Making A Polymer Plate for Photogravure

An overview of the process of exposing a polymer plate to create a photogravure. 1. Aquatint exposure. 2. Image exposure. 3. Post exposure.
The workflow shown in this video is from the book "Making Photogravures with Polymer Plates" www.amazon.com/...
ISBN-13: 978-0615919218

[@EricBuechel]

Well done explaining the process.

[@nicolasdufour-laperriere924]

Thanks Scott for the video! Just two little questions. Why do you expose the blank plate for 5 minutes at first? And secondly, do you use a brand of transparency film in particular (I know it is not standard presentation transparency that must be used normally...) Thanks again!

[@scottbarnes5963]

The first exposure uses a transparency with a random dot pattern (stochastic) to create an initial matrix that will hold ink. The second one is the image. I tend to use inkjet transparency film from the screen printing industry, and my favorite is Fixxons. fixxons.com/1Silk/main.html

[@salgado962]

Dear Scott, can I buy your book "Making Photogravures with Polymer Plates" in PDF format?

[@kokos54632]

hello Scott, i have your book and i was trying to do the experiment with for the basic exposure time. i am failing to achieve the same results. as the higher the time of exposure of the screen the plate holds less ink, for example, after 5 minutes of screen exposure, the plates is completely hardened thus it holds no ink. i don't understand how you get darker results when u exposure the screen for more time. from my understanding, if more light goes through the tiny gaps of the stochastic screen the polymer plates gets more hardened, thus less ink. please help!!!

[@scottbarnes5963]

It is a range. Too little exposure and nothing is hardened (therefore it all washes out and will not hold ink). Too much exposure and everything is hardened (therefore no texture to hold ink). Buy a stoufer step wedge (most easily found these days on screen printing supply shops). The KM-73 plates tech data sheet tells you which number on the Stoufer wedge you should see hard and which ones should wash away. Cut your plate into strips. Use the step wedge to expose the strips. Do one for 1 minute, another for 2 minutes, another for 3, etc. That will get you close. When you are close, then move on to the process in this video to fine tune.

[@scottbarnes5963]

Link to video that shows printing a plate. kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZnnOp6ukhJdlqZY

[@uriahb.7]

am i able to achieve this method through a photolithography method using the vaccuum exposure machine? or do i use the screen printing exposure machine?

[@scottbarnes5963]

Anything that can hold a film tightly to the plate and that radiates UV light at 365nm will work. A vacuum table is actually better than the unit I am using.

[@uriahb.7]

@@scottbarnes5963 thank you! i will come back when i am able to get into the studio.