damping cloth so as to prevent the
gum overlying the ink and allow it to dry. Turpentine
may now be permitted to lie upon the stone until the ink
is dissolved. If turpentine be ineffective in softening the
ink, benzoline or oil of tar may be tried. It must be
understood that no water be employed, so that the gum
remains undissolved and so thoroughly to protect the un-
inked portion of the stone from receiving any greasy mat-
ter. If the ink still resists the action of the solvent fric-
tion may be employed. The solvent may be employed
of Lithography. 229
with coarse flannel, and may even be assisted by the addi-
tion of some abrading material, such as chalk, tripoli,
rouge, or Indian red. These will have little or no effect
on the gum, and when sufficient ink is removed, the stone
may be washed with oil and turps, the gum dissolved
with water, and the stone rolled up in the usual way.
Transferring from Music Plates. Music is usually
engraved by punching the forms of the notes, etc., on soft
white metal plates, which will not stand the heat em-
ployed in taking transfers from copper and steel plates.
As the music contains no fine lines, it is unnecessary to
employ the hard ink used for finer work. The music
plates may be filled in while cold with the ink used for
pulling re-transfers from stone, and wiped from the sur-
face with rags in the usual way. The scum left on the
plate will be considerable, and if the impression were
pulled upon the ordinary transfer paper, would give much
trouble when transferred to stone.
To Prevent Set-off on Stone. Anti-Damping Fluid.
When it is necessary to print two or more colors in
succession without time being allowed for drying, the
color first printed sets off upon the stone. If it be a black
or similar color followed by a delicate one, such as bright
red, the black set-off will be taken up by and soil the ink
upon the roller. This may be much modified or alto-
gether prevented by adding to the damping water some
substance which retains moisture a long time, such as
sugar, common salt, glycerine, chloride of lime, etc. These
may be used separately or in combination with each other,
or with gum.
Backing Stones. When stones less than two inches
230 Practical Text Book
thick, or even thicker ones when large, are used in the
press, they are apt to break when much pressure is em-
ployed. Such stones are best "backed" with slabs or
slate or other lithographic stones. It is performed as
follows :
Mix up ordinary plaster of Paris to the consistency of
very thin paste, spread this upon the slab, and place the
stone upon it. Move it about until it is felt to rest pretty
firmly upon its seat. By this time much of the plaster
will be squeezed out from between the stones, and should
be neatly plastered round the base of the upper stone, so
as to better secure it. If the plaster be new the stone
may be used in the press in about an hour.
Enlarging and Reducing Processes. There is no
doubt but that the photo-lithographic process is the most
efficient means of obtaining copies for lithography in al-
tered dimensions. There is, however, another process
which possesses advantages of its own, and which, un-
like photography, can be carried on at any time. It will
be easily understood, if a sheet of thin india-rubber be
prepared with an elastic transfer composition, and an im-
pression be made upon it in transfer-ink, that by suit-
able mechanism it may be stretched to a larger size, and
while at that size it may be retransferred to stone. In like
manner, if the india-rubber be stretched before the im-
pression is taken upon it, it may be allowed to contract to
a smaller size before it is re-transferred.
Quick-drying Stopping-out Varnish. Resin dissolved
in common benzoline makes a good stopping-out varnish
for use in etched tint making, or for any other purpose
where it is necessary to protect the work during etching
of Lithography. 231
with strong acid. It dries very quickly so quickly, in
deed, that the stone may be etched a few minutes after it
is laid on, and it is easily dissolved by turpentine during
the washing-out process.
Economy of Rags. Rags are used in washing out the
black ink previously to rolling up the subject in color,
and unless economy be practised, much more will be used
than is really necessary. They may be greatly econo-
mized by judicious use. Cut them into convenient size
pieces. The stone should be sprinkled with a little turpen-
tine and the whole of the ink dissolved before the rag is
used to absorb it. The stone is then sprinkled again, and
a second rag taken to wipe it with.
Lithographers, Please Note:
THAT WE ARE CARRYING THE
LARGEST STOCK OF
HIGH GRADE
LITHO STONES
in the United States
You Inspection Invited
Stone Warehouse at 290 Pearl St., N. Y.
es for the Engraver
Pressman
Transferrer
Artist
Complete line of
Blankets
Inks
Bronze Powders, etc.
