HUSON ON 
 
 PHOTO-AQUATINT 
 
 AND PHOTOGRAVURE 
 
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HIHUSON ON 
 
 PHOTO-AQUATINT 
 & PHOTOGRAVURE 
 
 A PRACTICAL TREATISE 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND A PHOTO-AQUATINT PLATE 
 
 BY 
 
 THOS. HUSON, R.I., R.E. 
 
 To which is appended 
 A TREATISE 
 
 ON 
 
 Machine Printed Photogravure 
 
 Chiefly Compiled from a number of Original 
 Articles Contributed to The Process Photograiii during 1896-7 
 
 BY 
 
 A. VILLAIN AND J. WILLIAM SMITH 
 
 LONDON 
 
 PUBLISHED FOR " THE PHOTOGRAM, Ld." 
 BY 
 
 1 ID)AWBARN & WARD, Ld., 6 Farringdon Avenue, E.G. 
 ♦ German Edition: KLIMSCH & CO., Frankfort-on-Main. 
 
PUBLISHED FOE 
 THE PHOTOGEAM LIMITED, 
 LONDON, E.G. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The Author feels that no apology is needed in 
 introducing this work to the public. He has a 
 lively recollection of the many troubles which beset 
 his path at the time when he first determined to 
 make himself master of the processes dealt with 
 in the following pages; for at that period, though 
 the general principles on which Photogravure was 
 founded were known, it was practically a secret 
 process. Such details as were published were not 
 only meagre, but, as the author found, in many 
 cases quite unreliable and misleading. 
 
 In the present work no process is described and 
 recommended (many, indeed, are of the Author's 
 own devising) which has not been well tried and 
 approved of by himself. 
 
 THOS. HUSON. 
 
 NoRTHCOTB, "Waterloo, 
 NEAR Liverpool, 
 June 1897. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Photo-aquatint. Explanatory, 9 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 PHOTO-AQUATINT AND PHOTOGRAVURE. 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 I. introductory, 13 
 
 II. BRIEF GENERAL DESCRIPTION, .... 16 
 III. THE NEGATIVE AND TRANSPARENCY, . . .17 
 IV. THE TISSUE — PRINTING — THE RESIST, . .. . 21 
 V. THE PLATE — DUST GROUND — "DEVILS," . . 25 
 
 VI. MOUNTING AND DEVELOPING THE RESIST, . . 33 
 
 VII. THE MORDANT — ETCHING, 37 
 
 VIIL THE TALBOT-KLIC PROCESS, 45 
 
 IX. A COMPARISON : PHOTO-AQUATINT WITH PHOTO- 
 GRAVURE, 48 
 
 X. PRINTING FROM THE PLATE, 50 
 
 XI. RETOUCHING, ETC., . . . . . . .60 
 
 XII. STEEL-FACING THE PLATE, 68 
 
 XIII. MAKING A REVERSING MIRROR, .... 74 
 
8 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 MACHINE-PRINTED PHOTOGRAVURE. 
 
 CHAP. PAOE 
 
 I. OUTLINE OP THE PROCESS, 80 
 
 II. TRANSFERRING A FILM RESIST, .... 85 
 
 III. MORE DURABLE PLATES OR ROLLERS, ... 98 
 
 IV. THE METHOD OP PRINTING, 102 
 
 V. ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS, 109 
 
 Frontispiece. — Photo-aquatint Print from a plate by Thomas 
 HusoN, R.I., R.E., after one of his own paintings. 
 
 Supplement to the Second Treatise. —Machine-printed 
 Photogravure, by the Rembrandt Intaglio Printing 
 Co., after a negative by Catherine Weed Ward. 
 
PHOTO-AQUATINT. 
 
 A few weeks ago an excellent little book dealing with 
 the bichromate-gum process of pigment-printing was issued 
 from the office of The Amateur Photographer. The book 
 was written by Messrs Alfred Maskell and E. Demachy, 
 and took as its first title Photo-aquatint. In spite of 
 this it has been decided to issue the present little book 
 under the title first planned for it; and to use for the 
 process of Photo-engraving here described the name 
 coined for it at the time of its first announcement, by Mr 
 Huson, and used by him consistently and publicly ever 
 since. Hence, in the interests of historical accuracy, and 
 to save ourselves from a charge of plagiarism, it seems 
 well to print the following extracts from The Amateur 
 Photographer of May 28tli, 1897. The letters first 
 quoted were in answer to an editorial note which implied 
 that Mr Huson's use of the term photo-aquatint, in a 
 paper read before the Eoyal Photographic Society, was 
 his first use of the term, and was subsequent to Mr 
 Maskell's application thereof to a totally different process. 
 As a matter of fact, Mr Huson's right of priority is of 
 some years' standing (the claim quoted below was made 
 long before the pubhcation of Mr Maskell's book), and 
 there seems no real reason to drop the term and coin 
 another, because it has been subsequently and unfortunately 
 applied to a different process. 
 
10 
 
 ?HOTO-AQUATINT. 
 
 FKOM THE AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER, 
 
 May 28, 1897. 
 
 PHOTO-AQUATINT. 
 
 SiK, — Your note on the front page of the current issue 
 raises the question of precedence in the use of the above 
 term. Mr Huson's use of it at the Royal Photographic 
 Society was not by any means his first, for he had an 
 article in the Process Pliotogram for September 1895 
 (page 107), in which he used as a sub-title, "Notes on 
 Photogravure or Photo- Aquatint." In the following 
 issue, page 133, was a second article with this sub-title 
 used as its main title. We are under the impression that 
 Mr Huson has used the same title for his special method 
 of photogravure in other and earlier publications ; and as 
 this is not a second title given to an already well-known 
 process, but a title given to distinguish a greatly modified 
 process worked out by Mr Huson from the photogravure 
 process already known, we think you will see that the 
 title properly belongs to him and to his process, and 
 cannot reasonably be taken by Mr AKred Maskell to 
 describe the bichromate gum process, or to entitle a book 
 dealing with that process. — Yours faithfully, 
 
 The Editoes op the Photogram. 
 
 Sir, — My attention has been drawn to a paragraph 
 which appears at page 209 of your issue for 21st inst., 
 in which you state that you are under the impression that 
 the first use of the term photo-aquatint was in your 
 columns of April 23rd. Please note that your impres- 
 sion is a mistaken one. 
 
PHOTO-AQUATINT. 
 
 11 
 
 It is some years since I first adopted this term to 
 indicate the modification of the Talbot-Klic process of 
 photogravure which I practise, and you will find it in 
 various published articles from my pen, as, for instance, 
 in the Process Pliotogram for September 1895, "Cause 
 and Cure of * Devils,' Notes on Photogravure or Photo- 
 aquatint." And again in the same journal for October 
 1895, "Notes on Photogravure or Photo-aquatint." — 
 Yours truly, Thos. Huson. 
 
 Commenting also on the paragraph referred to, Mr 
 Alfred Maskell, in the course of a letter on another 
 matter received this week, says : — " ' Aquatint ' is already 
 known in connection with etching (though, in my opinion, 
 a misleading term), but I use the term ' photo-aquatint ' 
 for the gum-bichromate process to express the use of 
 looter colors employed." It is certainly regrettable, as 
 Mr Huson has the right of priority, that the word photo- 
 aquatint should now have two meanings, though it is 
 probable that whilst the process which Mr Maskell so 
 enthusiastically exploits would be more euphoniously 
 named photo-aquatint, it will be for ever known by the 
 more uncompromising title of "gum-bichromate." 
 
 Unless we are mistaken (and, if we are, we shall be 
 glad if Mr Huson will set us right), this gentleman uses 
 the term photo-aquatint to signify a photo-etched result 
 which bears a close resemblance to appearance of aquatint. 
 Mr Maskell would seem to have used the term as descrip- 
 tive of the means employed rather than the appearance of 
 the finished result, and even in that case we fancy " gum- 
 bichromate " would have been best. — Ed. A. P. 
 
BOOK I. 
 
 PHOTO-AQUATOT AlfD 
 PHOTOGRAVURE. 
 
 CHAPTEE 1. 
 Introductory. 
 
 In the old-fashioned engraver's process of Aqua- 
 tint, a polished copperplate was prepared by deposit- 
 ing on its surface a layer of minute grains of some 
 resinous and acid-resisting substance. This was 
 sometimes done from the solution of the resin in 
 spirits of wine, in which case the grain made its 
 appearance on the evaporation of the solvent, 
 attached to the plate, and ready for etching; at 
 others, the resinous particles were deposited in the 
 form of dust, and were attached to the plate by 
 fusion. On the plate thus prepared the artist 
 traced the outlines of his subject, the highest lights 
 
14 
 
 ofj^which were then painted out, " stopped out " 
 being the technical term, with an acid-resisting 
 varnish. The plate was then immersed in a suit- 
 able etching solution long enough to bite all of the 
 unstopped parts of it to the depth of what were to 
 be the palest tints in the finished picture. Stopping 
 out was then again resorted to for the second tints, 
 and so on, imtil the whole plate was bitten to 
 various depths suitable to a reproduction of the 
 scheme of light and dark of the picture. 
 
 In Photo-aquatint the plate undergoes precisely 
 the same preparation, as to its ground, as that just 
 described, but instead of etching in stages by 
 stopping out, the aid of photography is called in, 
 and gradated etching is achieved by attaching to 
 the grounded plate a negative picture in insoluble 
 gelatin, through the various thicknesses of which 
 the etching solution slowly percolates, attacking the 
 , copperplate underneath, and biting it in gradation 
 corresponding to the various thicknesses of gelatin 
 through which it has to work its way — the 
 thinnest portions of gelatin covering those parts of 
 the plate which will be the deepest shadows, and 
 the thickest, the high-lights, with various gradations 
 between. 
 
 It will be seen from this sketch of the two 
 processes, that there is a strong resemblance between 
 them in many ways, and, to my mind, Photo- 
 aquatint would have been a more descriptive title to 
 apply to this kind of photo-engraving, than Photo- 
 
1.5 
 
 gravure. As, however, the latter term has become 
 well established, I have for some years used the 
 term photo-aquatint to describe the particular 
 modification of photogravure which I practise, and 
 which it. is my purpose to describe, together with an 
 outline of the usual -photogravure process, in the 
 following pages. 
 
16 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 Bkief General Description of Photo-aquatint 
 AND Photogravure. 
 
 A copper plate, polished on its face, is taken. 
 On this a ground of resinous particles is laid, now, 
 almost exclusively, by the deposition of dust by 
 means of a suitably constructed box. The dust 
 particles are then fused by heating the plate. On 
 the prepared plate a picture is developed by the 
 carbon process. This carbon picture is known as 
 the " resist." The back and edges of the plate are 
 then protected by acid-resisting varnish. The plate 
 is now etched through the substance of the carbon 
 picture by means of a solution of perchloride of iron, 
 and, the etching being completed, the carbon resist 
 is removed, also the dust ground, and the plate is 
 ready for printing in the rolling-press, by copper- 
 plate printers' methods. 
 
17 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Negative and Transparency. 
 
 The first essential for the production of a satis- 
 factory plate is a first-rate negative. It will be 
 sufficient to say that it must be of the best kind, 
 one which will give a satisfactory transparency by 
 whatever process the worker decides that this is to 
 be made. Any attempts to use hard, under-exposed 
 negatives wanting in gradation, will surely end in 
 waste of material, failure, and disappointment. 
 
 The Transparency. — This must be reversed. The 
 usual plan, in working from an unreversed nega- 
 tive, is to make the transparency by means of the 
 carbon process. The Autotype Company's " Special 
 Transparency " tissue is convenient for the purpose. 
 If a carbon transparency is to be used, it must in 
 all cases be strongly intensified, which can easily be 
 done by immersing it in a solution of permanganate 
 
 B 
 
18 
 
 of potash. This quickly alters the colour of the 
 picture to a very non-actinic brown. The difficulty 
 with transparencies of this kind, is to correctly 
 estimate their strength, as, owing to the very non- 
 actinic quality of the color, what may appear to be 
 a somewhat thin transparency may turn out to be 
 too dense to give satisfactory results. 
 
 I much prefer, whenever possible, to work from 
 a reversed negative, and to use plates coated with 
 emulsion of the lantern-slide type for the trans- 
 parency. Either the gelatin or collodion varieties 
 of emulsion are good, and no pains should be 
 spared to get the transparency as pej-fect as pos- 
 sible, as, if this be done, the subsequent parts of 
 the process are comparatively plain sailing, whereas 
 any deficiency in the transparency means work of 
 a more or less difficult kind on the copper plate 
 at a later stage of the process. The kind of 
 transparency to aim for is one which, when held 
 at a suitable angle to a sheet of white paper 
 strongly illuminated by reflected light, looks quite 
 satisfactory in its gradations and strength of light 
 and shade. A brilliant transparency of the lantern- 
 shde type will be sure to give good results by this 
 process. 
 
 If the transparency should be uneven in gradation 
 or its strongest darks wanting in depth, much can 
 be done by the judicious use of the retoucher's 
 pencil, or, in the case of those who have the 
 requisite artistic skill, by careful painting up with 
 
19 
 
 varnish colours of tone to match that of the 
 transparency ; working either on front, or back, or 
 both, as may seem needful. I have sometimes, in 
 landscape subjects, put in with good effect whole 
 skies in this way. 
 
 The colors I have found most convenient to use 
 are blue-black, Trench blue, rose madder, and 
 Caledonian brown or burnt sienna. These are 
 ordinary oil-paints, and should be thinned with copal 
 varnish, or some strong-drying medium, and, of 
 course, the painted transparency must be allowed to 
 dry very thoroughly before attempting to use it for 
 printing from. 
 
 The glass on which the transparency is printed 
 should have a margin of about | inch all round to 
 allow of a suitable " safe edge " being attached 
 without encroaching on the picture. For safe edge 
 I find the gummed strips of black paper sold as 
 lantern-slide binders, convenient. 
 
 The limits of the picture should be marked on the 
 face of the transparency, and a strip of paper care- 
 fully gummed down (also on the face of the 
 transparency) each side of the picture. I am aware 
 that it is usually advised to do this on the back of 
 the plate to avoid the risk of frilling, or lifting of 
 the film when the resist is being developed ; but (I 
 speak from extensive experience) I have never had 
 the least trouble on this score, and it is easier to 
 adjust the paper strips on the face than on the back 
 of the plate. 
 
20 
 
 The strips being attached, mark them in pencil 
 at each of the four corners, thus : — 
 
 Fig. 1. 
 
 These pencil-marks will be the guide to the 
 adjustment of the carbon tissue which is to form 
 the resist. 
 
21 
 
 CHAP TEE IV. 
 
 Sensitising and Drying the Tissue. Feinting. 
 The Eesist. 
 
 For the resist, the Autotype Company's "Special 
 Autogravure" tissue, will be found well adapted. 
 There are several varieties, all equally good. The 
 choice of which to use is a matter of individual 
 taste. I prefer the " Eed " variety. 
 
 The usual plan of sensitising and drying the 
 tissue is clearly described by the Autotype Company 
 in their instructions. My own method is as 
 follows : — 
 
 Dissolve bichromate of potash in the proportion 
 of 1 oz. to 1 pint of water, add 5 drops of liquor 
 ammonia to each pint of solution, and filter. This 
 is the sensitising solution. 
 
