Kakayi Etching - Etsen
Engraving - print making Art Works
Photo polymer.
Photo polymer printing plate:
The plate material uv photosensitive and when exposed to an ultraviolet light through a high contrast negative, the U.V. cross links the polymers and hardens the image. The unexposed portion of the negative is washed off in plain water, dried and post exposed. the plate is ready for the press in less than thirty minute.
Positive, yes, for those used to photography it seems entirely wrong, but to make an intaglio print a positive transparency is needed. The shadow areas being denser render the light sensitive plastic softer than the highlights and therefore they etch more deeply then the harder highlights. I use Photoshop and pick up the scanned or loaded image, get it to the right size for the plate, convert it to Black & White adjust the contrast and then using Curves leave the Input at 0 and convert the output between 65 and 80, that's it, print it onto a transparency sheet! Depending on the printer you use, there may be settings for 'fine dithering' and 'error diffusion' use the latter, it produces a positive without obvious lines. You can also download the curve used and import it into Photoshop.
This will produce a 'straightforward' image and though it is possible to get a print from this type of positive it may be more useful to use some of the tricks Photoshop has up its sleeve. For instance, converting the image to a Bitmap and from there adding a Half tone screen this is probably the best way to get a reasonable image if you are a newcomer to the technique. Using the Noise filter is a good way of getting a plate that will print well. Try as many techniques as you can and you will soon come up with something that suits your temperament and way of working...
Logic brings you from A to B ,but imagination will take you anywhere .
( Albert Einstein)