Solar Plate Printing

Before inking eliminate the sharp corners of the plate with a file and remove the burr from the steel backing.

Solar plate printing.

Solar plate printmaking or polymer etch is a relatively new print process that enables images to be established onto metal plates by exposure to light using sunlight or an ultra violet light source. Solar plates are a simple safe and fast approach to etching and relief printing that does not use grounds acids or solvents. Solar plates are made with a special photopolymer that hardens when exposed to a uv light source. My inventory currently consists of a large quantity of 8x10 s since its been our most popular size.

Now the technique is widely known as solarplate printmaking or solar etching a term that describes so well the way many printmakers are working exposing plates in. This post is going to show you the steps for printing solar plates through genna s wedding invitation. The plate cannot be harmed by being left in the sun for time past the curing stage so it is better to leave it out for longer than risk inking an under developed plate. For our purposes solar plates are quite forgiving.

Solar plate printing was the process past resident monica lacey worked with while staying with us last summer. Bright sunlight or a uv bulb. Plate thickness is less than standard zinc or copper and presses should be adjusted accordingly. With this hopeful small chance i am crossing my fingers that solarplate can continue.

Uv light sources can be purchased or made but i prefer to use a free source of uv light we call the sun. Printing may be done in either relief or intaglio. The plates are developed by washing in water and can be printed as intaglio or relief prints. Ink wipe and print as an intaglio.

You can work in normal indoor lighting conditions with incandescent or fluorescent light bulbs. Dan welden an american printmaker found that by exposing a plate in the sun he could make a high quality intaglio plate very simply and cuickly thus the name solar plate. Step five filing the plate. Nontoxic cleanup when finished printing solarplate can be cleaned using nontoxic methods.

Solarplate is a light sensitized steel backed polymer material used by artists as an alternative to hazardous printing techniques. The resulting plates reproduce fine. Unlike traditional etching techniques no. A friendly competitor involved in the industrial printing world is looking into manufacturing the plates.

Images can be transferred from clear film such as acetate or true grain to the plate using a source of ultra violet light i e.