Blind embossing involves pressing deep textures into paper, creating subtle and dynamic images that change with the angle of light and the position of the viewer. Sometimes inspiration blossoms when your choices are limited, and if you are used to printing with colour, blind embossing will stretch your understanding of the printed surface, introducing sculptural elements into your printmaking.
Planning an embossed print
Some of the textured printing plates you have already made will work well as embossed prints, but it is also interesting to start from scratch and make a plate designed to be embossed rather than inked.
Your textures can be much bolder and deeper than those on plates you plan to ink up. In this example I used very coarse sandpaper, which would be impossible to ink successfully but works really well for embossing.
For one off prints just arrange the shapes loose on a base plate. If you want to print your plate several times, fix the shapes down with double-sided tape or spray mount. A registration sheet showing the position of different elements will help to get things in the same position for an edition of blind embossed prints.
See paper in a new light
Designing a plate to be embossed means working with the properties of paper to mould around and hold shapes. You are focussing purely on shadows and light to create texture and form. To make a successful embossed image choose nice thick paper (at least 220 gsm) and give it a good soak. Have a look at the post on preparing paper for more information on this.
Printing without ink is a clean process
No apron, no gloves, no cleaning up – no ink!
On a recent embossing workshop with printmakers everybody automatically put on aprons and rolled sleeves up, as you do. It was strange to realise this little ritual was not necessary, but we skill kept our aprons on due to some deeply ingrained sense of habit. Do all printmakers feel naked without an apron?
The lack of potentially messy ink makes this a great quick drop in activity, and also an easy one to do with children.
Test the pressure on the press
Once you have constructed your plate, simply lay it on the etching press and cover with a sheet of damp paper. Set a tight pressure; it’s a good idea to do a test run with different materials to judge the best pressure.
If your print is not very sharp tighten the press a bit, if it tears or wrinkles the paper try loosening the pressure or using thicker paper.
With very deep textures it can help to put a piece of foam rubber under the press blankets to add more squashiness and help the paper reach the deeper areas of the plate.
Materials for Blind Embossing
There are loads of potential materials you can emboss. The key things to look out for are:
1. Thickness
Anything much less than a millimetre will make quite a subtle indentation. Objects, which are too thick, can tear the paper, or won’t actually go through the press.
2. Hardness
Soft materials like fabric may not have enough density to impress in to the paper. Ideally your materials need to be hard enough to withstand the pressure of the press, but not so sharp that they cut the paper.
The things listed below have all been tried and tested, I hope you will explore other materials and leave a comment if you discover anything else we could share on the blog.
Wire and metal
Plastic coated garden wire is easy to cut and bend into shapes.
Why not try printing the same wire shape several times, changing it as you go like an animation?
Small flat metal objects emboss very clearly; see the image above for paperclips, and below for a print made with keys.
Pond liner and lino
I love using 1mm PVC pond liner, which is easy to cut with scissors or a knife and also carved with lino tools. You may be able to scrounge some offcuts from the garden centre. Clear PVC works in a similar way.
Nb. Rubber pond liner, (as opposed to PVC) is not carveable, however you can easily cut shapes out of it.
When you cut out shapes don’t forget to keep all the offcuts as well, these are great for making positive and negative designs. I found up to four layers will print if you grade them up and down in steps.
Lino cut plates look great when embossed. Before you roll ink on your plate to print it conventionally, try running it through the press with damp paper to see how it looks as a blind embossed image. In fact you can try this will all your textured plates before you print them, it helps to test the pressure of the press, and provides a new perspective on your plate.
Fabric and string
Strong stiff fabric works best for embossing. Try things like scrim and coarse textured braid. Hessian and enviromesh are all worth experimenting with as well.
You can make interesting designs with string or thin rope, as long as it isn’t too soft.
Cardboard
Strong card that you can cut or tear is a good embossing material. Often you will find packaging with punched shapes (try the Scrapstore).
I particularly like jigsaw pieces, and buy different sized jigsaws from charity shops, then spend a happy tea break picking out the shapes that look like little people.
