latter should then be very gently washed away.
In cases where the work for some reason must not stretch, such as the
hills on a map, it will be necessary to keep the transfer dry and put
it on a wet stone, but a piece of the margin of the paper should be
tested to see that it is of a class that will adhere to the stone the
first time it is pulled through. Unless the adhesion is very complete
it may not be safe to pull it through more than once. For a small
number of copies a very moderate "etch" is desirable, but for a long
run, where the object is to secure a good edition rather than a few
good proofs, the Eberle system may be adopted. This method consists in
protecting the work with finely powdered resin and then applying the
flame of an ordinary plumber's lamp; this will melt the protecting
medium round the base of each grain of work and allow of a very
vigorous "etch" being applied. As before stated it is not unusual to
secure 2000 to 3000 good copies in the machine after this treatment;
but the rollers, the ink and the superintendence must be of the best.
When the artist who is not a professed lithographer desires to make
tints to his work, a reversed offset on grained paper should be made
for each colour; this is done by pulling an impression in the usual
way on a hard piece of paper, and while it is yet wet this should be
faced with a piece of grained paper and pulled through again, when the
grained paper will be found to have received the greater portion of
the ink; this should be immediately dusted with offset powder of a red
shade to prevent the grease passing into the paper, and the drawing of
the tints should then be proceeded with in the usual way. Another
method of transfer work is to pull impressions from copper or steel
plates in transfer ink; it is in such way that simple etchings like
those of Cruikshank, Phiz and others are produced, and nearly all
commercial work such as maps, bill heads, &c., are prepared in the
same manner.
Beyond this, much work is done in lithographic ink on what is called
writing transfer paper, such as circulars, law writing for abstracts,
specifications and plans.
_Machinery._--The chief items are the hand presses and the machines,
whether flat bed or rotary, the principal places of manufacture being
Leeds, Otley and Edinburgh. Stimulated by American competition, the
standard of excellence in the United Kingdom has been very
considerably raised of late years. The rotary machines have only been
possible since the more frequent use of aluminium and zinc, but these
materials are more suitable to receive transfer than for the general
use of an office, the chief reason being that corrections on stone are
more easily accomplished and more lasting when done. Preliminary work
is therefore frequently done on the stone and transferred to plates
for the machine.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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