Copper printing plates

Juliette Baxter <jbaxter [at] northamptonshire__gov__uk> writes

>Does anyone know of methods for obtaining prints from copper
>engraved printing plates from the 1850s? The plates are in good
>condition, but obviously we do not want to subject them to any
>process which might cause damage.

For plates which still have the ink from when they were used
remaining in the engraving, I have had pretty good results by
copying them with a digital SLR camera (on a copy stand with
lights), then putting the image into photoshop reversing it and
turning it from negative to positive.

Michael Hodgson
Glamorgan Record Office
Cardiff


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 19:51
                  Distributed: Friday, April 21, 2006
                       Message Id: cdl-19-51-008
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