28 May 2012

Book du jour - letterpress dud

Printing on tracing paper is tricky because the paper isn't absorbent and the ink takes a long time to dry. It's easy to get smudges --- and they can't be scraped off -
So I'm trying other transparent materials. Like repair tissue, which does have a certain amount of show-through, but is too floppy, even when waxed -
The text is some words that I threw together, and having spent several sessions printing the various pages, I'm thinking along the lines of "marry in haste, repent at leisure". It just doesn't work, for all sorts of reasons... the use of light and heavy type is in the wrong order, the lines at the top aren't suitable for this bottom-to-top revelation, the font isn't right ... etc ...

But it needs recording, and reflecting upon. Here's the stack of pages; on the left, from the front (the second page; the first is all black type and seems to have gone missing) and the back  (of the last page) - not properly aligned, and revealing some spacing adjustments in the middle pages -
I've "taken it to the end" - almost - all that remains is to assemble one copy - and then I'll jettison the rest. Or use the pages as the basis for more little black books - tracing paper does interesting things when it gets wet, and I have a big new bottle of ink....

The upside of this unsuccessful project is that I've learned to print on tracing paper very, very carefully, interleaving newsprint between the pages. It was lovely in the letterpress studio when only one other person was working there and I had room to spread the pages out a bit so that they could start drying.

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