Recreation(al) Lino: Tips and Tricks
Preparing the Image
Once I’ve located the bitmap image I want to use (from EEBO, the Folger Digital Collections, and so on), it will normally require some touching up in Adobe Photoshop. This is fairly basic stuff – erasing or painting stray pixels, and then increasing the contrast and brightness until the image is relatively clean and clear. I then turn it into a vector image using the trace function in Adobe Illustrator: abutting, fills, ignore white, 100% paths, 100% corners, and 1 px noise. I can then resize the image without much fuss to fit the lino block in Adobe InDesign. I’m increasingly using 100 x 150 mm pre-mounted blocks, so I have a template ready to go for this purpose.
Transferring the Image
I print the image to transfer on a photocopier. I then cut ‘wings’ to tape to the lino block. (I use surgical tape, but only because I have plenty around for framing.) Once the block has been wrapped (with the transfer image facing the block!), it’s then a matter of using a colourless alcohol blending pen/marker to wet the outside of the paper and, using a mini applique iron, ‘ironing’ the image onto the block through the paper.
I don’t have any data to back this up, but I believe it’s a combination of applying pressure and heat with the iron that makes for a good transfer. I use the pen on a small area and then iron it, repeating the process until I have covered the whole block. You can remove the tape and check on the transfer, going over any areas that need redoing. Otherwise, you can always ‘touch up’ the transfer directly on the lino with a pen or pencil.
Carving the Lino
I work at scale, so I use 1 mm gouges for detailed carving. I really like the Mikisyo Power Grip Japanese carving tools — they’re relatively inexpensive and hard wearing. I’ve got a 1 mm Flexcut carver and a Pfeil 0.5 mm gouge, but they aren’t as comfortable to use as the Power Grip. Most of the time I use ‘U’ gouges, mostly because I find them easier to manipulate than ‘V’ gouges. To clear away larger areas, I use medium gouges. (My go-to carver for this is from a Yoshiharu set, but any will do.)
I also use a magnifying LED lamp, clamped to my desk, which makes it much easier to carve in detail when the image is magnified 10x and properly illuminated.
Printing the Block
I’m very lucky to have access to an Albion press. Since starting to work primarily with 100 x 150 mm lino blocks, I’ve found it much easier to set up a skeleton A4 forme (i.e., a chase with the requisite furniture and quoins) for me to slot the lino block into for printing. Registration is also much simpler, being a matter of lining up the paper with the edges of the chase.
The pre-mounted lino blocks are not quite type-height, but are slightly short. This isn’t an issue when I’m printing the lino alone, but I find I need to shim the block whenever I want to add type to the forme. (I tape thin metal tabs to the base of the block, which seems to do the trick.) At any rate, I use a wad of A4 paper as a shim when printing to Hosho (approx. 80 gsm), Kent (190 gsm), Somerset (250 gsm), or Snowdon (300 gsm) paper.