 Use a deep pattern dish for this, and enough 
 solution to fill it to the depth of not less than an 
 inch. Immerse the tissue, and carefully remove 
 
22 
 
 air-bubbles from both front and back by means of 
 a soft camel-hair brush. Allow the tissue to 
 remain in the bath for three minutes, then remove 
 it, and place it face downwards on a clean sheet of 
 ferrotype plate. Eemove the surplus solution from 
 it by passing a squeegee several times over it, and 
 put it aside to dry. 
 
 The drying-box which I use, and which I find 
 most convenient, is one large enough inside for each 
 side to hold a full-sized ferrotype plate. It 
 measures internally, 12 inches deep X 15 X 15. The 
 lid is light-tight. The bottom of the box is occupied 
 by a strong tinned-iron tray, about 2 inches deep : 
 an ordinary dripping-pan is as good as anything else, 
 containing asbestos, well soaked in a strong solution 
 of chloride of calcium, and afterwards dried. Over 
 the tray is a loose cover of wire netting, with 
 meshes of f inch diameter. The ferrotype plates, 
 with the sensitised tissue squeegeed on to them, are 
 suspended by hooks to the sides of the box, the lid 
 put on, and in the course of a few hours the tissue 
 will be found dry, stripped from the temporary 
 support, and lying on the wire netting. 
 
 As taken from the chloride of calcium box it 
 will be too dry to put in the printing frame. I 
 therefore place it in a roomy cardboard box with a 
 loosely-fitting cover (light-tight, of course), and put 
 the box and its contents in a cool place (if slightly 
 damp, so much the better), for half -an-h our or so. 
 The tissue in this way absorbs a sufficient amount 
 
23 
 
 of moisture from the air to be in proper printing 
 condition, and may, therefore, be at once placed in 
 the printing frame, or put away in the press until 
 required. I prefer to use the paper freshly sensi- 
 tised, or, under any circumstances, not more than a 
 week old. 
 
 When the chloride of calcium gets soft and damp, 
 the tray containing it is taken out of the box and 
 put into a hot oven or over the flame of a Bunsen 
 burner until the water which the chloride of calcium 
 had absorbed is driven off, when the tray and its 
 contents are ready for use again. 
 
 In preparing to print from the transparency, 
 place this face upwards on a table, take a piece of 
 sensitised tissue somewhat larger than the pencil- 
 marked dimensions on the safe edges, and carefully 
 mark it on the back, so that when cut it shall fit 
 exactly into the pencilled corners of the safe edge. 
 Cut it squarely by means of a straight-edge and 
 sharp knife. Now place the transparency in the 
 printing frame (I find the screw-down form of press, 
 as used by process-workers, to be the best), and 
 adjust the tissue exactly to the pencil-marks on the 
 safe edge, put on the felt backing, and screw down 
 the back sufficiently to secure even contact between 
 the tissue and the transparency. 
 
 The Exposure. — Very little can be said on this 
 head. It is, necessarily, a matter for experiment, 
 depending on the quality of the transparency, but 
 with one such as I have described, an exposure equal 
 
24 
 
 to 3 or 4 tints with Johnson's actinometer will be 
 about right. I use with this actinometer, instead 
 of albumenised paper, which soon gets discolored, 
 strips of white paper of the P.O.P. type. This 
 keeps its color very much better than albumenised 
 paper. In actual work the next part of the process 
 would be the development of the resist, but before 
 describing this it will be better to speak about the 
 copper plate and its preparation. 
 
25 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Copper Plate. Dust Ground. "Devils" 
 AND their Prevention. 
 
 The Copper Plate. — I have used both Enghsh 
 and French makes, and find little difference in the 
 quality of the metal for this purpose; the price, 
 however, is in favor of the foreign make. The 
 surface should be well polished and quite free from 
 scratches, and it is better to order plates ready 
 bevelled, as the bevelling of a plate after engraving 
 is troublesome, and always attended with some risk 
 of accidental injury to the engraved surface. 
 
 However bright the surface of the plate as re- 
 ceived from the maker may appear, it is sure to 
 require careful cleaning to free it from greasiness. 
 The simplest way to do this is to lay it face down- 
 wards, to commence with, on any flat surface free 
 from grit, or anything which would scratch the 
 copper; the back is then well rubbed for a few 
 
26 
 
 seconds with a cloth which has been dipped first 
 in a fairly strong solution of caustic soda, say fifty 
 grains to one oz. water, or thereabouts, and then into 
 powdered whitening. The edges of the plate, and 
 lastly its face, are treated in the same way. The 
 plate is now well rinsed under the tap, and, if the 
 water flows over it without signs of greasiness show- 
 ing, it is plunged into a very weak mixture of 
 sulphuric acid and water ; about two drams of acid to 
 one pint of water will be strong enough. The plate is 
 again rinsed under the tap, and may now show signs 
 of greasiness again ; if it does so, repeat the cleaning 
 operations until all signs of grease have disappeared. 
 When this is the case, dry the plate quickly by 
 wiping it with a soft and perfectly clean cloth, and 
 proceed to lay a dust ground. 
 
 The Dust Ground. — I find asphaltum in fine 
 powder to be better than any form of resinous 
 material which I have tried, and I therefore use 
 this exclusively. For laying the ground, a specially 
 constructed box is necessary. The usual form 
 recommended for the purpose is one mounted on 
 trunnions, the box being rotated to agitate the 
 contents sufficiently to fill the interior with a cloud 
 of dust. The plate is introduced into this and left 
 until a fine layer of dust in sufficient quantity to 
 form a suitable ground has been deposited. This 
 was the pattern of box which I first used when I 
 took up Photo-aquatint, but I never could be sure 
 of the regularity of the results which I got with it. 
 
27 
 
 I do not refer to the peculiar pattern-marks which 
 make their appearance if the plate is put into the 
 box unsupported by a surface of larger area than 
 itself, but to an irregularity in the quantity of de- 
 posited particles. I have never been able quite to 
 satisfy myself as to the cause of this, but I quickly 
 got rid of the trouble by constructing a box 
 according to my own ideas, in which the dust was 
 raised by means of a revolving brush. 
 
 Fig. 2. 
 
 I am always sure of the grounds I get in this 
 box, and have used it without modification from the 
 time of my first trial of it. In diagram A, I have 
 given such particulars as will enable anyone to 
 understand the general principles of construction. 
 
 a, handle by which the brush is put in motion. 
 h, end of metal bar extending from side to side of 
 the box. The bristles of the brush impinge on this 
 bar, and, as they are released, spring up and project 
 
28 
 
 the dust particles of powdered asphalt um into the 
 air. 2-inch wire nails, at intervals of a couple of 
 inches apart, are driven through the bottom of the 
 box. Their points, projecting into the interior, 
 form a support for the plate when inside. A con- 
 venient size for the box is 18 inches high, and 12 
 inches square at the base. This will take a plate 
 up to 10 inches square. About one pint of powdered 
 asphaltum will be enough to put into the box, and 
 will last a long time. 
 
 To use the box, it is placed upside down, resting 
 
 on its edge e (fig. 2). The powdered asphaltum 
 all falls towards this part of the box, and comes 
 well in contact with the brush. This is quickly 
 turned by means of the handle a. About twenty 
 revolutions are sufficient. The box is now stood on 
 its bottom again, the brush again turned for about 
 twenty times, to rid it of adhering powder, and the 
 box smartly struck on sides and top with the palm 
 of the hand to shake down any powder sticking to 
 the sides, and after standing for a suitable time for 
 
 Fig. 3. 
 
29 
 
 the coarser particles to subside (from five seconds 
 to forty or more, according to the character of 
 ground required — the proper time can only be ascer- 
 tained by experiment), the door, D, is opened, and 
 the plate, resting in the centre of a sheet of glass 
 sufficiently large to nearly cover the bottom of the 
 box, is inserted, the door carefully closed, and the 
 dust allowed to deposit. 
 
 Ten to fifteen minutes must be allowed for this. 
 
 For a close, fine-grained ground, I always repeat 
 the dusting before fixing the grain. 
 
 On removing the plate, it is carefully heated over 
 a Bunsen burner or other suitable source of heat, 
 until the fawn-colored deposit of asphaltum dust 
 changes to a sort of slaty gray. When this point 
 is reached, the plate is put on a cold, iron surface, 
 which quickly abstracts its heat from it, and it is 
 now ready for the next process. 
 
 Having laid the dust ground, as described, the 
 usual plan is to proceed to squeegee upon it the 
 carbon negative print, which, when developed, will 
 form the resist, and, when I first was feeling my 
 way in this process, I followed this plan myself. I 
 found, however, that with the relatively deeply-bitten 
 plates which I wished to get, necessitating a pro- 
 longed immersion in the etching liquid, I was 
 troubled beyond measure with those plagues of the 
 photo-engraver, known as " devils." 
 
30 
 
 Cause and Prevention of "Devils." 
 
 I tried all sorts of experiments to get rid of these 
 " devils," but without success, until it occurred to me 
 that they might be due to minute punctures in the 
 film of the resist, allowing the etching solution at 
 such points to find its way to the copper with 
 greater readiness than would be possible in un- 
 punctured portions, and, consequently, allowing of a 
 much freer and more vigorous action on the metal, 
 which would rapidly, at first, become pitted, and 
 then, from the sides of the pit the etching solution 
 would work its way between the particles of fused 
 asphaltum which happened to be next to the edges 
 of it, producing the curious radiated forms with 
 which photo-engravers are so familiar. 
 
 It seemed to me that, if this theory were correct, 
 the simplest way out of the difficulty would be to 
 coat the freshly-grounded plate with a solution of 
 bichromated gelatin, of sufficient strength to form 
 a film which should effectually cover the plate, but 
 not thick enough to interfere in any way with the 
 definition of the picture which the plate was intended 
 to have engraved upon it. 
 
 The plate after being coated with the bichromated 
 gelatin, is exposed to light to render the film 
 insoluble previous to the attachment and develop- 
 ment of the resist. 
 
 I was fortunate in hitting on the proper strength 
 
31 
 
 of the solution almost at once, and delighted to find 
 that the torment of " devils " was at last satis- 
 factorily disposed of, and that instead of having a 
 plate either completely spoilt, or very much dis- 
 figured, with perhaps twenty or thirty of these un- 
 sightly pits, they were either entirely absent, or, if 
 one or two appeared at all, it was in so slight a 
 form, or in such a position on the plate, that they 
 might be disregarded. 
 
 This preliminary coating of the plate with a film 
 of gelatin has a secondary advantage in holding 
 the resist very much more firmly than is the case 
 with the uncoated plate. 
 
 The gelatin solution which I use consists of : — 
 
 Nelson's No. 1 gelatin, . . 120 grains. 
 Bichromate of potash, . . . 6 „ 
 Water, ..... 9 ozs. 
 
 This must be carefully filtered, and applied, 
 whilst warm, to the plate, which must also be warm. 
 
 Pour a small pool on the centre of the plate, let 
 it flow first to one corner and then to another, 
 leading it over the surface by the help of a slip of 
 deal, or a glass rod, and as soon as the surface of 
 the plate has been everywhere wetted, pour off the 
 excess of the solution into the containing vessel 
 from one corner of the plate, and put a pencil-mark 
 at that corner. 
 
 After draining the plate for half a minute or so, 
 dry it gently over a gas flame, or in front of the 
 
32 
 
 fire, and expose it to sunlight, or the strongest avail- 
 able light, long enough to render the bichromated 
 gelatin insoluble. The plate must then be again 
 coated with the gelatin solution, and this time the 
 surplus solution must be poured off from the corner 
 opposite to the one which has been pencil-marked. 
 The film is then dried and exposed to light as before, 
 and is now ready to receive the resist. 
 
 The chief object of the double coating which the 
 plate receives is to ensure a film of even thickness 
 on it. 
 
 I have not tried it, but think that, in all proba- 
 bility, in place of using a bichromated gelatin 
 coating, one of plain gelatin, dried, and then 
 rendered insoluble by treatment with formalin, 
 would do as well as that I have described. If it 
 would, there would be a saving of time in using it, 
 as there would be no necessity to expose the film 
 to light to secure insolubility. 
 
 [Note. — "Devils" may be caused by impurities in the copper 
 plates ; and have been attributed in certain cases, by competent 
 workers, to dust of iron-rust which has fallen upon the plate. Mr 
 Huson's treatment, therefore, must be supplemented by care in the 
 choice of the metal and cleanliness in working. — Eds.] 
 
CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 Mounting and Developing the Resist. 
 
 In Chapter IV. I described the sensitising, drying, 
 and printing of the carbon tissue. Its attachment 
 to, and development on, the copper plate have now 
 to be dealt with. 
 
 The copper plate, having been prepared as 
 described in the last chapter, is well rinsed both 
 back and front under the tap, to clear it of any- 
 chance hairs or dust, and is then placed, face up, in 
 a deep dish containing clean cold water. 
 
 The printed tissue is now removed from the 
 printing-frame, and, a mark having been put on the 
 back to indicate the top of the picture, it is dusted 
 on both sides with a clean camel-hair brush, and 
 then immersed, face upward, in the water in the 
 dish containing the plate. The tissue is now 
 quickly brushed with a soft brush to remove any 
 air-bells which might be adhering to it, and is then 
 
 c 
 
84 
 
 quickly turned face downward, and the brush used 
 to remove air-bells from the back. 
 
 When first immersed, the tendency of the tissue 
 is to curl with the gelatin side inwards, but, as it 
 absorbs water, it will begin to uncurl, and at a 
 certain point will straighten itself out. When it 
 reaches this point, the tissue must be rapidly 
 adjusted to the position it is to occupy on the plate, 
 and both plate and tissue removed from the water 
 and placed on a flat surface. 
 
 The thumb and fore-finger of the left hand are 
 pressed firmly on the left-hand edge of the paper 
 backing, and the squeegee, which must be of the 
 scraper or flat pattern, applied to it from left to 
 right. The position of the plate, as to its ends, is 
 now reversed, and the squeegee again applied, after 
 which it is advisable to go over the plate diagonally 
 several times with the squeegee. The plate should 
 now be set aside for about ten minutes and the 
 developing bath prepared. 
 
 Development oftheBesist. — For this purpose nothing 
 can be better than a capacious hand-basin, about 
 three-quarters filled with water at 100° to 110° F., 
 a deep dish rather larger than the plate and a 
 pint jug. 
 
 These being arranged conveniently with an extra 
 supply of very hot or boiling water at hand, the 
 deep dish is filled with water at 110° F. ; into 
 this, plate and tissue are put. In a few seconds the 
 pigmented gelatin begins to ooze out at the edges 
 
35 
 
 of the tissue. When it does so, one corner of the 
 paper backing should be raised with the point of a 
 penknife sufficiently to enable you to grasp it. It 
 may then be readily stripped from the plate and 
 thrown away. 
 
 Now take the dish in the left hand, rest it, 
 slightly tilted, on the edge of the basin, in this 
 position, and with the jug proceed to pour the 
 hot water over the plate, keeping up a constant flow 
 by replenishing the jug from the water in the basin. 
 Try the temperature of the water now and tlien 
 
 Fig. 4. 
 
 and, if it falls below 100 F., bring it up again to 
 105 or 110 r., by adding hotter water. 
 
 When all soluble gelatin has been washed away, 
 and it is important that this should be thoroughly 
 done, the plate should be rinsed for a minute or 
 two in cold water and then allowed to rest in a 
 dish of cold water for about five minutes. Now 
 take it out and stand it on edge to drain for 
 a few minutes, wipe the back slightly, and place the 
 plate in a deep dish containing plenty of strong 
 methylated spirit, in which it remains until the 
 resist loses its bright orange-red color, and becomes 
 
36 
 
 somewhat opalescent and dingy. When this is the 
 case, the plate is taken out, drained for a few 
 seconds, and put on a whirler, to hasten evaporation 
 and drying. 
 
