Ink bleeding slightly… how to ensure a crisp print?

Hi Ladies!

I am just getting started with letterpress; I’m an illustrator trying to produce small prints and stationery using my C&P Pilot old style press. Yesterday I printed my first two color prints. I am pretty happy with how they came out, but when you inspect the prints closely, the ink bled slightly. Though I thought I might experience some bleeding with the orange texture lines (see below), since the original illustration was scaled down quite a bit to create the photopolymer plate, I didn’t expect to see any bleeding of the thicker, blue lines, so I could use some help troubleshooting. 

I printed these using Van Son rubber based ink (with no additives) on Crane Lettra 110 lb cover stock. I haven’t noticed this bleed before; the only factor that’s different with this print run is that I mixed colors for the first time (whereas before I was printing with ink straight out of the can). I also printed these plates on some French Speckletone stock (80 lb cover), and didn’t see the bleed. Is a slight bleed common with Lettra/cotton papers? How can I control this? Do you have any suggestions for ensuring a cripser print? 

One other possible factor is, perhaps, humidity. I live in Sarasota, Florida and though my air conditioning runs all the time, it may be a bit humid in my studio. Perhaps I should run a dehumidifier. Just a thought!

Thanks! 

Erica Sirotich

http://ericasirotich.com

First two-color print

Lines bleeding

could be over inking…..that happens some times….less ink, more make ready.

yep, maybe over inking or the rollers may not be quite at correct roller height.

I agree–looks like ink squeezing up over the edges of the impression. So what they said: too much packing, or too much ink, or rollers too low.

Looking at your pics it could be to much impression overall. Ideally the impression should be just kissing the paper not squeezing to heavily into it. Maybe a fresh packing and less pressure might solve the problem.Ink may also be an issue. There used to be (I’m going back quite a few years here) an ink called G Man which was very stiff and less prone to ghosting and bleeding on edges. As to what an equivalent would be called now I really wouldn’t know but it used to be used in label printing a bit so someone in that side of the industry may be able to help.

Had another thought about the problem you are having, (there’s always more than one way of looking at things in this game) and have thought of a couple of other ways the problem could be solved.1/ A frisket bar could be used to steady the sheet. This is a bar that is affixed between the platenand type/block. It steadies the sheet as it comes down into the lays for printing. It is usually a vertical bar with a “T” fixture that can be taped into position to get as near as possible to the image area causing the problem. This is commonly used to alleviate slurring problems that occur when a sheets remains “stuck” to the block or type matter. Most Heidelberg machines have a bar under the chase area specifically for this purpose. On hand fed C&P’s however I’m not sure this feature is available.2/ Type-high solid bars (block or 1em leads) can be run outside of the trim area on the job to assist in spreading the ink and provide support when the inking rollers come over the image area.Hope this helps, but please note some of these ideas are from a different era and may/may not be applicable to what you are doing today.

At a quick glance, this looks like an over inking issue. Living in a humid climate is actually a good thing for printing. It opens the paper in a way that actually gives a nice pillowy impression.

I would try taking a bit of ink off and try that first. 

Good luck!

xo, Dee

 

I would guess that it was overinked, and probably difficult to clean.  Stiffer ink might also help.  I was having hazy impressions and found that it wasn’t rollers, packing, my lack of a frisket bar, but in actuality it was the platen bolts being loose.  Once I tightened them, all of the sudden the press printed perfectly. 

This is an older post, and I am sure the problem is solved, but don’t forget to check your roller height. You can get a roller gauge from Boxcar press.

I’m new at printing as well and my first run (Golding Pearl #11) was a bit frustrating as I too could not get my ink even, had bleed and uneven impressions, etc. After much messing with the packing and rollers, I realized I had most likely over inked my platen. So I took a piece of plain paper, laid it on the platen and ran the rollers over it. Then peeled the paper off. It seemed to lift just enough of the extra ink off and I quickly got to a good proof. So when I did my second run of the the job, I applied less ink and my first impression was almost perfect. So inking is definitely something good to master-saves a lot of frustration!

Erica,

I suggest using less ink and more pressure. It always amazes me how little ink is really needed. Using too much ink will cause the excess to squeeze up the bevel and give the appearance of bleeding or fuzzy edges. It also steals the light play that is created by impressing the paper. Good luck. It takes a lot of trial and error.

? Lily / Lilco

Too much ink, and your registration is a bit off. Less is best as far as ink goes.

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