Japanese wood-cutting and wood-cut printing / by T. Tokuno ; edited by S.R. Koehler.
- Tokuno, T.
- Date:
- 1894
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Japanese wood-cutting and wood-cut printing / by T. Tokuno ; edited by S.R. Koehler. Source: Wellcome Collection.
17/56 page 225
![and heuce much more time aucl labor was speut on this part of the work than at present. Papers used for printing, and their treatment. The papers used, whatever their quality, should be sized with a thiu animal size. Among the prints sent to the U. S. National Museum are impressions on three different kinds of paper:—a special Japanese paper, made at the Insetsu-Kioku paper mills [known in America as Imperial Japanese paper], a Cliinese paper, and masa paper. The sheets ai^e moistened with water before the printing begins, the degree of moisture differing according to the quality of the paper, the proper degree being determined by the judgment of the printer. Masa paper, for instance, on which the lorogressive proofs of one of the pictures (Tinaka geuji) sent to the U. S. National Museum are printed, should be very slightly moistened by means of a brush. Ex- periment has shown the amount of moisture in this case to be 13.86 per cent. A single wet sheet is put between every three or four dry sheets, until a suitable layer is formed, which is pressed between two wooden press-boards. When all the sheets have the proper degree of moistm^e they are ready for j)rinting. As the printing on this moist paper is done with water colors, it can be well done only by an experienced printer. The following points are to be noted: A. The paper should rather be under than overmoistened. If it is overmoistened the water colors will spread beyond their limits. If the paper dries during the progress of the work, wet sheets are : put between the sheets to be printed, and the heap is allowed to lie I until the proper degree of moisture has been obtained. If the paper is I thick and strong it should be slightly moistened from the back by 1 means of a brush. B. Great care must be taken not to put an exces- • sive quantity of color on the plank. Eice paste serves well to prevent I the water colors from spreading, and it ought to be used for every im- i pressiou. The printed sheets, in the interval between two printings, are laid on : top of one another, to the number of many hundred sheets. If the V water colors have been properly applied there is no fear of offsetting on the backs of the sheets. A backing sheet is not generally used, but if it is desired to avoid I all traces of the baren on the back of the printed sheets, a sheet of • thin paper is used for backing. Printing on silk.—Silk is occasionally used for printing instead ■ of paper, and one of the specimens sent to the U. S. National Museum 1 is on this material It is usually found necessary to mount the silk on paper, but some experts can print without this device. The silk on which one of the impressions of Nandina domestica is printed [in 33 colors] was mounted on paper, but only along the edge which was laid against the registering marks. When the printing was finished this edge was trimmed oft. H. Mis. 114, pt. 2 15](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21782234_0017.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
