Printers Log #3

The third and final print run uses good old black for the colour. This was the most complex forme of the three. Indeed, the challenge was to learn whether everything could be made to print nicely and evenly within this single form, because it combines small, thin type with the solid surfaces of a brick-forme (LEGO) and some more type of different sizes in between these two extremes. Eventually we made that work.

We also switched to a different press. From the manually operated Vandercook to the electrically operated Grafix. A smaller and faster press that may just be a bit better suited for this more demanding forme.

It not only needed tweaks to get everything to an evenly printed height. Some final layout changes needed to made as well. Calculations made while building the forme turned out to be slight miscalculations. A few points of lineheight needed to be shifted around to get things aligned correctly.

With an electric press the printing is definitely much faster than setting again. It took only 1,5 hours to get half of the edition printed. Another effect of large editions: you need a lot of space in your drying racks.