How to Make Your Own Letterpress Plate
Letterpress is an old-fashioned style of printing that is seeing a resurgence in popularity. Items printed on a letterpress have a three-dimensional effect with the letters or designs being debossed on the paper and then inked. Compared to mass-produced items created using traditional printers and printing presses, letterpress items are seen as more elegant and for this reason are often used for wedding invitations or specialty greeting cards. Several items are required for making a letterpress print, including a press, inks, a brayer and a letterpress plate. While you can have plates made by professionals, you can also create your own plates at home.
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Things You'll Need
- Design you wish to print in black-and-white
- Photo negative or transparency paper and photocopier
- Darkroom
- Blank photopolymer plate
- Binder clips
- Soft scrubbing brush
- Water
Instructions
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Create a photo negative of your black-and-white design. You can use a company that provides this service. You can also do this yourself using transparency paper and a photocopier. Make a copy of your image onto transparency paper after selecting the negative option on your copier. If you have not tried this before, try printing a test sheet on plain copier paper. Print two negatives on transparency paper and tape them together.
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Use a darkroom for this step. Start with a blank photopolymer plate. As the plates are light-sensitive, make sure not to remove plates from packaging until you are ready to use them in your darkroom. If plates are too large, trim them so that they are the same size as your design. Remove protective covering from the plate and place your negative facedown on the plate so that the image is backward. Attach the image securely to the plate using binder clips, being careful not to cover any of the design.
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Expose your plate to light so that the image will burn into the plate. This can be done using a fluorescent or halogen lamp. Depending on the material, the intricacy of your design and the strength of your light source, the time to properly expose the plate will vary. You may wish to try burning a smaller test plate first to see how long you will need to expose your plate for.
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Without taking the plate from the darkroom, remove the transparency from the plate. Use a soft scrubbing brush and water to gently clean the plate. You should spend two to three minutes cleaning the plate. When you are done, the white areas of the design should feel smooth and the design should stand out sharply.
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Gently heat the plate using a blow-dryer or a space heater. This will make the plate firmer. You do not want to completely dry out the plate. It should still be somewhat flexible. Expose the plate to light again to make sure the design is completely set. Your plate is now ready for use in a letterpress.
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Tips & Warnings
Photopolymer plates are light-sensitive. Make sure to keep plates wrapped up and away from light until you are ready to use them.
References
- Photo Credit Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images