 Though, as previously stated, the preliminary 
 coating of gelatin which the plate receives causes 
 the resist to adhere much more firmly than is the 
 case where the coating is omitted, it is advisable 
 not to take the developed resist, after drying, into 
 a hot room, as the contractile power of gelatin is 
 very strong, and, under the circumstances, there 
 would be great risk of its detaching itself from the 
 plate completely. 
 
 Varnishmg Margins. — The resist being quite dry, 
 the margins of the plate must receive a protective 
 coat of varnish. Brunswick black does very well 
 for this purpose. 
 
 The first thing to do is to draw a line all round 
 the picture, using a ruling-pen charged with the 
 varnish, guided by a wooden straight-edge. Now 
 give the margins and edges of the plate a good coat 
 of varnish, using a soft brush for the purpose. 
 Allow the varnish to dry, and then protect the back 
 of the plate in the same way. This may be more 
 expeditiously and conveniently done by diluting the 
 varnish slightly with benzoline. 
 
 The varnish on the back of the plate being dry, 
 it is just as well to go over the bevelled edges again 
 with varnish. • 
 
 The plate is now ready for etching. 
 
37 
 
 CHAPTERVTI. 
 
 The Mordant. Theory and Practice of 
 Etching. 
 
 The Mordant. — Perchloride of iron is the basis of 
 the mordant to be used. In the sohd form, in 
 which it should be obtained, it is yellow in color 
 and deliquescent. 
 
 The most convenient way to prepare its solution 
 is to fill a large wide-mouthed bottle with lumps of 
 perchloride, pour in water in quantity sufficient to 
 just cover the contents of the bottle, and shake at 
 frequent intervals until no more perchloride appears 
 to dissolve. 
 
 Pour off the solution, which ought now to be 
 saturated, and allow it to stand for some hours, for 
 the subsidence of heavy insoluble matter. Carefully 
 decant the clear liquid and test its density by means 
 of a Beaume's hydrometer for heavy liquids. It 
 should register over 40°. If it does not do sg, a 
 
38 
 
 further addition of solid perchloride must be made 
 to the sohition and shaken up with it until the 
 requisite strength is obtained. 
 
 In addition to decanting the solution, by which 
 means heavy insoluble matters are got rid of, it will 
 be as well to filter it through sponge to remove any 
 floating insoluble matters, which are sometimes 
 contained in it. 
 
 Supposing the solution to register over 40", water 
 
 cofiper 
 
 Fig. 5. 
 
 must be added to it in small portions at a time, 
 mixing it well after each addition, and trying it 
 with the hydrometer until at 70° Fahr. the reading 
 is exactly 38°. The mordant is now ready for use. 
 
 Theory and Practice of Etching. — I should state 
 that previous to the time when I first began to 
 make investigations in photo-aquatint, I was a 
 worker in the old-fashioned processes of Mezzotint 
 
39 
 
 and Aquatint engraving, and was therefore familiar 
 with what the requirements of an engraved plate 
 should be. One requirement is, that the ink-holding 
 capacity of the plate must be such that it should be 
 able to give the full depth of tone of the ink used, 
 at one end of the scale, with every gradation 
 upwards to the light of the unstained paper at the 
 other, as in diagram V. 
 
 To produce such a plate, you must of necessity 
 have the engraved or etched portions at the lowest 
 and darkest end of the scale, of a depth just 
 sufficient to hold a quantity of ink to give its full 
 tone, the engraved portions becoming shallower and 
 shallower until they disappear altogether at the 
 upper or light end of the scale. 
 
 For the purpose of easy illustration, this is shown 
 in diagram III. in which the depth from a to & is 
 supposed to be just what would be required for the 
 engraved portions to give the full tone of the ink ; 
 c to d, half-tone ; and dying away at e, for light. 
 
 Assuming that a-l is the amount of depth 
 necessary for giving the full tone of the printing-ink 
 used, the plate, engraved as in III., would give full 
 range and full gradation, as in diagram II. 
 
 On the other hand, suppose a more shallow 
 engraving, as in diagram IV. 
 
 In this plate the gradation would be as perfect as 
 the other, but the range of tone would be short, and 
 the resulting print would be like V. 
 
 The kind of result which the photo-aquatint 
 
40 
 
 process will give is one in which there is both full 
 range of tone and gradation. To achieve this, 
 transparency, resist, and etching must all be 
 adapted to each other. The two first I have 
 described, and will now take the etching. 
 
 There are certain peculiarities connected with 
 this process which should be noted. If we take a 
 saturated solution of perchloride of iron in water, we 
 tind that it has no penetrative action on the film of 
 the resist. If to, say, 20 drams of such a saturated 
 solution, we add water, a dram at a time, immersing 
 the resist-covered plate in it, and allowing it to 
 remain in for a minute after each addition, we find 
 that after a few drams of water have been introduced 
 the dilution of the perchloride solution enables it to 
 penetrate the thinner portions of the resist and 
 attack the copper underneath those parts, as is 
 shown by the darkening of the metal. This 
 darkening of the surface of the metal spreads as the 
 etching solution makes its way through the portions 
 of the resist next in thickness to those through 
 which it first penetrated, but, if the addition of 
 water has been only in small quantity, relatively to 
 the amount of saturated solution of perchloride 
 used, the spreading of the discoloration of the 
 metal ceases after a time. 
 
 To explain the reason for this stoppage, we will 
 call the water required for the solution of the 
 perchloride of iron, " water of saturation," and that 
 subsequently added, " water of penetration." 
 
41 
 
 In fig. 5 (VI.) we have a copper plate with resist, 
 h-c, representing the thickest part of the resist, 
 gradually diminishing in thickness to a. . Now let 
 us see what takes place when this copper plate and 
 resist are placed in the etching solution to which 
 water, in quantity just sufficient to allow of 
 penetration through the thinnest parts of the resist, 
 has been added. Owing to the dark color of the 
 etching solution, and the necessity for watching the 
 progress of its action on the plate, it is usual to 
 employ only so much as will just cover the plate 
 conveniently; consequently, we have a relatively 
 large surface of gelatin to be acted on by a 
 relatively small quantity of water of penetration. 
 This water of penetration at once begins to work 
 through all parts of the surface of the resist, and 
 through the thinner portions it does so sufficiently 
 for the etching solution to make its way and attack 
 the copper. But by the time it has worked into 
 the resist to the depth represented, say, by a—al, 
 b-bl, the whole of the additional water, the water 
 of penetration, has been absorbed, and the etching 
 solution has returned to its saturated condition. 
 Consequently, the thicker portions of the resist 
 remain impenetrable by it until, if the action is to 
 be continued, a further addition of water is made ; 
 and so on until every part of the resist has been 
 penetrated and the plate attacked in all places. 
 
 A little reflection will show that, given a trans- 
 parency and a resist corresponding in reverse to it, 
 
42 
 
 which in their gradations and strength of light and 
 dark represent what the print, the final result, is 
 intended .to be, what is required in the etching 
 solution is, that it should be of such strength as to 
 be able to penetrate all parts of the film, from the 
 thinnest to the thickest, with steady gradation, in 
 such time as to allow the portions most deeply 
 etched just to acquire the capacity for holding the 
 full amount of printing-ink by the time the etching 
 liquid is about to attack the copper under the 
 thickest portions of the resist, such portions of the 
 plate, of course, being the high-lights in the finished 
 picture. That is to say, instead of following the 
 usual method of employing half-a-dozen or more 
 baths of different densities of solution to etch a plate, 
 one bath only should do the work from beginning 
 to end, without stoppage. I think it will be evident, 
 from what I have stated, that, to work with one 
 solution, your transparency must be right : but that 
 if it is right, the final result is a certainty. 
 
 Just what your transparency looks like, so will 
 your final result be. A thin transparency will give 
 you a plate which will produce thin, flat proofs. A 
 heavy transparency, proofs of corresponding heavi- 
 ness. A bright transparency, bright proofs. I find 
 that with the class of transparency which I try for, 
 a solution of perchloride of iron of 38° Beaum6 is 
 exactly right. It is as well to note that great care 
 must be taken to see that the solution is exactly 
 38° ; 37^° would be too weak, and would give a plate 
 
43 
 
 weak in the darks ; 38j, too strong, and would give 
 a heavy plate. 
 
 I use the solution at a temperature of 74° to 76° 
 Fahr., in the proportion of about one dram to every 
 square inch of surface to be engraved. That is, for 
 a 5 X 4 plate twenty drams ; 7 x 5, thirty-five drams, 
 and so on. 
 
 The time of immersion varies, of course, with the 
 range of tone of the subject, but is never less than 
 twenty minutes, and averages about thirty-five 
 to forty. The dish containing the plate must be 
 rocked during the whole time of etching. 
 
 Toward the conclusion of the process, when only 
 a few of the highest lights are unacted on, I get 
 the plate in the strongest available light, and the 
 instant that I think the last point of light is being 
 touched by the perchloride, drop the plate, without 
 stopping to wash it, into a dish containing a fairly 
 strong solution of caustic soda, say 100 grains to 
 five ounces of water, which stops all action at once, 
 and makes easy the removal of the resist and pre- 
 liminary film coating. 
 
 The plate is now well washed under the tap, 
 scrubbed with a nail brush, and plunged into a bath 
 of sulphuric acid, two drams in twenty ounces of 
 water, well rinsed again, and the asphaltum ground 
 removed by heating the plate and washing with 
 turpentine. It is then wiped with a clean cloth 
 and again cleaned with soda and sulphuric acid 
 solutions, and is now ready for proving. 
 
44 
 
 It is only after the various cleaning operations 
 just described have been gone through, that the 
 quality of the plate can be in any way judged. 
 When the resist is first removed, its appearance, 
 stained and patchy looking, is most disappointing, 
 and to one unaccustomed to the process would 
 be pretty sure to suggest failure. 
 
 Note on the use of the Etching Solution. — It is 
 often stated that the etching solution improves with 
 use, but my own experience is quite opposed to this. 
 The vigorous biting which the plate receives, con- 
 sequent on the length of time it is exposed to the 
 action of the etching solution, speedily exhausts the 
 latter, and though, using the etching solution in the 
 quantity given above, it might possibly retain 
 sufficient enei'gy to etch a second plate, it is poor 
 economy to attempt to use it again. Perchloride of 
 iron is cheap enough, and it is better to use fresh 
 solution for every plate and know exactly what you 
 are doing, than to risk spoiling a plate by working 
 in the dark with a partly spent solution, at the 
 extent of whose remaining etching power you cannot 
 even guess. 
 
45 
 
 CHAPTEE Yin. 
 
 Outline of the Talbot-Klic Photogravure 
 Process. 
 
 Before proceeding to a description of the plate- 
 printing process and after-processes which may be 
 necessary for the improvement of the plate, all of 
 which are common to both photo-aquatint and 
 photogravure, an outline of this latter process is 
 necessary, showing in what particulars it differs 
 from the first-named one. The first point to be 
 noted is the character of transparency best suited 
 to the production of a plate by photogravure. The 
 transparency should be full of detail and gradation, 
 but should have none of the robustness which would 
 be necessary to it if required for photo-aquatint. 
 In fact, if it has detail and gradation, the thinner 
 it is the better. The carbon process is admirably 
 suited to the production of just the class of trans- 
 
46 
 
 parency required, but, needless to say, intensification 
 would be harmful. 
 
 The Autotype Company's " special transparency " 
 tissue is the best to use, and all details as to sensi- 
 tising and drying are the same as those given in 
 Chap. IV. for the preparation of the tissue for the 
 resist. For details of mounting and developing, I 
 refer the reader to Chap. VI., substituting a glass 
 plate coated with a film of insoluble gelatin for 
 the dusted copper plate dealt with in that chapter. 
 
 In printing from a transparency so thin as that 
 just described, great care must be taken not to over- 
 expose the tissue. The suitable number of acti- 
 nometer tints can only be ascertained by experi- 
 ment. Under any circumstances, endeavor to 
 regulate the exposure so as to produce a resist 
 in which the parts of the film representing the 
 strongest darks in the picture shall be as thin as 
 possible. 
 
 The modes of cleaning, ground-laying, and pre- 
 liminary gelatin coating of the copper, are in all 
 respects similar to those already described under 
 these various headings, as is also the varnishing of 
 the plate. 
 
 The preparation of the mordant up to the point 
 of getting a saturated solution, is also the same. 
 But, from this point there is a divergence in the 
 working of the two processes. In photogravure,, 
 in place of using one etching bath, from three to six 
 are used of different densities of solution^ these 
 
47 
 
 being respectively— 45°, 43°, 40°, 38°, 35°, and 33° 
 Beaume. 
 
 In the use of these, the plate is put into the 
 strongest first, and watched to see whether the 
 mordant has any penetrative action on the thinnest 
 portions of the resist. If, after an interval of five 
 minutes, there is no sign of darkening of the copper, 
 the plate is transferred to the bath next in strength. 
 Here perhaps, the mordant may be able to penetrate 
 the film, and the discoloration of the copper must 
 be watched until it ceases to spread. The time 
 during which this action has gone on must be noted. 
 The plate must then be transferred to bath number 
 3, and so on, until the highest lights of the picture 
 are about to be attacked, when the etching must 
 be at once stopped, as in the photo-aquatint process. 
 
 The cleaning operations to which the plate is next 
 subjected are in all respects similar to those de- 
 scribed at the end of Chapter VII and the plate 
 is now ready for proving. 
 
48 
 
 CHAPTEK IX. 
 
 Comparison of Photogravure with 
 Photo-aquatint. 
 
 It will be seen on comparing this outline of 
 photogravure with the description of photo-aquatint, 
 that the chief difference in the practice of the two 
 processes lies, firstly, in the different quality of trans- 
 parency which each requires, and, secondly, in the 
 way in which the etching of the plates is managed. 
 
 With reference to the use of one or many etching 
 solutions, the whole gist of the matter lies in this : 
 At some point or other of the process of photo- 
 aquatint or photogravure, you have to surmount the 
 difficulty of getting into the plate correct gradation 
 combined with full range of tone, and it seems to 
 me easier and better to do this at the transparency 
 stage, where you have the picture before you in 
 black and white, and can see that it is right before 
 going any further, than to use a transparency. 
 
49 
 
 perfect in gradation, doubtless, but imperfect in 
 range of tone, and then attempt to correct this by 
 the management of the etching solutions at a further 
 stage of the process. The drawback to this mode 
 is the difficulty of regulating exactly the action of 
 each of the etching solutions. A little more or a 
 little less biting in one or other of the baths, and 
 the full range of tone combined with correct grada- 
 tion which you are trying for is upset. Whereas, 
 by photo-aquatint, if the transparency, resist, and 
 etching are adapted to each .other, the result is a 
 certainty. 
 
 D 
 
50 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 PfilNTING FEOM THE PlATE. 
 
 A COPPER PLATE rolling press will be required. 
 
 Whatever size of press is to be used, I strongly 
 advise the pattern which is worked by means of 
 geared wheels as being much better and pleasanter 
 to work with than that in which the rollers are 
 revolved by means of a cross handle only. 
 
