dampened paper

Hi, 

I am trying to get a good embossed print on 600gsm cranes letters paper and have been told that I need to dampen the card prior to printing, but not sure how to do this .  Has any one done this with good results?..  Grateful for any tips on this.

Jane

What kind of press are you using? What size is your printed area? You won’t get much of an impression depth if you’re printing a large area on a small press. Usually you’re limited to about 1/4-1/3 of your base size in order to get a decent print, especially if you want an impression. 

I have only dampened Lettra in order to get better inking results (such as for a knock-out print with white text and an inked background). It has improved impression depth a little, but I find playing with my packing yields the best results in terms of impression depth.

Let us know what you’re working with and we can troubleshoot from there!

Hi

We are using an Adana 8x 5 hand press, we get good print but want a deep print especially with solid coverage.  We are only printing business card size on cranes letters 600gsm card

Jane

Thanks! That’s helpful. With a tabletop hand press, you won’t get as deep an impression as you could with a platen stand-alone press. I have never used an Adana, but I know the mechanism for closing the platen is different than my C&P Pilot. 

I definitely think experimenting with packing (I think you want hard packing for a crisp, deep impression) is a good place to go now that you’ve already dampened some paper. It depends on the surface area of your business cards. I have switched from printing 2-up on my Pilot to 1-up and now get a much better impression. I have even done some nice knock-out text.

However, the more inked area I’m printing, the less impression I can get because the pressure is spread out. Does that make sense?

Here are some examples. It’s somewhat hard to see, but I do not have as much bite into the paper as perhaps is preferred by some people. My Pilot is an Old Style, however, and I’m not about to break it:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/niftysmith/13168613545/in/photostream/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/niftysmith/12972978954/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/niftysmith/13808125113/

I get the best impression when printing simple text:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/niftysmith/12972977964/

All of the above examples are on 600gsm Lettra, but I have never tried dampening the paper.’

I’m guessing since the area of your Adana is a bit smaller than my Pilot, you’ll have even less wiggle room to get a good impression. I believe that with care, a deep bite is still possible, but you truly have to weigh the risk of damaging your press over making a nice print. 

So, if dampening helps, go for it. If adjusting the packing helps, do both! 

Thanks Tiffany

Have adjusted packing seems to have made a difference

Jane

Hi Jane,

I like to dampen paper and do it the way I learned in a Japanese woodblock class.  I cut down a big sheet of chip board/binder board/davey board (thinner BB  works best and NOT the acid free which is reluctant to take up the water) into sizes larger than my printing papers.  Then I take the stack of binder board/davey board and dip each one briefly in a tray of water and stack them up.  Alternately you can spray them with water but that takes longer.  They are very absorbent and very quickly become evenly damp.  Then I stack the paper between the sheets of damp board and put a piece of plexi on top with a weight for maybe 10-15 minutes.  Then when I print I uncover the stack one layer at a time so it stays damp.  I feel like I always get a nicer print on dampened paper.   I can reuse the stack  of boards over and over.  They get warped but when damp relax flat.  I dry them after use on  those collator devices that secretaries used to use which fold up like an accordion. https://tinyurl.com/kx4tujs

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