Photopolymer film etching

Using photopolymer film as a lift ground

With photopolymer film black-and-white stencils can be transferred to the plate and been etched. In this case the stencil has to be exposed for a few minutes. The exposure time can be set up approximately because in this case just the open areas which have to be etched later have to harden under the UV-light.

After the exposure the back of the plate is covered using tape. The plate is now put in the developer and developed. When the copper is clearly visible the plate is taken out, rinsed under water and laid in etch for a second. Where the copper oxidizes the plate is correctly developed. Areas where the copper doesn't oxidize need to be developed further with the sponge or a cotton bud.

After development the plate should be de-oxidized, rinsed and dried. It is now ready for aquatint and etching.

Photopolymer film etching of greytone-stencils

It is possible to transfer grey-toned stencils for etching. It requires appropriate materials like pencil, which generate a kind of grain on paper, or stencils which have been rastered before by using the computer or darkroom.

For stencils with a coarse raster or without raster, an aquatint screen can be used.

While exposing stencils with fine raster, there is no need to use the aquatint screen. The film has to be pre-thinned or a thin film has to be used.

After the exposure, the plate is developed gently with just the weight of the sponge. The state of the development is checked with the help of oxidation until it is finished. After that the plate is deoxidised and dried.

Print and stencil of an exposed and etched plate. The pencil-drawing is clearly visible because of the natural grain of the pencil while the painting with ink is not transferred perfectly.

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Copyright 2006 Eva Pietzcker and Miriam Zegrer