Assorted found objects
Try anything strong and flat. Cut up shuttlecocks, plastic packaging, combs and disposable cutlery are all worth a go. I found this plastic skeleton on the road! Cheap toyshops are a good hunting ground…
When you incorporate recognisable everyday items in your prints it lends humour to an image and encourages people to look again at familiar objects.
Cement and glue
Bathroom tile cement is a good material for creating very textured plates, but don’t forget to sand it to remove sharp points.
Thick glue is also fun to try – here is an example made with a glue gun. Its a good idea to seal glue with a coat of shellac or varnish to prevent it sticking to the damp printing paper in the press.
Adding colour
Once the paper is dry you can change the image by rolling ink over the top – the indentations will stay white, alternatively try rubbing the top surface with pastel crayons, which also produces colourful results. I have found that children enjoy this – it is a bit like those magic painting books where the image miraculously appears.
Deceptively simple prints
Blind embossing can seem very simple at first glance, after all it is used commercially for letterheads and book covers, but once you start experimenting with it you will discover a world of texture and shadow that can lead you along exciting new printmaking paths.
For more inspiration have a look at the post ‘Artists prints with blind embossing‘
Credits
Some of the images here were made by students on the Embossing course I ran at the Arthouse in Wakefield.
Hi Emily – card or thin wooden letters / numbers also work well as long as you remember to reverse them [unless you use the debossed side] But have you tried chine colle with embossing?
Funny you should suggest that – its next on my list to experiment with! I feel there will e lots of potential there……
Hi Emily, just wondering do you soak your paper before embossing
Thanks Louise
Hi Louise – yes is the short answer. Soaking the paper makes the fibres relax and so the paper is softer and will mold round the textures you are embossing so I always use damp paper. I think your results would not be nearly so satisfactory with dry paper.
Hallo …loved your interesting site. I have been trying to blind emboss linocuts but so far have been more successful using very simple designs. I have tried to cut lino for childrens shoe images for blind embossing but it is very difficult to know where to cut for effect. Do I invert the image prior, to throw up the reverse cutting shapes. Its challenging as it is back to front and I am not best co ordinated. Thank you. It is hard to find any info on blind embossing except stamps.
This is why printmaking is good for your brain! You have to keep reminding your self that what is cut IN to your plate will stick OUT in your print. You could always make a couple of small test prints with the same image cut as a positive and as a negative to compare the results. The end results are all dependent on the angle of the light falling on the print and the angle of the viewer, so it is quite a dynamic process. I think that blind embossing usually works best when the image is quite bold so you get more distinct shadows.
There is no right or wrong, it is just a matter of finding an effect that you like. Good luck with your experiments!
Hi Emily I love your blog and find your Instagram site full of potential ideas. However I am a beginner in most things creative with paper – tried a few mediums but now would love a go at blind embossing initially without colour.
Can you recommend a starter press?
If York wasn’t so far from me I would do a course with you like a shot!
Kind regards
Anne
Hi Anne
you really need an etching press which gives a lot of pressure with it’s rollers. An ideal ‘starter’ option is a) find someone with a press who will let you use it (have a look in your local open studios for printmakers) or b) buy a craft die cutting machine, like X-cut press, or Sizzix, you can see this type of thing at Hobbycraft. Ideally you want one with an adjustable height on the roller, other wise you have to use packing to get the right distance between the rollers which is a bit of a fiddle. It is worth looking on eBay for the X-cut as that is a really good little press but I dont think they are still importing them to the uk so hard to find a new one.
Hi Emily, I was just wondering if it is possible to emboss onto a previously printed Lino print? Would soaking the print in water before embossing be a problem with the ink from the Lino print? Many thanks
Hi Claire
you would need to thoroughly dampen the paper to make the embossing effective, most printing inks should re-wet without running, it really depends on the type of ink you have used – I’d suggest testing it out on a dud print first to see how it works. it sounds as if it could be very effective to treat a lino print in this way.