CENTRAL COMMERCIAL COMPANY
C. R. SHATTUCK, General Manager
New York City
Main Office: 304 WEST RANDOLPH ST., CHICAGO, ILL.
Branches at
Cincinnati St. Louis Minneapolis Boston Paris, France
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co.
29 Warren St., New York
150 N. Fourth St., Philadelphia
328 Dearborn St., Chicago
Factories, Rutherford, N. J.
Machinery
Bronzing Machines
Bronze Dusting Machines
Everything for the Lithographer
PARKER'S
PREPARED PLATES
WILL NOT OXYDIZE
Parker Solutions
Best in the World
Everything Pertaining to Metal Plates
for Lithographers
Write for Particulars
nnn
Parker Process Company
31-39 Washington Street, Brooklyn, N. Y.
230 St. Clair Ave., N. E., Cleveland, Ohio
Order from Nearest Factory
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co.
29 Warren St., New York
150 N. Fourth St., Philadelphia
328 Dearborn St., Chicago
Factories, Rutherford, N. J.
Litho. Stones
Litho. Inks
Litho. Materials
and
Complete Outfits
For Metal Decorating Plants
Metal Coating Mackme
Everything for the Lithographer
HALFTONE
OFFSET PLATES
WE are the pioneers in making Offset
Plates for Lithographers.
We furnish over 60% of all halftone users
with plates for the offset press in this coun-
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Our work is of the highest quality possible
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We make plates in any number of colors on
zinc, stone or aluminum, and furnish offset
proofs printed from the offset press.
Our prices are reasonable.
We use the only practical high-light pro-
cess, which automatically eliminates the
screen from the high lights.
LITHO AND OFFSET
ENGRAVING CO. : :
41 1 Pearl Street, New York City, N. Y.
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co.
29 Warren St., New York
150 N. Fourth St., Philadelphia
328 Dearborn St., Chicago
Factories, Rutherford, N. J.
Litho. Supplies and
Machinery
Rubber Transfer Cylinder Handpress
Everything for the Lithographer
Telephone 6492 Barclay
AUG. C. METZ
jlrtist Lithographer to the
59 PARK PLACE - - - NEW YORK
Estimates Subject to Change After Reasonable Time
Not Responsible for Delays Beyond Our Control
Sketches and Art Lithographic The Only Art-Litho Atelier
Drawings of All Kinds : : : with an International Reputation
Have You Tried
"SENELITH"?
It is the Litho Stone which gives you
satisfaction. Apply for prices to
THE SENEFELDER LITHO STONE CO.
187 Washington Street, New York
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co.
29 Warren St., New York 328 Dearborn St., Chicago
1 50 N. Fourth St., Philadelphia Factories, Rutherford, N. J.
Litho. Inks
For Stone, Aluminum, Zinc and
Offset Presses
Litho. Stones
Litho. Supplies
Bronze Powder
Everything for the Lithographer
Consult
THE
NATIONAL LITHOGRAPHER'S
Classified
Want Ad. Page
FOR
Skillful Help
Good Situations
Sale Notices
of Second Hand Machines
Best Classified Want Ad. Page
for Lithographers in the
Read by every Lithographer in America
RATES
Situations "Wanted, four lines or less $1.00 per insertion
Help Wanted, " $2.00 "
Sale Notices, " $2.00 "
All other "Wants 50c. per line. No Adv. less than $2.00
Cash must in each case accompany copy and order
<Tke NATIONAL LITHOGRAPHER
150 Nassau Street New York City
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co.
29 Warren St., New York
150 N. Fourth St., Philadelphia
328 Dearborn St., Chicago
Factories, Rutherford, N. J.
Rutherford
Rotary Metal Decorating
Litho. Press
Also Makers of
The Simplest and Most Efficient
Coating Machines
Everything for the Lithographer
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Lithographer
THE ONLY LITHOGRAPHIC TRADE PAPERo PUB-
LISHED IN AMERICA : : : : : : :
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ISSUED on the Fifteenth of each month.
of Live Matter for Lithographers. ^Subscrip-
tion price $2.00 per year in advance ; foreign sub-
scriptions, $2.50.
