Test printing a new collagraph plate

When I make a new plate I usually ink it up in at least 3 different ways to make a series of test prints. This gives me lots of information about how the plate is working and I can make any changes needed and also get ideas for the best way to ink it up.

Don’t let your expectations limit you!

Sometimes we have a lot of expectations about how a new collagraph plate will look when it is printed, or a definite idea of how we want the finished prints to turn out. This is especially true if you have spent a long time constructing the plate.

There’s nothing wrong with this, but it can lead to you missing out on some interesting possibilities, or else you may feel disappointed with the initial prints you get from the plate and even lose heart with printing it.

These images show just how different a collagraph plate can look when inked just as relief (in blue here), or just as intaglio (in grey)

Time for creative exploration

Even if you know what you want from printing a collagraph plate it is fun and illuminating to allow yourself a bit of time to experiment with different approaches to printing it. The exercise I describe in this post can suggest new interpretations of an old familiar plate, or open up multiple possibilities for ways of printing a new plate.

If you like to plan and start off with an idea of what the finished print will look like you can still use the test inking process – just to confirm that your original plan was the best one!

Keep an open mind

This exercise helps to keep your mind open to possibilities; one plate can have so many different interpretations, it is a bit like getting to know a new friend and gradually discovering interesting things about them.

Hopefully your plate will suggest ways to ink and print it if you give yourself time to get to know it.

Get started; setting up your test printing session

Prepare yourself a load of paper – once you get going you won’t want to stop to soak more paper so do a batch beforehand.

Select a few colours, aiming for some complimentaries and some harmonious ones, as well as a neutral colour.

Once you start printing remember not to throw anything away – keep the ones you think are duds – you can always over print on them, or make notes on them to help with future prints.

Crib sheet for test printing collagraphs

Here is a crib sheet to give you a structure to get started with a test printing session. After each print remember to have a go at a ghost print as well. This is when you print the plate again without re-inking it to produce a paler image. The pale print may look great as it is, or could be overprinted later.

1. Start with a blind embossed print – just to see the impression on the paper before you even get onto using any ink.
2. Next do a relief print in mono-chrome; roll over the plate with just one colour.
3. Relief print in 2 colours, press lightly with the roller; then press harder with a different colour
4. Intaglio inking in one colour
5. Intaglio inking several colours
6. Intaglio with a relief roll over it – choose contrasting colours

By this time you could have done 10 prints if you made a ghost print of each one – remember to have a break and stand back to look at your print collection….

Keep printing!

Roll a relief layer over a plate after the ghost print – a pale shadow of intaglio colour will show beneath the stronger relief colour

You may be inspired to keep on experimenting – how about masking certain areas of the inked up plate with scraps of paper so they are just embossed with only texture and no ink? Or a bit of chine colleé to change the image again?

After all this you should really feel you have got to know your plate. Give yourself time, (and a cup of tea) to lay out all the different images together; a magnetic display wall is helpful here so you can stand back to consider which ones stand out for you, make notes about why some work better than others.

Adjust your plate

After this intense printing session you may discover some areas of the plate work better than others – you can always trim the plate down so the less interesting areas disappear. Alternatively plan to re-make a plate using the shapes and textures you found were most successful.

Gain confidence and understanding

Making a set of test prints helps to develop confidence as you gain understanding of how collagraph plate construction affects the inking process. It also gives an opportunity to experiment with colour choices and inking techniques as part of a free-flowing creative session before you commit to a specific colour scheme and inking process.

Collagraphs have multiple facets

One of the amazing and exciting aspects of collagraph printing is the surprises your plates give you when you print them.

It is wonderful to set out on a printing session with no fixed idea of what your results will be. This is the whole point of the ‘just printing’ course I run; students make a (deceptively) simple plate with a range of textures and tones and then see just how many different ways they can print it. A big thankyou to my students for the examples shown in this post.

I would highly recommend doing this with any new plates, or just with experimental test pieces; suspend your expectations and set aside a bit of time to print the plate in as many different ways as you can before deciding what suits it best.