 With the press are required thick woollen cloths, 
 known as " blanketing." These should be of larger 
 area than the paper which is to be printed on, and 
 two thicknesses will be required. One piece of 
 " fronting," a stout, closely -woven cloth of even 
 surface to come between the blanketing and the 
 paper, will also be wanted. It is well to have 
 several sets of cloths of both kinds, so as to replace 
 with dry ones those which have become wet in the 
 press. 
 
51 
 
 A Plate Heater. — This is made of cast iron, with 
 machine-planed top, and an arrangement underneath 
 for heating by means of gas. 
 
 A Jigger. — This is simply a strong wooden box, 
 with one end out, in which are kept the printer's 
 wiping cloths. Its top is of hard wood, mahogany 
 
 Fig. 6. 
 
 usually, and is of a size convenient for the plate to 
 rest on whilst it is being wiped. The jigger and 
 the plate-heater should stand side by side when in 
 use, so that the plate can be readily transferred 
 from one to the other as required. 
 
52 
 
 The Inking Bahher. — This is a tightly-wound roll 
 of flannel, forming a cylinder about 5 inches long, 
 and 2 to 3 inches in diameter. The end which is 
 to be used for inking should be trimmed to a 
 tolerably even surface with a sharp knife. A new 
 dabber will absorb a good deal of ink, and had 
 better be worked into the ink on the inking-slab for 
 some time, to get it in good condition. It should 
 
 Fig. 7. — Jigger and Plate-heater. 
 
 be kept free from dust in a box by itself, and before 
 being put away after use, should be wiped with a 
 cloth, but not otherwise cleaned. With proper 
 care, after a time a smooth elastic coat of hardened 
 ink forms at the end of the dabber, which will then 
 be in nice condition, and may easily be kept so with 
 a little care. 
 
 For wiping the plate, two kinds of muslin will 
 be required ; coarse for the first wiping, and fine 
 for finishing. 
 
 Copper-Plate Ink. — To have the ink in the very 
 best condition, you should grind it yourself just 
 before it is to be used. For this purpose a muUer 
 
53 
 
 and an old lithographic stone are necessary, and 
 a supply of the finest Frankfort black, burnt sienna, 
 and crimson, all in powder. These are to be 
 mixed in such proportions as are requisite for the 
 tone of the ink wanted, together with a sufficient 
 amount of middle reducing oil. Ink can be pur- 
 chased of very fine quality, ready ground. I have 
 had it for many years from C. Eoberson & Company, 
 99 Long Acre, who supply it in collapsible tubes, a 
 convenient form in which it keeps well. With the 
 three pigments mentioned above, mixed in various 
 proportions, every variety of black and brown tint 
 required can be obtained. Burnt umber should 
 never be used ; it degrades the tone and transparency 
 of the ink. 
 
 Pamper. — Stout plate-paper, either white or toned, 
 and with a grained surface, or good water-color 
 paper, are the best to use. The plate-paper is the 
 easier of the two to manage. 
 
 Printing. — Whilst the processes of photo-engraving 
 have had a fair share of attention and description 
 devoted to them during the past year or two, the 
 printing of the plates has been somewhat overlooked, 
 being usually dismissed in a few words of allusion 
 rather than description. 
 
 The simplicity of the process may, or may not, 
 have had something to do with this, and yet, in 
 spite of its simplicity — may be in consequence of it 
 — there are but few printers, even amongst pro- 
 fessionals, who do full justice to a photo-engraved 
 
54 
 
 plate. The old saying, " If you want a thing well 
 done you must do it yourself," applies with peculiar 
 force to this matter of the printing of photo-engraved 
 plates, and, although it would be manifestly im- 
 possible for the engraver, in most cases, to do all 
 his own printing, he should, at any rate, print the 
 pattern proofs, those which are to be handed to the 
 professional printer, as specimens which it is- his 
 business to copy as closely as possible, and which, 
 if the full intention of the engraver is to be shown, 
 must be printed by the author of the plate. 
 
 The actual operation of printing is, briefly, as 
 follows : — 
 
 The plate is made hot on the plate-heater. It 
 must then be inked all over the face with the 
 dabber. Next, the excess of ink is wiped off with 
 coarse soft muslin and the wiping finished with fine 
 soft muslin, and, lastly, the copper margin is cleared 
 with first a piece of dry rag, and second a rag moist- 
 ened with turpentine. The plate is again made hot 
 and is now placed in position on the bed of the 
 press, a piece of damp paper adjusted over it, the 
 press cloths arranged, and Ull passed once under the 
 roller. This is the whole operation in brief. 
 
 Preparation of the Paper. — Plate-paper should be 
 damped by passing a wet sponge over the back of 
 each sheet ; it may then be used at once, but it is 
 better to put it between two sheets of stout plate 
 glass and leave it to stand for half-an-hour or so. 
 Water-color paper should be sponged rather more 
 
55 
 
 freely, and must be allowed to stand (between glass 
 plates) until nicely softened. In some cases when 
 the paper is unusually hard, it may be dipped, or 
 even soaked, in warm water with advantage ; this 
 removes some of the size, and leaves the paper in 
 better condition for printing purposes. 
 
 Condition of the Ink. — For a weak plate, the ink 
 should be used full strength as received in the tube 
 (if you use it in that form), but if the plate has 
 been strongly bitten (as photo-aquatints are), the 
 ink may be weakened with advantage by mixing 
 with it a small quantity of reducing oil, using 
 middle reducing oil for the purpose. A glazed 
 white china tile, an old lithographic stone, or a 
 piece of thick plate glass, are convenient for mixing 
 the ink on. 
 
 The mixing should be very thoroughly done by 
 means of a palette knife. Do not prepare more ink 
 than you think will suffice for the number of proofs 
 you intend to pull, as it soon thickens and skins 
 over, and is useless after a day's exposure. The 
 crimson ink is very strong, and should only be used 
 in sufficient quantity to correct any tendency to an 
 olive -greenish tone which is produced by the mixture 
 of black and burnt sienna. 
 
 Inking the Plate. — Place the plate on the plate- 
 heater, and leave it until it is rather hotter than 
 can be comfortably borne by the hand. Whilst 
 still on the heater, take the dabber with some 
 printing-ink on it, and ink the plate all over tliQ 
 
56 
 
 surface. The best way of applying the dabber is 
 with a rocking motion. It must never be rubbed 
 or dabbed on the plate. This is important. 
 
 Wiping the Plate. — Remove the plate to the 
 jigger, clear off as much ink as you can with two or 
 three strokes of a pad of coarse canvas. Leave the 
 smeary plate to cool. In the meantime, take a 
 piece of fine soft muslin about three-quarters of a 
 yard square, gather it up in the palm of the hand 
 into a soft pad or cushion, and, as soon as the plate 
 feels only just warm, wipe it all over, not, as usually 
 recommended, with circular strokes, which would 
 eventually remove too much ink, but with strokes 
 from side to side, or end to end, of the plate. 
 Continue the wiping of the plate with quick strokes 
 and gentle pressure, using towards the end of the 
 process fresh surfaces of the muslin, and, if the ink 
 is stiff, occasionally warming the pad by passing it 
 over the face of the plate-heater, until any bright 
 spots on the copper, representing high-lights, begin 
 to look rosy when the plate is held at such an angle 
 as to reflect the light towards you. 
 
 (Coarse canvas, which has been washed soft, or 
 old lace curtains, or, indeed, any material which is 
 soft and has an open mesh, will do well for the first 
 wiping. 
 
 The fine muslin, for finishing, is that known as 
 butter-cloth.) 
 
 This is the whole process of wiping the plate. 
 The bare palm of the hand, which plays so im- 
 
57 
 
 portant a part in the cleaning of plates etched in 
 line, must not be resorted to in the case of such 
 plates as we are now dealing with : the result always 
 shows itself in grainy or even rotten surfaces in the 
 prints. 
 
 Carefully clean the margin and edges of the 
 plate, first, with a piece of dry rag, and then with 
 one moistened with turpentine. 
 
 The plate, which will now be quite cold, must be 
 put on the heater. 
 
 Now see that the press is ready, with two thick- 
 nesses of blanketing and one of facing-cloth, the 
 blanketing being next the roller. See that the 
 screws are adjusted to give the requisite pressure to 
 the paper and plate. 
 
 Condition of the Paper at the time of Printing. — 
 Plate-paper, as already stated, simply requires to be 
 carefully damped throughout its substance, and is 
 then ready for printing on. Drawing and other 
 hard papers, which have been heavily sponged and 
 wetted, whilst being soft and damp throughout 
 must not have any excess of water in or on them. 
 It is best, therefore, to absorb superfluous water 
 from each sheet, by means of clean blotting-paper, 
 just before adjusting it on the engraved plate. 
 
 Adjusting the Paper and Plate, and Printing.— 
 The most convenient way of adjusting the position 
 of the plate to the paper in the press, is to have a 
 thin sheet of zinc, cut somewhat larger, say a quarter 
 of an inch all round, than the paper you are about 
 
58 
 
 to use ; place this sheet zinc on the bed of the press, 
 quickly adjust, by the eye, the hot plate, face up, 
 in the centre of the zinc, place a sheet of damp 
 paper, face down, on the plate, and run it through 
 the press once, slowly and steadily ; make no pause 
 in the movement. Now remove the paper and 
 examine your proof. 
 
 A general darkness and heaviness of the print 
 may be due to insufficient wiping of the plate, or 
 the use of too strong an ink. The remedies are 
 obvious. 
 
 If, in spite of the application of these remedies, 
 the plate continues to give prints too dark and 
 heavy, it shows that either the transparency has 
 been too heavy, or the plate too deeply bitten. In 
 the first case, another transparency and fresh plate 
 must be made. In the second, it will be found that 
 the mordant is above 38° Beaume, and must be 
 reduced in strength before etching a fresh plate. 
 (See remarks in Chapter VII. on the necessity for 
 having transparency, resist, and etching adapted to 
 each other.) 
 
 Dulness in the lights may be due to insufficient 
 wiping, or to the process of etching not having been 
 stopped at the right time. If the etching is in 
 fault, the hghts must be recovered by the careful 
 use of the burnisher. 
 
 A general paleness of the print indicates that 
 either the plate has been over- wiped, that the ink 
 has been too thin and weak, or that the plate has 
 
59 
 
 been insufficiently bitten. In the case of over- 
 wiping, or too thin ink, the remedies, again, are 
 obvious. 
 
 With an insufficiently bitten plate, you have to 
 consider whether the degree of insufficiency is large 
 or small. If the former, the shortest and best plan 
 is to do another plate, but first satisfy yourself as to 
 whether it is the transparency or the mordant that 
 is in fault ; one or other is certainly too weak, and 
 must be corrected. If the degree of insufficiency 
 is small, the darks can be strengthened, either by 
 the roulette or, far better, by means of engravers' 
 methods of aquatinting, as described later on. It 
 is hardly necessary to say that both the roulette 
 and aquatint require artistic skill and technical 
 knowledge to accompany their use. 
 
 If the plate is a properly bitten one, bear in mind 
 that the whole art of successful printing lies in the 
 wiping of the plate. To do it well, simple as it 
 seems, requires a delicate sense of touch, artistic 
 feeling, and practice. 
 
60 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Retouching and Auxiliaey Pjiocesses. 
 
 As a rule, if the plate requires any afterwork, it 
 will be either in the direction of burnishino; the 
 lights to recover any freshness which they may 
 have lost by slight action of the mordant, or the 
 darks may require enriching. 
 
 With reference to this last, it is important to 
 note that any work subsequently added to the plate 
 should be of a character to harmonise with that 
 already on it. It is for this reason, amongst others, 
 that I have a strong preference for aquatint as a 
 means of strengthening darks, to any kind of tool- 
 work, such, for instance, as that in which the rou- 
 lette is used. 
 
 The character of the result from any engraved 
 plate is strongly influenced by the method of en- 
 graving ; and, without going more deeply into the 
 
61 
 
 subject, it will be sufficient to point out that from 
 the difference which exists between the form of the 
 minute pits etched by the mordant, and that of the 
 depressions made by the roulette, as will be seen by 
 comparing the sections of typical forms of the two 
 given herewith, a distinctly different effect is given 
 by them in printing. 
 
 The character of the aquatint process being 
 synonymous with that of photo-aquatint and photo- 
 gravure, it is the best possible one to use where 
 the darks require strengthening. 
 
 With these two processes, burnishing and 
 aquatinting, the one for the lights, the other for the 
 
 Fig. 8. — Etched pit. Roulette pit and burr. 
 
 shadows, all needful corrections on the plate can be 
 made. Before entering on a description of them, I 
 should mention that, in original work, the etched 
 line may be used with great effect, but on no account 
 should its addition be attempted by anyone who has 
 not had a painter-etcher's training, otherwise failure 
 is pretty sure to be the result of the experiment. 
 
 Burnishing. — There are various forms of burnishers, 
 but the one which I find serves all purposes well 
 is that figured below. It is known as Whistler's, 
 and can be obtained from Mr W. W. Ehind, 69 
 Gloucester Eoad, N.W. To use it, moisten the part 
 of the plate to which it is to be applied with a little 
 
62 
 
 vaseline, and then rub down the copper by passing 
 the polished surface of the tool backwards and for- 
 wards over it, keeping a firm and even pressure on 
 it, until you think that the process has been carried 
 far enough, when a proof should be pulled from 
 the plate, which will show you whether more work 
 is required or not. 
 
 In Aquatinting, the plate must be first very care- 
 fully cleaned by brushing it well with a nail-brush and 
 solution of caustic soda mixed with whitening, then 
 well rinsed under the tap, the nail-brush being used 
 at the same time, then dipped for an instant in weak 
 
 Fig. 9. 
 
 sulphuric acid (two drams in twenty ounces water), 
 well washed again and dried with a soft cloth. 
 
 The plate is now to be re-grounded with asphaltum 
 dust ground, using the dusting box exactly as in the 
 first grounding of the plate, but depositing a coarser 
 ground, by allowing, say, five seconds for the coarsest 
 particles to subside, and ten minutes for the dust to 
 deposit on the plate after its introduction. 
 
 The plate is now taken out of the box and heated 
 to fuse and fix the dust ground. The next process 
 is to carefully paint all those parts which require 
 re - biting with a water-color mixture consisting 
 of :— 
 
 Vandyke brown (tube water-color), 1 part by bulk. 
 Finest whitening (in powder), . 1 ,, „ 
 Loaf sugar, .... 1 „ 
 
63 
 
 This is to be mixed with water to the consistence 
 of thick cream. A sable-hair brush is the best to 
 use in applying it. As soon as it is dry, cover 
 every part of the face of the plate, whether painted 
 on or not, with a varnish made by diluting ordinary 
 mastic varnish (such as artists use) with half its 
 bulk of turpentine, mixing up with it just enough of 
 the finest lamp black in powder to darken it, so 
 that you can easily distinguish where the varnish 
 is on the copper plate. Leave the varnish to dry on 
 the plate for one hour. It is best to put the plate 
 in a warm place, in a current of air if possible. At 
 the expiration of the hour, place the plate in a dish 
 of clean cold water, and leave it, covered with 
 water, for another hour. Now gently rub the 
 surface of the plate (still keeping it under water) 
 with the tips of the fingers in all those places where 
 the water - color composition has been applied. 
 You will find that on all these parts the varnish 
 will readily come away with water- color, leaving 
 the dust-grounded copper exposed. Now dry the 
 plate with a soft cloth, and varnish the back 
 and edges with Brunswick black. The plate is 
 now ready for re-biting. 
 
