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Photogravure

This is real, put on a proper apron and roll up your sleeves, printing. Originally the process involved etching the image into a copper plate, but there is a modern equivalent that is quicker and simpler. A photosensitive polymer plate is exposed to ultra-violet light under a ‘negative’ and then washed out in water. Where the plate has been protected from the light by parts of the negative it remains soluble in water and will be removed, where the plate is exposed to light it becomes hardened and these parts will not wash away. After it has been dried, the plate is covered in ink and then the surface ink removed by wiping. Ink remains in the lines, grooves and hollows, where the unhardened polymer has been washed away, and it is these inked depressions that form the image when the plate is put through high-pressure rollers in contact with dampened art paper. It’s quite a performance but well worth the trouble, prints made by this method can be stunning.

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