Making a print from an aluminium plate

The best way to see how successfully a plate has been etched is to make a print from it. Once the resist is removed from the plate after etching, it is ready to print from.

Ink is worked into the plate and then the surface wiped clean, so that the ink remains in the etched areas only.

The plate is then positioned on the etching press.

Damp paper is placed over the plate and then they are passed through the press and then the paper carefully peeled back. The image on the paper is the reverse to that on the plate. The resulting print shows that the depth of the etch is good and has a strong contrast to the text.

After the print is completed, the plate is cleaned. If the plate was to be used as the finished artwork in its own right, then the text would be placed on the plate the correct way round.