With the scauper clear a line round the work a little more than its own
width. This is sufficiently wide to enable a proof to be taken. If all the
wood is taken away it is almost impossible to proof some subjects (thin
lettering, for instance) without a hand-press, for this wood supports the
roller and burnisher and gives protection to the work while proofing.
Where a light tint shades into white as in a sky or light parts of a dress
it is necessary to lower the edges in some way before cutting, otherwise
the hard edge is apt to catch the ink and cause a smudgy objectionable
line instead of running cleanly into the white. To avoid this, lower or
scrape the hard edge into the scauping taking care not to damage the
surrounding wood. It can be done by the sharp edge of spitstick or
tint-tool, or the edge can first be lowered by a flat scauper and then
scraped smoothly into the scauping by the sharp edge of the engraving
tool. The Section Fig. 24 shows the sharp edge lowered into the scauping.
[Fig. 24]