64 
 
 Before proceeding to this operation, you will find 
 it a convenient plan to have 
 a bitten aquatint scale for re- 
 ference. It can easily be 
 made by dusting a plate, bit- 
 ing it with a series of stop- 
 pings out, marking the time of 
 each biting opposite to the 
 part bitten. 
 
 On printing a proof from 
 the plate, it will have the 
 appearance of the figure an- 
 ^ nexed. 
 
 2 Eeference to this scale will 
 
 0 give you a very good notion 
 ^ of the length of time to etch 
 2 the plate to get any particular 
 ^ depth of tone which you wish 
 .S it to have. Any number of 
 ^ tones can be got by succes- 
 g sive bi tings and stoppings out. 
 
 Etched Lines. — If these are 
 g to be added to the plate, it 
 u: may be done either before the 
 
 1 aqua tinting just described, or 
 
 2 after, as preferred. If after, 
 <^ the dust ground must be re- 
 moved by heating the plate 
 and washing it with turpen- 
 
 • tine. The plate must now be 
 grounded for the etching pro- 
 
 Fig. 10. 
 
 to-* 
 
 cess. 
 
65 
 
 After many experiments, I found that a paste- 
 ground applied with the roller and followed by the 
 same ground brushed on to the most deeply-bitten 
 parts of the plate, was the only way of perfectly 
 protecting the bitten photo-engraved ground. 
 
 A good composition for a paste-ground is : — 
 
 "White wax, .... 400 grains. 
 Gum mastic, .... 200 „ 
 Asphaltum, 200 „ 
 
 Melt these together, and pour them in the melted 
 state into 
 
 Oil of lavender, . . . . . 1 1 oz. 
 
 Whilst still hot and fluid pour the mixture into 
 wide-necked, glass-stoppered bottles, and after it sets, 
 pour a little oil of lavender on the top of it to keep 
 it from drying. With this precaution you may 
 keep your paste indefinitely. 
 
 The roller referred to above is specially made for 
 painter-etchers' purposes, and is described as follows 
 by Hamerton in Etching and Etchers : — 
 
 " It is a cylinder of wood 8^ inches long by 4 
 inches, with two projecting handles in its axis, each 
 of them about an inch thick and 4^ inches long. 
 The roller is covered with thick, smooth leather, but 
 between the leather and the wood there is a cover- 
 ing of thick flannel to give elasticity. The leather 
 is joined so neatly that the place where it is 
 cemented is hardly perceptible. It is drawn over 
 
 E 
 
66 
 
 the edges of the cylinder, and tightened with strings 
 like purse-strings, so that the edges are rounded and 
 covered. They may be obtained from dealers in 
 etchers' materials. The roller is delivered in a box, 
 which is so constructed that no part of the leather 
 ever touches anything. The box is very important 
 to protect the instrument from dust, and the roller 
 is never taken out of its box for longer than just the 
 time necessary for its use. 
 
 To use the roller : Take three pieces of thick 
 plate-glass, lay your plate, well cleaned, on one of 
 these glasses, and have the others on the table 
 conveniently near. Now take your bottle of etching- 
 paste, see that there is no dust on your glasses, and 
 with a perfectly clean palette-knife take some of 
 the paste and spread it equally on one of the glasses 
 in a horizontal band about two inches broad. If 
 the paste is too thick for this to be done easily, add 
 a few drops of oil of lavender, and mix thoroughly 
 well with the palette-knife. Now take your roller 
 and roll over and over again until you spread a film 
 of paste quite evenly on your glass. If the roller 
 is rather over-charged with paste (you will easily 
 judge of this after a few experiments), pass it 
 once on the other glass to get rid of what is super- 
 fluous, then apply it to your copper. You ought 
 to be able to lay a thin and perfectly even coat of 
 paste by this means upon your copper. You ought 
 to hear a regular crisp sound as the roller passes 
 over the glass. After some practice the ear will 
 
67 
 
 tell you when it is right. Having done this 
 thoroughly, put the plate on the plate-heater to 
 drive off the oil of lavender, and, whilst still hot, 
 take some of the paste-ground on a brush, and 
 carefully paint over all such parts as appear to have 
 a mat surface. These will be the deepest bitten 
 portions, and such always require an extra amount 
 of ground to protect them from the action of the 
 mordant. As soon as you think you have got on 
 enough ground for the purpose, put the plate aside 
 to cool, and when cool, it may be lined with the 
 etching point. 
 
 The details of the treatment of the plate from 
 this point are such as are usual in painter-etching, 
 and the reader is referred to any of the numerous 
 excellent treatises which have been published on 
 that art for further information. 
 
68 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 Steel- FACING the Plate. 
 
 If only a few proofs, say up to forty or fifty, are 
 required to be pulled from the plate, it may be 
 considered ready for the press after passing through 
 the various processes which have been described ; 
 but fifty will be the outside number of first-class 
 proofs which you can depend upon getting from 
 the unprotected surface of the plate, which will 
 soon show signs of wear under the stress of printing. 
 
 By the process known as " steel-facing, " which 
 is really the deposition of a thin but extremely 
 hard film of iron, by electrolytic action, on the 
 soft copper surface, a plate may be so protected 
 as to bear printing from to almost any extent, as, 
 should the protective film itself show signs of wear, 
 which from its hardness it is slow to do, it can be 
 readily removed without injury to the copper and 
 
69 
 
 replaced by a fresh film of iron. The process 
 is not a difficult one, but the management of the 
 large bulks of iron solution which are necessary, 
 and which are very unstable, is a troublesome 
 piece of business. The worker on a small 
 scale will find it better and more economical 
 to get the work done for him by one of the many 
 firms who make this business a speciality, than to 
 do it himself. 
 
 The Ajypao'atus required consists of a strongly-made 
 
 wooden trough, which must be either pitch-lined, 
 or strongly varnished inside with several coats of 
 sealing-wax varnish, so as to make it quite 
 impenetrable by the solution which it is to contain. 
 The outside of the box must also be everywhere 
 thickly varnished. 
 
 The internal dimensions of a trough intended to take 
 plates up to 10 inches square, should be 2 feet deep, 
 9 inches wide, and 2 feet long. At the top of the 
 trough, extending from end to end, should be two 
 
 Fig. ]1. 
 
70 
 
 stout brass rods. These should be 4 inches apart. 
 One end of each rod must have a binding-screw 
 fixed to it, as a means of connection with the source 
 of electricity. 
 
 An anode, consisting of a plate of iron, 20 x 20 
 inches, and ^ inch thick, is suspended from one of 
 the rods by brass hooks soldered to the back of the 
 plate, the soldering being thickly varnished with 
 Brunswick black. 
 
 The plate to be steel-faced is hung from the second 
 rod, by means of hooks temporarily attached to the 
 back by solder, the face of the plate being opposite 
 to that of the iron anode. 
 
 Iron-facing Solutions. — I have tried various 
 solutions and give two of the best. 
 
 Water, ...... 40 ozs. 
 
 Chloride of ammonium, . . . 2 ,, 
 
 Double sulphate of iron and ammonia, 1 „ 
 
 Protosulphate of iron, . . . 1 „ 
 
 The above salts are to be dissolved in the water, 
 and the solution filtered just before use. 
 
 This gives very good results, and does not oxidise 
 quite so rapidly as some of the other solutions which 
 I have tried. 
 
 Another extremely good solution which has the 
 great advantage of being free from this trouble of 
 oxidation, as it is made with a persalt of iron, 
 is known as Bottger's. To make it, dissolve one 
 part of ferrocyanide of potassium and two parts of 
 
Rochelle salt in twenty parts of water. Mix one 
 and a half parts of persulphate of iron with twenty- 
 five parts of water, and add it to the former. Now 
 add, drop by drop, a saturated solution of caustic 
 soda to the mixed liquids, stirring vigorously after 
 each addition of the soda, until the liquid changes 
 to a perfectly clear light-yellow color. It is then 
 ready for immediate use. 
 
 The greatest care is necessary not to add more 
 soda solution than will just suffice for the purpose ; 
 any excess will render the solution quite useless. 
 When properly prepared, it is the pleasantest 
 solution to work with of any I have tried, and 
 gives very good results, though it soon becomes 
 exhausted. 
 
 As a source of electricity, either three Bunsen 
 or six Leclanche cells may be used ; but I prefer 
 a small dynamo to any form of battery. I have 
 one fixed on the bearers of a lathe, and worked by 
 connecting the pulley by a band to the overhead 
 motion of the lathe. 
 
 The illustration shows the whole arrangement in 
 working order. With it I can get a good deposit 
 of iron on a 9x6 plate in about twenty-five 
 minutes. 
 
 The actual operation of steel-facing a plate is as 
 follows : — The plate must be very thoroughly freed 
 from printing-ink by means of turpentine, followed by 
 benzine. A couple of hooks are then to be soldered 
 on to the back, and the plate is to be well scrubbed 
 
72 
 
 with whitening and soda solution, well rinsed, dipped 
 into sulphuric acid, two drams, water, one pint, and 
 the soda and acid treatment repeated until the 
 plate is absolutely clean. After the final dip in 
 acid, the plate must be well rinsed in water, taking 
 care not to touch the surface with the fingers, and 
 then put into a dish of clean water until such time 
 
 Fig. 12. 
 
 as the trough and its contents are ready to receive 
 it. 
 
 The trough must now be filled with steel-facing 
 solution, the anode and plate put in position, and 
 the trough connected with the battery, or dynamo, 
 as the case may be, the positive pole being connected 
 with the rod bearing the anode ; the negative, with 
 
73 
 
 the plate to be steel-faced, which forms the cathode. 
 A deposit is not secured at once. It is necessary 
 to immerse the engraved plate for a few minutes, 
 take out, and brush well with fine whitening and 
 water. Immerse again, scrub at the end of five 
 minutes, and in four or five immersions a sufficient 
 deposit will be secured. The steel-faced plate must 
 be most carefully washed in hot water after its final 
 removal from the trough. Then wash in cold water, 
 brushing it at the same time dry with a soft cloth, 
 rub with benzine, and oil it, and, if not at once 
 required for printing, make it hot on the plate- 
 heater, and rub over it a piece of beeswax, allowing 
 it to cool with the film of wax as a protective 
 coating on its surface. 
 
74 
 
 CHAPTER XIIL 
 
 Making a Eeversing Mikeoe. 
 
 In the early part of this work I expressed my 
 preference for a class of transparency which involves 
 working from a reversed negative. As this in many 
 cases necessitates the use of a reversing mirror as 
 the most convenient means to the end in view, it 
 may be as well to describe the making of one. 
 
 The following details were first published in 
 an article from my pen in The Process Photogram, 
 December 1896. 
 
 An important part of the apparatus of the photo- 
 engraver is the reversing mirror. If constructed of 
 optically-worked glass, it is, for the larger sizes 
 especially, necessarily expensive. It is quite possible, 
 however, with a little care in the choice of glass, 
 to construct a mirror of plate glass, which, for all 
 practial purposes, is equal to a mirror of the more 
 
75 
 
 expensive material, and can be made at about one- 
 twentieth of the cost. The difficulties of silvering 
 and polishing are really very slight. The points 
 necessary to be observed to ensure success are purity 
 in the materials, and scrupulous cleanliness in the 
 operations. 
 
 I have made many mirrors, and give herewitli 
 full details of my mode of procedure. 
 
 The glass I use is German plate, which can be 
 had about one-eighth of an inch thick. English 
 plate glass is not now, I believe, made so thin as 
 this, and if the mirror is made of glass thicker than 
 one-eighth it becomes inconveniently heavy. Select 
 a piece which is free from surface flaws or lines, 
 which are occasionally visible in portions cut from 
 the edge of the original plate. 
 
 The first thing to do is to remove the sharp edges 
 so as to be able to handle the glass comfortably. 
 This is most readily done by means of a revolving 
 grindstone, but as a stone of this description does 
 not usually form part of the equipment of the 
 photo-engraver, a piece of No. 1 emery paper will 
 do very well instead. Care must be taken not to 
 rub the surface of the glass with emery. The 
 sharp edges being removed, give the glass a thorough 
 rinsing under the tap. When every particle of emery 
 has been washed away, place the wet glass on a 
 clean piece of folded blotting-paper, and rub it over 
 on both sides and edges with a strong solution 
 of caustic soda, applied with a tuft of cotton-wool. 
 
76 
 
 Einse well under the tap, and again rub all parts 
 of the glass, this time with a few drops of strong 
 nitric acid, using a clean piece of cotton-wool for 
 the purpose. Rinse again very thoroughly under 
 the tap, and finish the rinsing with distilled water. 
 
 Have a granitine developing-dish ready (the deep 
 pattern, it should be an inch longer each way than 
 the glass to be silvered), with sufficient distilled 
 water in it to entirely cover the glass. Into this 
 put the cleaned glass, and put a cover over the dish 
 to keep out dust. Have a second dish, deep pattern 
 also, and somewhat larger than the other. Cut 
 three pieces of cork, each half-an-inch thick, arrange 
 them triangularly in the bottom of the second dish 
 as a support for the first dish in a subsequent part 
 of the operations. Two pieces of glass rod about 
 the thickness of an ordinary cedar pencil, and 
 sufficiently long to go from side to side of the 
 smaller dish, will be required : each of these should 
 have one end bent at a right angle, about one inch 
 from the end ; this will prevent them from rolling 
 about in the dish when put in position to support 
 the glass to be silvered. They must, of course, be 
 cleaned with soda and acid, and rinsed before use. 
 
 To make the silvering solution, proceed as 
 follows (I give the quantities for a good deposit of 
 silver on a 9 x 6 mirror) : — 
 
 Take 100 grains of nitrate of silver, dissolve it in 
 2 ounces of cold distilled water. Dissolve 2 ounces 
 of Rochelle salts in 4 ounces of cold distilled water, 
 
77 
 
 add this to the solution of nitrate of silver ; a curdy 
 white precipitate is at once thrown down. Now 
 add, drop by drop, stirring vigorously the whole 
 time, strong liquor ammonia ; this will gradually 
 dissolve the precipitate, and probably, towards the 
 close of the operation, that is, when the precipitate 
 is nearly all dissolved, the liquid will become rather 
 smoky and brownish in colour. Be very careful not 
 to add an excess of ammonia, in fact it is better to 
 leave a small quantity of the precipitate undissolved. 
 
 Now add 6 ounces more distilled water and pass 
 the whole through a filter. 
 
 The Swedish filter paper is the best and most 
 convenient to use, as it is very pure and allows the 
 liquid to pass through very quickly. 
 
 Whilst this operation is going on (it will only 
 take a few minutes), arrange the two dishes, the 
 smaller inside the larger, supported on the three 
 pieces of cork, and in the inner dish the glass to be 
 silvered, supported at its two ends by the glass rods, 
 the distilled water being still in the dish. 
 
 The silvering solution being ready, take the 
 smaller dish with both hands, one at each end, and, 
 pressing the mirror-glass firmly against the rods 
 with the thumb of each hand, quickly pour away 
 the distilled water ; careful draining is not necessary. 
 Now replace the dish on the three corks, and care- 
 fully pour in the filtered silvering solution, hold the 
 plate in position again with the thumbs, as before, 
 and rock the dish quickly several times to mix the 
 
78 
 
 few remaining drops of distilled water with the 
 silvering liquid. See that there are no bubbles left 
 on the under surface of the glass, as it is this 
 surface which is to receive the silver for the mirror. 
 If there is enough silvering solution to cover the 
 glass all over, both surfaces will receive a deposit ; 
 but the one facing the bottom of the dish is 
 invariably the more perfect of the two. 
 
