Reproducing Your Artwork PART 3 — Reproduction Methods

Myron Arndt

This is part three of a six part series on publishing and marketing your artwork.

REPRODUCTION METHODS

With respect to the reproduction types we have discussed in the previous part, many different methods are employed commonly today; enough to confuse not only the art buyer, but also the artist seeking to find the best way to reproduce their work.

Still the most common one is the offset photo-mechanical method. This is the usual printing method used by commercial printers to produce everything from business cards and brochures to fine art reproductions. Complex machinery and computers have made the process seem simple. Using a laser scanner the original image or a photograph in the form of a transparency of the original is digitized and transferred to a processor that translates the digitized image onto to a printing plate. This plate is placed on a rolling drum in the printing press. The drum is then rolled against an ink roller which has been evenly covered in a particular colour of ink, and then against a sheet of paper effectively transferring the image from plate to paper. In the usual printing process, four plates are made, one for each of the four separated colours— Cyan, Yellow, Magenta and Black. Printing presses vary from presses that print one colour at a time to those that can print up to 8 colours at a single pass.

By contrast, a serigraph is produced by laying down each colour one at a time. A stencil is cut or photo positive made for each colour element in the image. Those colour elements are transferred to a screen with a fine mesh. The areas that will be printed are open to allow ink through the screen while the areas that won’t be printed are blocked out. Ink is forced through the screen and onto the paper. The paper is allowed to dry and then the next colour element is applied in the same way. Each piece of paper must be handled as many times as there are colour elements to print. Once all the elements have been printed the serigraph is complete.

Although not covered here, other common forms of “original prints” include woodcuts, etchings, stone lithographs and monotypes to name but a few. In most of these cases, with the exception of better pigments and base materials, the process of reproduction has not changed much in recent years.

New technologies have given birth to much new terminology including giclee, digital print, ink-jet print, canvas or continuous tone print. Artists are utilizing highend photo copiers, personal ink-jet and commercial ink-jet printers, high-end photo and sublimation printers and more. The key to most of these technologies is the word digital. This is simply the conversion of the image into digital or computer language which allows the image to be translated to many types of reproduction devices. These same devices have allowed for the production of transfer media that can also assist in reproducing images on 3-dimensional objects, gift items and functional objects including plates, coffee mugs, tiles, plastic, metal, fabric and many more substrates.

The method you choose for your reproductions will depend on many factors. They include the style of your work, the medium you use, your marketing goals and your finances. If you are new to these processes, consider discussing your artwork with your marketing consultant, printer or distributor. One thing that does not change is that quality and longevity will always be key factors in the value of your reproduction and in the reputation that you earn in the marketplace.