The NATIONAL LITHOGRAPHER
150 Nassau Street New York City
'CVie National Lithographer's Sample Book of Offset Printing
containing specimens of Offset Press work in black and colors on differ-
ent kinds of paper. Tells how to do it. Price 50c per copy, postpaid,
The NATIONAL LITHOGRAPHER, 150 Nassau Street, New York City
Trade Directory for Machinery
and Supplies
Bronzing and Dusting Machines
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Bronze. Powders
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Bronze Sieves
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Black Mixers
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Coating Machines
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Color Mixers
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Colortype Inks
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Copper and Zinc Plates
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Damping Machines
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Embossing or Roughing Machines
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Engravers' Proving Ink
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Gold Ink
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Ink Mills
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Lacquering Machines
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Lichtdruck Inks
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Lithographic Hand Presses
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Litho. Ruling Machines
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Lithographic Stones, Inks and Supplies
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Metal Dusting Machines
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Offset Presses
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Photo Engravers' Supplies
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Photogravure Inks
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Printing Inks
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Rubber Transfer Cylinder Hand Presses
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Stone Grinders, Planers and Grainers
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Tin Litho. Presses
The Fuchs & Lang Mfg. Co., New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
Established 1855
Bobt. Mayer & Co.
Lithographic
Machinery
Inks and Supplies
Importers of Lithographic Stones and Materials
Fifth Avenue Building, Broadway and 23d Street
San Francisco NEW YORK Seattle
HEADQUARTERS FOR STRICTLY PURE
Burnt Lithographic Varnish
Established 1865
C. W. H. CARTER
8 Ferry Street New York, N. Y.
"K. B." BLANKS
MADE LIKE A BANK NOTE
Exclusive Bonds and Stock Certificates are made with the use of these blanks
They are steel engraved and printed on Crane's Bond Paper. They are the only
line of steel engraved blanks on the market. Every lithographer should have them.
Write for samples and prices.
KIHN BROTHERS BANK NOTE ENGRAVERS AND PRINTERS
99-1O3 BEEKMAN STREET NEW YORK
THE BEST THAT MONEY CAN BUY
^Tkc German-American
Bronze Powder Mfg. Co.
90 Warren Street, New York
are the sole selling agents in America for all products of the
Metallpapier-Bronzefarben-Blattmetallwerke, A.-G., whose head-
quarters are in Munich, and the Blattmetallrollen-Gesellschaft in
Dresden, makers of gold cigarette tips.
If you want Leaf Metal Bronze Fine Brilliant
Durable Greaseless, and Far Reaching in Covering
Power, we have it.
Why not use the same Bronze as the best Litho-
graphers in Germany ?
Samples submitted and prices quoted on import order basis or
from stock.
.Everything
for the Lithographer
J. H. & G. B. SIEBOLD
106-110 CENTRE STREET
NEW YORK
JOSEPH E. ROSENTHAL
Established 25 Years
Largest Litho Artist Studio
in New York City
413 BROADWAY
Sketches and Drawings on Stone of Finest Crayon and Stipple Work
CHARLES WAGNER
Lithographic Press Machinist
bought, sold and exchanged.
Lithographic Rollers of all kinds carried in stock or made to order.
587 HUDSON ST., NEW YORK CITY
EOWARD RODE..
200 WILLIAM 5T,>
METAL PLATE PRINTING
A Treatise on Printing in the Lithographic
Manner from Zinc and Aluminum Plates
Compiled, arranged and edited in the most comprehensive
manner, in the office of the Rational Lithographer, by
WARREN C &ROWNE
This book, which contains 184 pages, is the most
comprehensive text book ever published. It covers the question
of lithographing from a metal plate covers it fully and
plainly, so that anybody who can read plain English can
understand it. It illustrates every make of offset press now
on the market. If you contemplate the introduction of an
offset press at any time, or are* interested in the progress of
lithography, you cannot afford to be without this book.
PRICE, $2.00, POSTPAID
CONTENTS.
Preparing the Plates; Engraving on Metal Plates;
Preserving the Plates ; Zinc and Aluminum ; Alterations ;
Transferring on Metal Plates ; Proving ; Transfer Paper ;
Re-transferring; Re-transferring from Type; The Offset
Press ; Illustrations of Offset Presses of To-day ; The Offset
Process ; Metal Plate Presswork ; Photo-lithography ;
Solutions, Formulas, etc.
PUBLISHED AND FOR SALE BY
THE NATIONAL LITHOGRAPHER
150 NASSAU STREET NEW YORK CITY
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