 The glass being in position as above, fill the 
 outer dish with boiling water. The effect of the 
 heat on the silvering liquid is at once apparent, it 
 rapidly darkens and becomes opaque and muddy- 
 looking from the deposit of metallic silver. 
 
 Do not move either of the dishes, but syphon off 
 the hot water from the outer one, and continue to 
 replace it with fresh portions of boiling water, so as 
 to gradually raise the temperature of the silvering 
 solution to about 100° or 120° Fahr. It will probably 
 take from ten to fifteen minutes to do this, and by 
 that time most, if not all, of the silver will have 
 been deposited. Take out the mirror, being careful 
 not to touch the face, that is, the under side, as 
 explained above, and give it a good rinse with warm 
 water ; now wash well under the tap for five minutes, 
 letting the water run over back, front, and sides of 
 the mirror, so as to get rid of all soluble salts, and, 
 finally, rinse with distilled water. This completes 
 the silvering operation, and the mirror should be 
 put in a rack to drain and dry. In a warm current 
 of air, this will soon take place. 
 
79 
 
 If the operation has been successful, you will 
 find a beautiful deposit of silver, perfectly even, 
 without marks or stains of any kind, but with a 
 slight bloom. To remove this and complete the 
 mirror, all that is necessary is to rub it evenly, from 
 end to end, and side to side, with a pad of chamois 
 leather (with a soft stuffing of cotton- wool) on 
 which has been rubbed a small quantity of the 
 finest rouge, such as is used by jewellers and 
 silversmiths. It is safer, when preparing the pad, 
 to give it a good rubbing on a plain glass in the 
 first instance, so as to break down any hard particles 
 of rouge which might scratch and spoil the mirror. 
 The pad should be kept by itself in a box with a 
 closely-fitting lid, and used only for the one 
 purpose. In conclusion, let me emphasise the 
 points which will ensure success ; they are, purity 
 in the materials, and scrupulous cleanliness in all the 
 operations. 
 
80 
 
 BOOK TL 
 
 MACHIKE-PRINTED 
 PHOTOGRAVURE. 
 
 CHAPTEE L 
 
 OUTLIME OF THE PeOCESS. 
 
 Foil very many years the desirability of an intaglio 
 printing method which would combine the ad- 
 vantages of the photogravure process with the 
 cheapness of letter-press printing has been fully 
 recognised. Photogravure or photo-aquatint, though 
 perhaps the most perfect of photo-mechanical pro- 
 cesses for the obtaining of artistic results, necessitates 
 such careful hand work in the printing, that the cost 
 of proofs is necessarily high, and the production of a 
 large edition is unavoidably slow. 
 
 In the eighties, the firm of Marinoni, in Paris, 
 built a special machine for photogravure printifig, 
 
w w < < ±i 
 
 ^ Ci^ O 2 
 
 < u o < 
 
 ^ o ^ ^ 
 
 2 o ^ 
 
 ^ Cii Q >H < 
 
 ^ p W 03 > 
 CC 03 
 
 CO ^ w Q 
 
 w :3 2 S w 
 
 < :d ^ ^ 
 
 H CO > H > 
 
81 
 
 in which the wiping of the plate was done by means 
 of a metal wiper, or " doctor, " instead of by hand, 
 and it is said that some very careful French printers 
 succeeded in making this machine compete with 
 hand-printing. Others, on the other hand, including 
 one of the most able of the English printing houses, 
 found that with the delicate and shallow plates 
 used in photogravure the wear of the plate was so 
 great as to far more than balance the saving obtain- 
 able by speed in printing. 
 
 Meanwhile, in the sanitary wall-paper printing 
 trade, in the printing of fabrics, " American cloth, " 
 etc., an intaglio method was being used, with copper 
 rollers or cylinders as the printing surface ; and 
 anyone who considers the cheapness of sanitary 
 wall-papers, will understand that the printing method 
 must be economical, both in labour and in the wear 
 of the printing surface. 
 
 In the printing of transfers for pottery decoration, 
 too, there is a largely-used method in which flat 
 intaglio copper plates are employed. In this the 
 printer floods the plate with color, and wipes it by 
 drawing the blade of a steel knife or scraper across 
 its face. 
 
 In both these processes, however, the printing- 
 plates (or rollers) differ essentially from photogravure 
 or photo-aquatint plates in two distinct directions. 
 Both of these depend upon the fact that the design 
 is punched into the face of the plate with steel 
 punches, instead of being cut into it with a graver, 
 
 F 
 
82 
 
 or etched with a mordant. The little diagram shows 
 imaginary sections of the lines obtained by the 
 different methods. A is the work of the graver, 
 B of the mordant, C of the punch. Thus, while 
 the engraved or etched line becomes thinner and 
 thinner as the plate wears, the punched line or dot 
 remains exactly the same until worn down to its 
 base. Hence, the wearing of the plate greatly 
 affects the engraved or etched design, while the 
 punched one is but little affected. 
 
 Further, and this is still more important, in the 
 ordinary photogravure we have practically solid 
 
 ABC 
 Fig. 13. 
 
 washes of color, in which graduation is obtained by 
 the varying depth of the biting, which causes 
 varying amounts of ink to be laid on the paper, so 
 as to wholly cover the color of the paper in the 
 shadows, while in the half-tones the paper shines 
 through the ink. In the punched design all the holes 
 are (or may be) of the same depth, and the gradation 
 of tone depends upon their size in relation to the 
 white spaces between them. Here, again, it will be 
 seen that the punched plate has the advantage on 
 wearing ; for, as the face of the photo-aquatint 
 
83 
 
 plate is worn, the high- lights extend into the paler 
 half-tones until the print comes to consist of broad, 
 hard, exaggerated high lights and faint, weak shadows 
 with but little gradation between. 
 
 An incidental, but very important, advantage of 
 the punching method 'is that it greatly hardens the 
 rollers or plates. 
 
 The knowledge of these processes must have led 
 many photogravure workers to sigh for some means 
 of combining the advantages of their photographic 
 process with those of the slower and in many ways 
 inferior punching method. 
 
 At length the perfecting of the half-tone process, 
 and particularly of the method in which copper is 
 employed, with a fish-glue resist, suggested the way 
 to obtain a good deal of what was desired. For 
 some years a process which combines the photogravure, 
 the half-tone, and a mechanical printing process has 
 been in successful operation, producing prints up to 
 about 40 in. x 30 in. of such perfection that they 
 have had large sales in the print-sellers' shops, and 
 yet at a cost of production with which hand-printing 
 cannot attempt to compete. 
 
 More recently other firms have gone into the 
 work, obtaining equally beautiful results by methods 
 which are probably a modification ; and some outline 
 particulars of the working have been given at the 
 meetings of the Royal Photographic Society. 
 
 Of course the exact details of these firms' 
 procedure are guarded as secret processes, and the 
 
84 
 
 following chapters do not pretend to give a working 
 description of any of them. They do, however, 
 give information wherewith any man with a 
 knowledge of photogravure plate making and of 
 the half-tone process can very quickly make himself 
 proficient as a maker and printer of machine-printed 
 photogravure plates or rollers. 
 
85 
 
 CHAPTEE 11. 
 
 Tkansferring a Film Kesist to Metal 
 Plates or Pollers. 
 
 [Method of A. Villain, Officer of the Academy.] 
 
 The reader is supposed to have a knowledge of 
 the use of the half-tone screen ; of the preparation, 
 printing, and developing of a fish-glue resist ; and of 
 the etching of a copper plate. If he requires further 
 information on these points, he is referred to the 
 volumes of The Process Fhotogram, 1894, '95, '96, 
 '97, in which the progress of half-tone photo-engrav- 
 ing has been chronicled month by month. Or he 
 may I'cfer to the other books in the present series. 
 
 The following instructions are extracted from an 
 article by A. D. Villain, of Paris, which won the 
 prize offered by The Process Photogram in 1896 for 
 the best article on a photo-mechanical subject, and 
 which was published in the issues of that journal 
 for July and August 1896. Monsieur Villain 
 says : — 
 
86 
 
 " Pursuing our researches on the employment of 
 photography for printing fabrics, we have made 
 several trials of the ' Enamel Process ' and of a 
 method called ' the modified glue process,' having 
 obtained at last on rollers a photographic film, 
 suitable for etching. In the course of these experi- 
 'ments we have made several interesting notes, which 
 we have incorporated in the account of the process 
 we have the honor to present to you. We have 
 found also : — 
 
 (1.) That gum, albumen, ordinary gelatin, and 
 all other colloid substances can withstand being 
 baked to form an enamel, and to give a perfect film 
 (a peculiarity that has, perhaps, been remarked and 
 indicated by others before ourselves). 
 
 (2.) That the coating of the roller with the sensi- 
 tised solution can be done away with, and that the 
 trouble of reversing the originals can be avoided. 
 
 (3.) That by our process a film suitable for 
 engraving can be easily carried over on to a copper 
 roller or other metallic surface. 
 
 To briefly outline the process : — A sheet of paper, 
 coated with gelatin, gum, albumen, etc, is sensitised 
 on a bath of ammonium bichromate. After drying 
 in a place sheltered from white hght, it is exposed 
 behind a cross-lined or grained negative (not 
 reversed). The image is developed with cold or 
 tepid water, then the sheet of paper is brought into 
 contact, image downwards, with the roller or metal 
 plate. The excess of water and bubbles of air 
 
87 
 
 interposed between the two having been driven out, 
 the whole is dried and then heated over a gas stove 
 or in some other manner ; the paper burns away, 
 leaving the image in contact with the metal, and all 
 that remains to be done is to etch the plate in the 
 usual way. 
 
 In the recognised processes up to the present 
 time, the sensitised solution is spread on the plate 
 to be engraved, dried, and exposed behind a reversed 
 negative. 
 
 GelaMned Papers. — Sheets of paper coated with 
 two to five per cent, solutions of gelatin are em- 
 ployed. They may be purchased, under the name 
 of transfer papers, or we can prepare them ourselves, 
 taking care to employ thin paper, but of good quality, 
 free from any product that might render the gelatin 
 partially or even completely insoluble, and very 
 soluble gelatin. One of the sheets is taken and 
 dipped in the following sensitising bath : — 
 
 Distilled water, ... 60 c.c. 
 Egg albumen, ... 40 c.c. . 
 Ammonium bichromate, . . 3 grms. 
 
 If the solution is turbid a few drops of ammonia 
 are added to it. When the gelatin is thoroughly 
 impregnated with this solution, the excess of liquid 
 is drained off and the sheet is hung up to dry, either 
 in the air alone or on talced glass, but guarded 
 thoroughly from all white light. The sensitising of 
 these tissues should be conducted in the same manner 
 as for the carbon process, taking care above all 
 
88 
 
 things to pass a brush over the tissue on the gelatined 
 side and over the back during sensitising to avoid 
 the microscopic bubbles that always form on the 
 surface of these tissues when they are placed in 
 water. Only one sheet of tissue should be sensitised 
 at a time, and this should be done only a short time 
 before it is required, for they only keep good for 
 three or four days in summer and seven or eight in 
 winter. Avoid a higher temperature than 35° C. in 
 drying the sensitised tissue, and do not heat the 
 room where the drying is being conducted by gas 
 or by a stove. These are the causes of the partial 
 or total insolubility of the gelatin. The bad smells 
 produced, resembling escaped gas and drains, are 
 also a nuisance. By sensitising in the evening the 
 paper required for the next day, and by drying it 
 during the night in a well- ventilated apartment, 
 shielded from all white light, we shall obtain the 
 best results. When once they have been dried, the 
 papers must be preserved from light and moisture. 
 
 Exposure. — The sensitised tissue is placed in 
 the printing-frame behind a line or half-tone 
 negative, or positive. A negative is employed when 
 an engraving in relief is desired, and a positive 
 when the reverse effect is required. The exposure 
 is very short. It varies according to the intensity 
 of the light, the intensity of the negative, etc., etc., 
 and should be gauged by a photometer. An ex- 
 posure of fifteen minutes to diffused light at this 
 period of the year (15th October) is sufficient. For 
 
89 
 
 developmeiit the print is placed in cold water, 
 renewed from time to time until all the chromium 
 salt not acted upon by light is removed. The 
 development is continued with tepid and even with 
 boiling water, if it is necessary to dissolve completely 
 all the gelatin that has not been rendered insoluble 
 by light. To examine the development better, and 
 to keep an easier watch over the state of the print, 
 after the first few washings with tepid water the 
 others can be made with water containing a little 
 cosine or other aniline coloring matter, which, by 
 adhering to the places where the gelatin has become 
 insoluble, stains it in whatever color is used, and 
 allows us to see better what results are being 
 obtained. Only the gelatin that has been acted 
 upon by light must be allowed to remain on or in 
 the substance of the paper. The development can 
 be made in ordinary daylight, but care must be 
 taken to place the print to soak in water on remov- 
 ing it from the printing-frame before taking it from 
 the dark room. 
 
 When the development is finished and all the 
 detail has been brought out perfectly, the print, 
 thoroughly moistened, is transferred face downwards, 
 i.e., with the image in contact with the metal, on to 
 a plate of copper, brass, zinc, etc., taking care not 
 to leave any air bubbles between the tissue and the 
 metal. The metallic surface ought to be thoroughly 
 clean, free from grease and roughly polished to 
 obtain perfect adherence. The least trace of grease 
 
90 
 
 (the application of the fingers for example) prevents 
 the gelatin adhering to the metal. The contact 
 ought to be made under water, i.e., by placing the 
 metal plate under the tissue whilst still lying in 
 the dish, and lifting them both out of the water 
 together. If not pressed the plate is left to dry 
 quietly ; but in the opposite case the drying can be 
 hastened by moistening the back of the print 
 slightly with alcohol, and heating it with a lamp or 
 in some other manner. 
 
 Baking the Enamel. — The plate of metal, 
 having the tissue in contact with it, is placed on 
 the hot plate just as in the half-tone enamel process. 
 The heat is raised by degrees and very slowly at 
 first until a temperature of 340''-4:00° 0. is attained. 
 The addition of albumen to the sensitised bath 
 permits us to carry the temperature up to 400° C, 
 but the plate can be withdrawn on arriving at about 
 340° if the paper is destroyed. The heat must be 
 continued until the complete destruction of the paper 
 is brought about, especially when plates of copper 
 are being used. To judge the temperature, little 
 pieces of lead can be placed on the edges of the 
 plate that is being baked ; their fusion (335° C.) 
 will indicate that the plate can be removed, or that 
 the heat can be reduced. Other metals or alloys 
 can be employed according to the temperature that 
 we wish to obtain. In consequence of the heating 
 of the plate and the high temperature, the paper is 
 consumed, burnt, and reduced to an ash, and there 
 
91 
 
 no longer remains on the plate to be engraved any- 
 thing but the photographic transfer, which has the 
 closest possible contact. In the course of our 
 experiments we have noted that it was preferable 
 to leave the paper to dry after its transference to 
 the metal and before baking; it then carbonises 
 more easily. 
 
