_MAKING READY FOR THE PRINTING PRESS._
Having made your drawing, had it reproduced by one of the methods I
described, you must now have it printed.
Excepting in the case of very limited fine editions of not more than
one hundred copies, the original plates or blocks on which the designs
have been engraved are very seldom used, because if anything should
happen to the blocks or plates they would have to be done over again.
So copies of them, called electrotypes and sometimes stereotypes, are
made. The electrotype of a wood or metal block or plate is produced in
the same way as an electrotype of any other object, by usually taking a
wax cast of it, putting the cast in an electrotyping bath, when a shell
of copper is deposited upon it. As many of these wax casts may be made
as are wanted, and as many shells are deposited as desired. These
copper shells are then backed up with wood or metal and are ready to
print from. They are wonderfully cheaply and quickly turned out, and in
the case of magazines and books, for which a large circulation is
expected, are always used; and it is almost, with good work, impossible
to tell the difference between the electrotype, and the original; from
a process block or wood engraving, while the original block is
preserved for making additional electrotypes for future editions. In
the case of cheap books, or newspapers with illustrations, the _Daily
Graphic_, for example--the _Chronicle_ was printed almost altogether
from the original blocks, or electrotypes--the page of type is set up
with the original blocks in it, and this is stereotyped to print from;
that is, a papier maché mould is made of the entire page of type and
illustrations, either by pounding down on to it, with a heavy brush, a
thick sheet of papier maché till the entire page is moulded into the
pulpy papier maché, or by covering it with successive sheets of thin
damp paper until a solid mould or matrix of paper is made on the type;
this matrix is hardened and placed in a curved steel case, and type
metal poured into the case upon the paper mould; as soon as the type
metal has cooled it is taken out, and a perfect cast of the page is
seen in metal, curved so that it will fit on the cylinder of the
printing press. If there are no illustrations, it may be printed right
off, without further preparation; but if the page contains
illustrations, in order to get the proper amount of colour on the
blacks, and the delicacy of the greys, little pieces of paper must be
put over and under the illustrations, on the printing press, to bring
out their colour, by increasing or lessening the pressure. This is the
way in which it is done: a man, called the overlay cutter, has several
proofs of the illustration given him, and he cuts them out so as to
produce a series of skeleton designs, one containing only the blacks,
another the blacks and dark greys, the third the blacks, dark and light
greys, and so on; these he pastes on the top of each other, forming the
picture in relief, and this relief picture is either placed under the
block to be printed from, or else on the opposite cylinder under the
paper on which the picture is to be printed--it must be put on very
accurately and firmly, for if it slips it will ruin the whole page. All
this work connected with printing is most interesting, most complicated,
and most wonderfully performed. In order to understand it thoroughly,
you must go and work in a printing office; all illustrators should
learn at least how overlays are made, how to correct them, and how to
work on blocks or electros, though this is really the duty of the
engraver; when they are on the printing press, little things may
happen which may make or mar a whole book, which only the artist can
detect, and which he should be able to set right. Therefore if you are
making a beautiful book, you should not only see all the engraver's
proofs of your drawings, but the printer's proofs as well; all this
requires much work and more knowledge, but unless you care enough
about your work to acquire this knowledge, I doubt if you will ever be
a great success as an illustrator--that is, artistically.
Very much has been said lately about the artist considering the
limitations of the printing press, the paper, and ink. Really to-day
with the best engravers, the best printers and paper-makers, there are
no limits to the possibilities of reproducing and printing drawings.
The limits are the depth of the publisher's pocket. Almost any drawing
whatever can be reproduced very well, by some means, provided the
editor or publisher will pay the price charged for having it
reproduced, and the engravers and printers have the knowledge of their
craft to reproduce it. And if the book or magazine will stand the
expense, it very likely will pay the publisher. But if you are working
for a magazine, it is not likely that the proprietors can afford
photogravures, therefore your work must be made so that it will
reproduce well by wood engraving or process. And the necessity for
attention to the mechanical requirements of drawing, engraving, and
printing increase, as the price of the book or paper decreases, until
when one comes down, financially, to the halfpenny papers, only those
drawings can be used which will print at the utmost speed, and with
the least care bestowed upon them, in poor ink and cheap paper. Still,
there is no reason why the artistic quality also should degenerate;
there are men at work to-day whose drawings would look just as well in
the halfpenny evening papers as in a three-guinea book, and these men
are to be congratulated on their perfect mastery of the cheaper
methods of reproduction. Therefore try to do good work in your own
way, and do not bother about anything but whether it will look well on
the printed page.