Linocut Printing with NO Ink! Blind Embossing by Hand and by Press

Blind embossing experiments; testing various papers and methods for using a linocut block for embossing paper rather than printing on it. The papers I mention from Awagami Paper (awagami.com/) are Bunkoshi Select and Bamboo Select. I also use the widely available Fabriano Rosaspina. Our registration jigs for holding your blocks and paper on a press or by hand are for sale at (www.lauraboswell.co.uk/shop.php) and the flat chisel came from Handprinted (handprinted.co.uk/) Wooden spoon is a vintage one belonging to my late mum :)
f you are enjoying & learning from my films and would like to chip in and help us keep these videos free at source, we have a fundraising page at GoFundMe gf.me/u/zd8bcq

[@allyw]

Not seen blind embossing done before, so thanks for the tutorial. I do like the effect it produces. Thank you.

[@marionwigzell7334]

I did some blind embossing years ago Laura, but as you said it was done on wet paper and run through a printing press. I love the aesthetic of it though. I wouldn’t have even thought that it would work on dry paper so I’m glad you demonstrated that it can be done (-: Marion

[@beverleyclark8129]

w What a lovely effect. I have only recently discovered your videos and I have found them so helpful. Thank you.

[@simonedoherty6195]

Took me a couple of days to get back to this one but great little video. Covers all the different ways and explains each. Thanks Laura and Ben. Also, love the sweater!

[@LauraBoswellPrintmaker]

Thank you - a lucky thrift shop find!

[@simonedoherty6195]

@@LauraBoswellPrintmaker Lucky you, I do so love thrift shops. You can find the most amazing things in them.

[@NickVenture1]

Hello hello. I very attentively listened to your presentation. I also started to explore blind embossing on various papers. Till now I only used 2 plates where the design is on one plate existing as a raised positive and on the other as a negative which perfectly fits together with the positive. Both plates are made from thin metal covered with a kind of plastic. Smooth contact with the paper. I use a small hand embossing tool which usually is sold as a Blind Seal kit for notarized documents. This kit limits the size of the embossing to a rather small round shaped area. I am now thinking that for efficient embossing of larger areas on printed sheets of paper there must be produced a positive and a negative of the design. This can be achieved by using photoshop and reversal of the positive image to a negative and plate making. Plate making can be done by the same people doing blind seals as their business. Also by laser engraving.

[@ellengeyer5000]

Great video , Laura. Have you considered dampening with a small sponge, just the area of blind embossing right before printing. I have watch David Bull do that when he embosses the printing information on the edge of his studio’s prints.

[@LauraBoswellPrintmaker]

Hi yes I’ve got one of his prints with a lovely emboss, but he’s working with damp paper already so it will take a little more damping without distorting. If you try it with dry paper, especially thicker papers like rosaspina, it’ll make a wavy patch 😔

[@orelhaindiscreta]

Dear Laura, thanks for the tutorial. Very informative as always. But, I have a question, more a curiosity: what do you do to all your cut/draw pieces of lino? Do you have a "library" or you just throw them away after the finish process? Kind regards

[@LauraBoswellPrintmaker]

HI Paulo I tend to keep the lino from multi blocks until the print run is done then destroy it, same goes for my woodblocks. The reduction prints take care of themselves!

[@dallasschauer2542]

what if you heated the paper with a heating gun to soften the paper and then emboss? have you seen that before?

[@LauraBoswellPrintmaker]

No I haven’t done that before - sounds fun though 😀

[@woodsiastudio]

Have you ever use wood for blind embossing? Wondering how it would be different than with Lino…

[@LauraBoswellPrintmaker]

I have done a little - much the same really. I’m guessing you could even do embossed grain if you burned it to raise it and then used a very thick soft paper (Check out the film on raising grain in the woodblock playlist if you’re interested)

[@NickVenture1]

@@LauraBoswellPrintmaker The real best solution is to have a "counterplate" on the opposite side of your positive raised design embossing "seal". This will really shape the 3D structure of your blind embossing to be sharp and with shadows making it very obvious. One problem will be the registration. Of both plates. I am going to make trials. I look forward to use plates of the size of the entire printed artwork, even though the blind embossing will just be relatively small. This way the registration is more easy and safe. There may still be a possibility to have the blind embossing design carved on a plate which is large as the design on one side and large as the entire paper on the other. To save plate material. Both plates having the same size can be aligned with the edges of the paper and of the 2 plates. Hammering with a hand tool on the top plate can be enough to raise the blind print enough. Otherwise it is much safer to use the print sized large positive and negative blind print plates and run them through a printing press. With the artwork in between.