 The desired temperature having been obtained, 
 the plate is left to cool very slowly, and, by the aid 
 of a piece of dry or moistened rag, the particles of 
 paper which still remain attached to the metal are 
 removed. To hasten and to ensure the complete 
 destruction of the paper, when it has been heated 
 to about 150° C, we can take the plate by the aid 
 of the tongs, and, turning it upside down, move it 
 backwards and forwards over the flame of a Bunsen 
 burner or a gas stove, bringing the paper in contact 
 with the flame. If, on passing a plug of cotton- 
 wool or a brush over the surface, several places are 
 observed where paper still adheres, it is sufficient to 
 bring those parts over the flame, and to heat afresh. 
 
 This modification allows of burning the paper 
 more promptly, and of obtaining transfers on to zinc 
 plates more easily ; for if the zinc plate is left on 
 the hot plate, the metal may be fused before the 
 paper is destroyed, especially when thick paper is 
 being used, and when it has not been dried 
 sufficiently before proceeding to bake the enamel. 
 When it is observed that the image is perfect and 
 complete to its smallest details, it is washed under 
 
92 
 
 the tap, dried, and any retouching that may be 
 necessary is proceeded with, and it is then ready for 
 biting. 
 
 Biti7ig the Plate. — The biting is secured by 
 the usual means, but much more easily, because the 
 film is so much more substantial. For copper plates 
 it is preferable to use a solution of perchloride of 
 iron of 45° Be., which may be heated up to about 
 30° C. After remaining in this solution for 15 to 
 20 minutes the plate is engraved to a certain depth. 
 If a deeper biting is required, it is necessary to roll 
 up, an operation well known and described in hand- 
 books, which allows us to obtain as great a depth 
 as we wish. 
 
 Albumenised Papers. — Very good, and above 
 all, very delicate, results are obtained by using single 
 albumenised papers, or papers with a very weak 
 coating of gum, modified glue or " liquid glue," etc., 
 etc. The mode of procedure is the same ; the sensi- 
 tising and development alone being different. In 
 sensitising these papers they cannot be left to soak 
 in a bath (as the medium being soluble in cold 
 water would be dissolved), so this is how the opera- 
 tion is performed : the papers are floated, film side 
 up, on a bath composed of — 
 
 "Water, . . . . 100 parts 
 Ammonium bichromate, . 3 to 4 „ 
 
 care being taken to avoid air bubbles that may form 
 between the sheet of paper and the surface of the 
 
93 
 
 liquid ; a few minutes suffice for this operation ; 
 the liquid, owing to a capillary action, traverses the 
 sheet of paper and comes into contact with the film 
 of albumen, gum, etc., etc. The operation is stopped 
 when the coating has acquired a shiny appearance. 
 The sheets of paper are dried by suspending them 
 by the aid of clips or pins ; they cannot be dried on 
 talced glass. The exposure to light is perhaps a 
 little longer, a few trials determining the course to 
 be pursued in subsequent operations. Development 
 is done in the cold : the print is placed in water 
 tinted by one of the aniline colors, is left there until 
 the image has appeared completely, and is then 
 washed in cold water, a soft camel's-hair brush or a 
 squeegee being passed lightly over the surface. The 
 transfer should be carried out immediately. If the 
 print has been dried it must be moistened afresh 
 before making the contact, taking care to pass the 
 squeegee very lightly over the surface to avoid air 
 bubbles. The transfer made, the roller squeegee is 
 passed over it, or the plate and its accompanying 
 film are placed under a press of some kind. The 
 pressure may be much greater than for transfers 
 with a gelatin base. It is either left to dry in the 
 air, or is heated by a stove or on the hot plate, 
 moderate treatment being used. The plate, when 
 dry, is baked in the manner already described. It 
 is unnecessary, we believe, to remark that the 
 surface of the paper can be coated with the solution 
 of albumen, gum, etc., containing the needful quantity 
 
94 
 
 of bichromate of potassium. In coating these films 
 it is sufficient to take the usual precautions. We 
 believe, however, that it is simpler to keep a stock 
 of sheets of paper coated with albumen, modified 
 glue, etc., and to sensitise them when required. 
 
 Papers with Caoutchouc under Gelatin or 
 Albumen, etc., etc. — The high temperature required 
 for the destruction of the paper might be a hindrance 
 to the employment of this process on plates of zinc 
 or any very fusible metal or other material ; so we 
 have searched for a means of rendering our process 
 applicable for transfers on all surfaces. To arrive 
 at this result, in place of employing ordinary paper 
 as a support for the gelatin, albumen, etc., nitrated 
 paper or pyroxyl can be used ; it is only necessary 
 then to heat very lightly to destroy the support and 
 leave the film. The employment of nitro-cellulose 
 presenting some possible dangers, the notion of 
 using paper with coatings of caoutchouc and of 
 gelatin has occurred to us. Our first attempts have 
 been made with the paper films of M. Balagny, 
 with three superposed coatings : (1) a layer of 
 caoutchouc; (2) a coating of collodion; (3) a layer 
 of gelatin. The results have been very satisfactory, 
 and we have asked the firm of Laney to make us 
 papers with thin layers of caoutchouc and gelatin, 
 with an intermediate layer of collodion. 
 
 The sensitising of these papers is the same as 
 for papers coated with gelatin alone. The drying, 
 exposure to light, and development are made also 
 
95 
 
 in the same manuer. The image, when developed, 
 is placed to dry. At the time of transferring it is 
 moistened with cold water, always squeegeeing the 
 surface. The contact is made under water. The 
 transfer effected, the whole is left to dry tranquilly ; 
 then, when drying is complete, a plug of flannel or 
 cotton-wool soaked in benzine or petroleum spirit 
 is passed over the back of the print and rubbed in 
 sufficiently to render the layer of caoutchouc soluble. 
 First, one of the corners, and then the whole of the 
 paper is lifted off, the image remaining adherent 
 to the metal. The plug soaked in benzine or 
 petroleum spirit is passed very lightly over the 
 surface to eliminate finally all traces of caoutchouc, 
 and then the enamel is baked to any extent that 
 may be desired. This modification allows us to 
 make transfers even on to lithographic stone, or on 
 to wood, or any other surface with much greater 
 ease than by any other process whatever. The 
 bichromated gelatin, after exposure to hght, resists 
 the action of weak acids, even without having been 
 heated or baked, but it can be endued with a much 
 greater power of resisting the action of acids by 
 passing it through a 1 per cent, solution of formalin. 
 
 Transfer to Rollers. — Contact can be given by 
 means of a flat rubber squeegee, which is pressed on the 
 roller directly after the application of the image, or 
 by means of a roller squeegee, or in any other 
 manner. By employing papers containing a layer 
 of caoutchouc, the paper can be lifted off very 
 
96 
 
 readily, leaving only the photographic transfers. 
 To bake the enamel, the rollers, when the transference 
 is finished, can be placed in a stove heated to 250° 
 to 300° C. Also, to bake the enamel and to car- 
 bonise the paper we can operate thus: the axle 
 of the roller is rested on two bearings (as when 
 turning it in the ordinary way) and turned, either 
 directly over a gas flame, or in the interior of a 
 fixed tube or pipe of cast or wrought iron, heated 
 by a gas burner, or in some other manner. This 
 would take the place of the stove and the hot 
 plate. 
 
 Before placing the roller in direct contact with 
 the flame a thorough drying of the transfer is to be 
 recommended, and, if possible, the roller should be 
 placed for a few minutes in an air-bath, heated to 
 about 100° C. For biting the plate the iron pipe 
 and gas burner are replaced by a boat or trough 
 containing perchloride of iron or the acid solution 
 chosen. To obtain great depth or strong relief the 
 processes recognised and employed in other methods, 
 such as rolling up, etc., etc., can be utilised. All 
 that we have said in regard to transfers on to flat 
 surfaces can be repeated here. 
 
 Betouching. — The retouching of the transfers so 
 obtained is very easy : by the aid of a scraper the 
 parts that we wish bitten by the acid can be raised 
 up ; the parts to be preserved from the etching being 
 covered with varnish by the aid of a pen or pencil 
 dipped in the following solution : — 
 
97 
 
 Water, 100 parts. 
 
 Strong modified glue or liquid glue, . 5 ,, 
 Bichromate of potash, . . . 2 „ 
 
 The gaps are filled up, the lines are gone over 
 again and corrected as required, etc., etc., and the 
 retouching is left to dry, and the plate, roller, or 
 block is heated afresh to secure for this retouching 
 the same strength as possessed by the rest of the 
 film." 
 
 It is only necessary to add to Monsieur Villain's 
 careful instructions the suggestion, that for the 
 modern process of machine-printed photogravure, it 
 is necessary to lay upon the metal surface, before 
 transferring the resist, a dust grain as described by 
 Mr iHuson. This breaks up and somewhat modifies 
 the edges of the half-tone dots. In this process, the 
 half-tone image secures gradation of light and shade 
 independently of the gradation of depth of the 
 etching, thus giving to the photographic plate one 
 of the advantages of the plate prepared with punches. 
 The etching, too, owing to the possibility of rolling 
 up and re-etching, is much deeper than is possible 
 with the photogravure method. 
 
 The plate, as in ordinary photogravure, may be 
 steel-faced for the increasing of its durability, and 
 even after it is appreciably worn can be rolled-up 
 with a fatty ink and etched still deeper without such 
 a loss of quality as is unavoidable from the wearing 
 of the photogravure plate. 
 
 G 
 
CHAPTEE III. 
 
 More Durable Plates and Eollees 
 [Suggestions by J. William Smith.] 
 
 The great advantages offered by the photo- 
 mechanical processes, as compared with the punch- 
 ing method of preparing rollers for the printing of 
 sanitary wall-papers, have induced the wall-paper 
 printers to experiment in this direction. The soft- 
 ness of the finished roller, as compared with a 
 punched roller, and the other considerations men- 
 tioned in the last chapter, have caused these workers 
 to largely abandon the photographic process ; for a 
 method which is cheap enough for making prints for 
 book illustration may not be cheap enough for wall- 
 paper printing. Still, the experiments are not 
 abandoned, and some valuable suggestions may be 
 gathered from a paper contributed to The Process 
 Photogram, June 1897, by J. William Smith, an 
 engraver of rollers for wall-paper printing. This 
 
99 
 
 paper, curiously enough, was the prize-winner in 
 1897 in the competition corresponding to that which 
 was won by A. Villain in 1896. 
 
 Only the small portion which directly bears upon 
 the present question is quoted. Mr Smith says : — 
 
 " The manufacturer would willingly discard copper 
 for a cheaper metal substitute, since he is always 
 obliged to have on stock a large number of engraved 
 copper rollers, just in the same manner that a 
 photographer is obliged to keep a vast stock of 
 negatives. I know of one firm alone, which always 
 has in stock something like two thousand rollers. 
 This means a great capital laid out and bringing in 
 no interest, as it were. Finding the same difficulty, 
 the fabric printers have adopted, with great success, 
 cast-iron rollers or shells coated with copper one-six- 
 teenth of an inch thick, the copper being deposited 
 by electrical means, on which they engrave. 
 
 " The fabric printers are able to take advantage of 
 this class of roller, because they engrave by an 
 etched-out process. But this class of roller will 
 not withstand the punching method used for engrav- 
 ing for wall-papers: the chief reason why copper 
 rollers are used for engraving for wall-papers is, that 
 copper being a somewhat soft metal, it is easily 
 punched, therefore specially adapted to the present 
 method of engraving. 
 
 " Copper is employed, also, because no chemical 
 action takes place between the color and that metal. 
 If iron or steel rollers were used, a chemical action 
 
100 
 
 would be set up between the color and the iron or 
 steel, contaminating the colors and spoiling their 
 purity. Such rollers would also be liable to rust 
 and spoil when not in use. Nickel, on the contrary, 
 is a very suitable metal for the requirements of 
 wall-paper printing, but it is very expensive, and to 
 engrave it by the present method would be out of 
 the question, on account of its bemg so very hard 
 and brittle. To render a photo-process engraved 
 rqller capable of withstanding the necessary wear 
 and tear, I propose to use an iron roller, on which 
 a coating of nickel has been deposited by electrical 
 means. The coating of nickel will suffice if it be 
 about one-sixteenth of an inch thick. The next 
 operation will be to take off a thin skin of the 
 nickel surface, in the turning lathe, to make the 
 engraving surface true and level. 
 
 " The roller will now require to be polished on the 
 polishing • lathe, by means of coarse sandstone, 
 followed with yellow-stone, medium, and lastly with 
 fine water-of-Ayr stone, exactly in the same manner 
 that we should polish an ordinary copper roller. 
 The roller is now ready for engraving by means of 
 an acid, for a roller of this description will not with- 
 stand punching. 
 
 " Seeing that the photo-mechanical method of 
 engraving is an etched-out process, I think we shall 
 have secured a means by which wall-papers can be 
 printed, which, for artistic results, will be superior 
 to anything that has yet been accomplished. At 
 
101 
 
 the same time we shall have an engraved roller that 
 will outlast at least three copper rollers engraved by 
 present methods. Further, I believe such rollers 
 could be produced cheaper than the present copper 
 rollers, seeing that while the copper rollers are pro- 
 duced by rolling, the iron cores we should require 
 would be produced by casting. 
 
 " With reference to the proposed new method of 
 photo-engraving being cheaper than the engraving 
 method now in vogue, I cannot say, since I do not 
 know what will be the cost of the photographic 
 method. But seeing that the present engraving is 
 produced by hand work alone, it stands to reason 
 that such a method is slow and tedious. Therefore, 
 I think I may ventvire to say the proposed new 
 method will be much more expeditious, and that 
 goes for a great deal, as it enables a manufac- 
 turer to get a design quickly on the market. To 
 give any idea of the cost of present method of engrav- 
 ing is rather difficult, as so much depends on the 
 size of, and the quantity of detail in the design to 
 be reproduced. Probably, on an average, the price 
 per roller ranges from £3 to as high as £20, and I 
 shall be strictly under the mark when I say that 
 no less than £15,000 per annum is paid in wages 
 ■for this class of engraving in England alone. And 
 when I say that engraving for wall-papers was 
 practically unknown twelve years ago, you will see 
 that this industry is rapidly extehding." 
 
t02 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 The Method of Printing 
 
 {as employed in the Sanitary Wall-2Mper trade). 
 
 [From a paper contributed to TJie Process Photogram 
 by J. William Smith.] 
 
