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A copper or zinc plate is covered
with an acid resistant waxy substance or ground on which an
image is scratched with any variety of fine pointed tools.
The tools cut through the wax exposing the bare metal plate.
The plate is then immersed in an acid bath of ferrite chloride,
which eats away (etches or bites) the exposed lines where the
resinous ground has been scratched away. The longer a plate
is in the acid, the deeper and hence darker the etched areas
become. The plate is then cleaned and polished and made ready
to be printed.
The plate is covered with either black or colored ink and the
unetched area is rubbed clean so that the only ink remaining
is in the furrows carved by the etching process. The plate is
placed on the press bed and a dampened paper of 100% rag content
is laid on the plate, and the two are rolled through a heavy
press. The paper is forced into the recessed inked image and
the drawing is transferred to the paper. All prints are the
reverse of the image on the plate. Then the plate is inked again
for the next printing. The time it takes to do each print depends
on the size, difficulty of color application, which can be any
where from a few minutes to over an hour.
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