ETCHING THE PLATE

Having finished the meccanical part, now the plate has to be cleaned so that there is no trace of polish or other oily substances. I use soap and then alcohol for this.  Now the plate has to be heated on the warming table in order to easily apply the etching varnish with a soft brush.

 The varnish must dry completly before you begin to draw on the plate.  I do various sketches on paper to insure that my drawing fits the size of the plate that I am using and then I transfer that to the varnish covered metal. Remember that if you transfer the image just as you see it in the sketch the printed result will be reversed. This is not a mistake by any means, but the image changes.