 Taking it for granted we have a sanitary wall- 
 paper printing machine of the single color type, 
 before we can start printing, we shall require to 
 wrap, very tightly and evenly, a kind of cloth, 
 known as lapping (a cloth composed of linen and 
 woollen), around the iron cylinder marked A. Wind 
 round in one continuous length of lapping, sufficient 
 to form a thickness of one inch. The width of the 
 lapping will be governed by the width of the design 
 you require to print. Supposing the design measures 
 twenty inches in width, you will require your lap- 
 ping cloth to be twenty-four inches wide, thus allow- 
 ing two inches on either side. This wrapping is 
 in order that the paper to be printed may be well 
 pressed down into the engraving on the printing 
 roller. We shall now require an endless woollen 
 
103 
 
 printer's blanket, which can be obtained all in one 
 piece and without seam. To put it on the printing 
 machine, it will be necessary to raise one end of the 
 cylinder (A) out of the machine's side, which is 
 arranged for that purpose. The woollen blanket 
 will require to be two inches wider on either side 
 than the lapping. Having got the woollen blanket 
 on the machine, the iron mandrel (B) is pushed 
 through the engraved roller. Inside this roller is a 
 tab which fits into a corresponding groove in the 
 mandrel, so as to prevent the engraved roller turning 
 round on the mandrel whilst printing. If we 
 require to print from an engraved roller of more 
 than fifteen inches circumference, an iron cone to 
 fit the size of roller required must be pushed into 
 the roller and the mandrel into the cone. Having 
 fixed the engraved roller on the mandrel, it is placed 
 in the machine. The trough or color-box (D) con- 
 taining the color, contains also a wooden roller, and 
 is adjusted underneath the engraved roller, so that 
 the engraved roller comes in contact with the 
 wooden roller. On the end of the wooden roller 
 (C) is a cog-wheel which fits into a cog-wheel 
 on the mandrel (B), so that both revolve at 
 once, which keeps the color well mixed and 
 serves the engraved roller with color. Having 
 got so far, we shall require to fix the doctor or 
 metal wiper behind the engraved roller, at an angle 
 of 35° or thereabouts (see detail sketch). The 
 doctor will first require to be filed with a steel file 
 
105 
 
 in a parallel direction, at an angle of about 70° ; it 
 will now require to be whetted or rubbed in a 
 parallel direction with an oil-stone and oil till we 
 can get a nice, sharp, clean and level edge. Unless 
 this operation of filing and whetting is performed 
 somewhat accurately, the doctor will not wipe the 
 engraved roller perfectly clean. On looking at the 
 sketch you will see at each end of the framework 
 which holds the doctor a short pivot. These pivots 
 fit into steps on each side of the printing machine. 
 To the ends of the arms are fitted chains and spiral 
 springs ; these are hooked on a bar fixed across the 
 machine, and adjusted so as to give the requisite 
 amount of pressure of the doctor on the roller. It 
 is then customary to beat a sort of rat-tat with the 
 fingers'-ends on the doctor all the way across, and 
 from the peculiar sound emitted, it is possible to 
 tell whether it is properly adjusted or not. We 
 now adjust the traverse rod (G) in position, which 
 gives a short traversing motion to the doctor in 
 order that it may not be worn down more in one 
 place than in another by coming in contact with a 
 deeply engraved portion in one particular place on 
 the roller. We now thread the paper from the 
 paper-roll, marked H as shown on the sketch, and 
 ^pply sufficient tension to the paper-roll mandrel by 
 means of a spring, not indicated, so that it will just 
 turn round without tearing the paper. 
 
 The ink is now poured into the color-box, after 
 it has been well strained or filtered througb a very 
 
106 
 
 fine cloth in order to free it from grit and foreign 
 matter. If we omit to do so considerable annoyance 
 will be caused by the doctor and the engraved roller 
 getting scratched. The color must be about the 
 consistency of ordinary house paint. The printing 
 machine is now set in motion, and after seeing that 
 the engraved roller and the roller in the color-box 
 revolve in proper order, the set screws (/) are 
 screwed down simultaneously, and as soon as contact 
 is formed between the engraved roller and the iron 
 cylinders (the paper and printing blanket between, 
 of course), the printing blanket and cylinders are 
 set in motion, the paper when printed being carried 
 upwards and over the top of the machine as 
 indicated by the arrows, by means of the blanket. 
 If, when printing, we should discover fine hair lines 
 being printed, other than what there should be, the 
 doctor is at fault if the hair lines are not parallel 
 with the sides of the paper. We shall require to 
 take the doctor out of the machine, and by running 
 the thumb-nail across it we shall find that some- 
 where near the place indicated by the line there is 
 a notch. The doctor will require to be filed and 
 whetted with oil stone and oil until the notch is 
 removed. If there should be a tint ,or scum on the 
 paper, the doctor is either not evenly adjusted or 
 not properly whetted. 
 
 It will be seen by the above brief description that 
 no particular skill is required in the process of 
 printing. A very little practice soon enables an 
 
107 
 
 ordinary workman to whet and adjust the metal 
 wiper so as to obtain good clean results. 
 
 The paper used for wall-paper printing is not of 
 good quality, because the finished article has to be 
 sold as cheaply as possible, otherwise better results 
 could be obtained by adapting the paper to the 
 printing requirements. The paper must be slightly 
 absorbent but not to an extent to cause the color to 
 spread. On the other hand, if the paper be very 
 hard on the surface the color will have a tendency 
 to run. 
 
 The description applies only to single color 
 priating. Machines are in use for printing sanitary 
 wall-papers up to as many as twelve colors. The 
 operations to be performed are exactly the same 
 with each roller and doctor. 
 
 When two or more colors are to be printed it is, 
 however, necessary to get the separate colors in 
 exact register. The method of doing so is simplicity 
 itself, but difficult to describe in writing. On the 
 end of each engraved roller is engraved a ring, and 
 while unconnected each roller is so adjusted that 
 each color ring drops exactly on the top of the 
 preceding one, thereby obtaining exact register of 
 each color. 
 
 It is also necessary that every roller, excepting 
 the first, be slightly larger than the preceding one 
 in circumference, owing to the fact that the paper 
 stretches a little from being slightly damped by 
 receiving the preceding impressions. When in good 
 
108 
 
 working order a machine, working any number of 
 colors, is capable of printing about six yards per 
 ■second. 
 
 After the machine has been printing some little 
 time (especially when two or more colors are being 
 printed) you will notice, as the newly printed paper 
 passes between each engraved roller and cylinder, a 
 certain amount of fluff and color is deposited on the 
 plain surface of the engraved roller, which, if 
 allowed to continue, would seriously contaminate 
 the other colors. To prevent this it is necessary to 
 adjust a metal wiper or doctor on each side of 
 engraved roller, which cleans off all fluff and color, 
 and so prevents contamination. 
 
109 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 Additional Suggestions. 
 
 Resist Varnish. — A varnish for covering the 
 edges and back of the copper plate, and for pro- 
 tecting the spaces which it is not desired to attack 
 in re-etching, may be made as follows : — 
 
 Fuse J lb. of asphaltum in an iron pot over the 
 fire, using as low a temperature as will suffice for 
 the purpose. When fused, add slowly, stirring all 
 the time with an iron rod, 2j oz. of boiled linseed 
 oil. When the asphaltum and oil are thoroughly 
 incorporated, allow the mixture to cool somewhat ; 
 then add, with constant stirring as before, ^ pint of 
 oil of turpentine, and, as soon as cold, bottle for use. 
 
 This gives a good Brunswick black, but the reader 
 is advised to purchase the varnish ready made : it 
 can be procured almost everywhere of good quality, 
 and is troublesome to make. 
 
 Wiping Bag. — (Coarse canvas, which has been 
 washed soft, or old lace curtains, or, indeed, any 
 material which is soft and has an open mesh, will 
 do well for the first wiping. 
 
HQ 
 
 The fine muslin, for finishing, is that known as 
 butter-cloth.) 
 
 Rollers for Exjperimental Work. — It will be well 
 for experimentalists to realise that a complete roller 
 and spindle need not be used for each printing 
 surface ; indeed, as far as expense for metal is con- 
 cerned, experiments on roller work need not be so 
 expensive as experiments on plate work, provided 
 that advantage is taken of the seamless copper and 
 brass tubes now obtainable, and a roller body is 
 once for all made to suit the size of tube selected. 
 Although both copper and brass seamless tubes are ob- 
 tainable of even thickness and quite smooth inside, we 
 would suggest the latter as being more likely to suit 
 for the machine work of the future as foreshadowed in 
 our articles of last month ; brass being far less likely 
 than copper to tear or groove under the pressure of 
 that metal scraper or doctor which promises to be the 
 ink-wiping device of the future ; at any rate for the 
 first wiping. Brass instead of copper, as a material 
 for the intaglio, is no novelty either for plates or 
 rollers, and the special reasons for preferring copper 
 will probably not apply to the photogravure of the 
 future. It may be mentioned that very many of 
 the intaglio engravings in the older books were 
 made, not on copper plates, but on brass plates, 
 and many of the old brass intaglio plates are to be 
 seen in the Plantin Museum at Antwerp. Especi- 
 ally would we recommend that kind of seamless 
 brass tube, which was originally manufactured for 
 
111 
 
 tubing locomotive boilers and is now so largely used 
 for pump barrels and other purposes. This tubing 
 is surprisingly uniform in thickness, true to the 
 circle and smooth inside and outside, and costs retail 
 about Is. per lb. It can be obtained in London at 
 Smith's Metal Warehouse, St John's Square, Clerk- 
 enwell, and a convenient size for experiments or 
 small work is 2| inches in diameter, and about 
 ^nds of an inch thick ; the weight of this being 
 about 2i lbs. to a foot run. In purchasing this 
 tube one simply asks for seamless tube, which suffi- 
 ciently distinguishes it from the brazed tube, rough 
 inside, used in ordinary gas fitting, or the brazed 
 mandrel drawn tube. The size mentioned having a 
 circumference of nine inches is quite suitable for 
 prints on crown quarto paper or even a little larger. 
 With respect to the mounting of the metal tube on 
 the holding roller little need be said, as there are 
 several easy ways; one being to use a little soft 
 solder at the ends, and another being to have a 
 small notch in each end of the tube. One of these 
 notches can engage on a block or key permanently 
 set in the roller, and the other notch can be filled 
 by a similar block screwed down with a counter- 
 sink-head screw. It must be remembered that the 
 lengths of seamless tube are very slightly taper ; 
 so the mounting roller will have to be turned to the 
 smallest inside diameter, and in other cases the 
 thickness will have to be made up by thin paper. 
 When the rough tube is mounted on the roller and 
 
112 
 
 this latter is mounted in the lathe the surfacing is 
 very easy. In connection with coating and ex- 
 posure, such expedients as rotating in the lathe 
 while a trough of the coating liquid is raised up- 
 wards, the use of a broad Blanchard brush against 
 the rotating cylinder, the employment of film nega- 
 tives, and binding spirals of the thin reliable cellu- 
 loid, are among those which suggest themselves. 
 
 — The Process Photogrum. 
 
 Observations on J. William Smith's Suggestions. 
 By Edward Cross. 
 
 The statement that an engraved roller will give 
 about three times more impressions than can be got 
 from a process one is rather surprising, but it leads 
 to the supposition that the copper had not been 
 properly planished, a supposition which is supported 
 by the author's theory (doubtless the true one) that 
 the present mode of hand engraving by means 
 of punches causes compression of the copper, and 
 consequently hardens it in every part of the pattern. 
 Given an etching on well-planished copper, and I 
 will hazard a very emphatic opinion that it will be 
 found to stand wear as well as an engraved one, 
 provided always that the lines and dots are as deep 
 in the one as in the other. 
 
 Good photogravure work is not an altogether 
 automatic process, and the difficulties in the way of 
 
113 
 
 working it on a cylinder, from the time of attaching 
 the resist till the finish of the work, would be much 
 greater than when working on a flat plate where, 
 having the design before him at one view, the 
 operator could watch the progress of his work and 
 .more readily avail himself of such means as stopping- 
 out and re-biting than he could possibly do when 
 etching on a roller. And this leads to the question, 
 " Why not do the work on a flat surface ? " It 
 would not be a great difficulty to curve an engraved 
 plate and attach it as a skin to the iron cylinder, 
 brazing the two edges of the plate together, smooth- 
 ing the joint at the surface, and securing continuity 
 of the pattern. 
 
 I have one other proposal which I consider would 
 be well worth trying. Go to work the other way 
 about, and etch in relief on a thin plate of hardened 
 steel, and use this as a die to transfer the pattern 
 on to an already prepared copper roller. The copy, 
 of course, would be an intaglio one. A method 
 much akin to this is in well-established use for 
 making the surface rollers for printing textiles. 
 The trouble in this case would be to produce a 
 sharp clear etching of sufficient depth, with good 
 wall-sided lines; but etchers have had so much 
 experience in this direction that there must be many 
 of them quite equal to the task. 
 
 A great advantage of this latter mode would be 
 economy of storage. The original cost of the steel 
 plates (of course not reckoning the value of the 
 
 H 
 
114 
 
 work that may be put upon them) would be but 
 trifling compared to the cost of rollers ; they would 
 occupy but little space when put away, and could 
 l)e readily transferred to rollers when wanted. This 
 practice would, to a very appreciable extent, reduce 
 the amount of sunken capital represented by the 
 large number of engraved rollers a manufacturer at 
 present finds it necessary to keep in stock. 
 
 Since the above was written, an article on 
 ''Machine-Printed Photogravure" has appeared in 
 The Process Photogram for September, which may 
 be regarded as a welcome contribution to what is 
 becoming a useful series on intagho process work for 
 printing from rollers; to which I should like to 
 add a few words. I have no doubt whatever of 
 the possibility of printing good photogravure work 
 from the roller, and, moreover, believe that in the 
 very near future it will be done, seeing that the 
 times are ripe for it by reason of the facile and 
 fascinating art of photogravure itself, winning its 
 way so rapidly into public favour. It would seem 
 simple enough — hardly more than a new application 
 of an already existing machine — but the crucial 
 difficulty to be overcome will be found to be that 
 alluded to in the concluding paragraph, namely, the 
 ink which it will be necessary to use. The pottery 
 people employ an ink largely charged with oil, 
 which is driven off by evaporation during the opera- 
 tion of firing, and the wall-paper color is compara- 
 tively thin and slobbery. Neither of these have 
 
115 
 
 much adhesive affinity for a poHshed surface of 
 auetal, whereas the ink that would be required to 
 produce good prints from a photogravure must have 
 u strong vehicle for its base, capable of carrying a 
 good body of color, must dry quickly, and preserve 
 its intensity. Such an ink will be found to have a 
 much stronger affinity for the metal surface than 
 the others, and will not be so thoroughly removable 
 by the knife-edge of the " doctor," resulting in dirty 
 whites and other troublesome blemishes. To obviate 
 this, an additional wiping apparatus would have to 
 be produced, something in the way of an endless 
 band of a thin and slightly resihent material, which 
 should travel with the revolutions of the roller, and 
 which should also be cleaned in its turn as it goes 
 along. 
 
 Preparing Metal for Besist. — In Mons. Villain's 
 article on the preparation of the engraved copper 
 rollers, in which the process of attaching a developed 
 carbon print to a copper roller is described, the fact 
 is not mentioned that it is necessary to use a sub- 
 stratum on the copper roller in order to cause the 
 print to stick. This is a point upon which all who 
 have had any experience of carbon printing are 
 sufficiently informed. For those who are not, we 
 may add that the clean copper roller is coated with 
 a solution of gelatin and chrome alum. The 
 following solution may be taken as a type : — 
 Water, . . . 12 oz. 
 Gelatin, ... 300 grains 
 
116 
 
 Soak and dissolve by heat, then add slowly, 
 Water, . . . | oz., 
 Chrome alum, . . 15 grains. 
 Filter and apply a thin coating while the solution 
 is hot. It is possible that a weaker solution may 
 be found to answer. The coating must be as thin 
 as possible, only just enough to hold the print on 
 the metal. When the carbon resist is enamelled 
 there is a danger, if the gelatin is thick, to get an 
 enamel of more or less degree of hardness, according 
 to the thickness all over the metal, which prevents 
 the etching for a time and tends to make it ir- 
 regular. 
 
 NKILL AND COMPANY, PKIKTKES, KDINBLRCIl, 
 
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 Photogfraphy 
 
 The Journal of the Amateur, .... "1 #J 
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 Editor . . . HENRY STURMEY. 1 Sub-Editor CHAS. R. ROWE, M.J.I. 
 
 Editorial Contributors. 
 CaptW.DE Abney,C.B.,D.G.L.,B.B.,F.R.S. Chapman Jones, F.I. C FCS 
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