Crisp line and deep impression on windmill; difference btw platen and cylinder?
How to archive a deep impression and crisp line on a windmill platen? I thought I have to print twice with light ink, then clean the polymer plate and press the paper stock once more with heavier impression. But when I run the stock through a cylinder press (Frontex Automatic). The lines are crispy sharp and the impression is very satisfying.
Is this the difference between platen or cylinder press or is it the difference btw packing hardness? As the cylinder press is using thick white cards for packing, the platen is using copy paper only.
Got it. It’s the inking that affects line thickest most. Too much inking on the plate clogs it up and thickens the line upon heavy impression. I inked too heavily in the hope of obtaining a more solid colour on a coloured paper with white ink.
Super thin ink yield super fine lines. When I test the cylinder press I was using very little magenta ink so I was able to get sculptural prints with razor sharp lines by luck.
What a detour have been gone through. Pray tell me if I get it wrongly.
You are on the right track.
Good printing begins with good inking.
Good inking is a combination of the amount of ink and how it is applied to the form, either type or photopolymer plate, etc. Kiss inking is what you want. If the inking roller pressure is too great and there is too much ink, the type will be inked on the face and also down over the edge. We Americans and probably the English call the vertical relief portion the beard. If there is ink on the beard and you drive the form into the paper for deep impression you will get a fuzzy print. The ink gets wiped from the beard.
Make sense?
Make sense~ Now I am like the happiest printer in the world. Descent print keep coming out from the windmill~
I think 75% of most problems with print quality is too much ink. We still do it a lot. I’m fairly constantly running sheets of paper through the rollers to bring the ink level down.
As a second thought, if the photos in the Hiedelberg manual is printed more clearly I may be able to notice the use of the ink fountain is necessary