How-To: Lasercut Printing Plates

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By Matt Richardson
Posted 2012/01/22 @ 5:28 am
Category Art & Design, General, Workshop

There’s something so charming about combining high and low tech, which is why I like Trammell Hudson’s latest tutorial. The NYC Resistor member posted an excellent guide on how to use a lasercutter to create intaglio ~~letterpress~~ plates out of acrylic, which is much less expensive than using the traditional copper. Intaglio plates have the positive image etched into them which creates reservoirs that hold the ink and are transfered to the paper. He also plans on posting a separate guide to creating letterpress relief plates, which have the negative image etched into them, creating protrusions that are inked and then transferred. Thanks for sharing your tips, Trammell!

BY Matt Richardson

Matt Richardson is a Brooklyn-based creative technologist, contributing editor for MAKE magazine, and co-author of Getting Started with Raspberry Pi. He's also the owner of Awesome Button Studios, a technology consultancy. Highlights from his work include the Descriptive Camera (a camera which outputs a text description instead of a photo) and The Enough Already (a DIY celebrity-silencing device). Matt's work has been featured at The Nevada Museum of Art, The Rome International Photography Festival, Milan Design Week and has garnered attention from The New York Times, Wired, and New York Magazine.

mattrichardson.com

In the Maker Shed

5 Responses to How-To: Lasercut Printing Plates

William Abernathy on January 22nd, 2012 at 7:54 am said:

Interesting, but there’s a serious terminological flaw. Intaglio and letterpress are different processes. In intaglio, the ink is rubbed into the low spots on the plate and off of the high spots. Then, the paper is mashed into the plate hard enough that the ink transfers from the grooves to the page. Letterpress is a type of relief printing. You roll ink onto the high spots, and transfer it directly from the high points of the type or plate onto the page, using less pressure than intaglio.

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- Joby Elliott on January 22nd, 2012 at 8:02 am said:
  
  Would you say the difference might be summed up as how intaglio has “reservoirs that hold the ink and are transfered to the paper,” and letterpress and other relief printing is “protrusions that are inked and then transferred.”
  
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- Matt Richardson on January 22nd, 2012 at 8:52 am said:
  
  Thanks for letting me know. I’ve struck “letterpress” from “intaglio letterpress plates.”
  
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William Abernathy on January 22nd, 2012 at 9:28 am said:

Matt: Thank you for being so responsive!

Joby: I would sum up the difference most succinctly with “innie vs. outie” but my printer friends might throw some type at my head.

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walker on January 23rd, 2012 at 6:32 am said:

Another important distinction between the two ( besides the nature of their lines) is the type of ink used. Intaglio uses a very runny low viscosity ink whereas letterpress uses a stiff high tack ink. Laser has been used for both processes before but most printers find polymer plates more economical. Check out boxcarpress.com and Graphic Chemical and Ink. This is a good research project but my experience is that the laser diode must be of the finest quality to get the line results needed for fine printing. Don’t forget paper quality too! Letterpress can be printed on dry sheets whereas intaglio must be printed on damp rag paper to be successful. Good Work. Cheers.

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