Dry copier toner images have become a common worldwide printmaking technique after I introduced it in 1985. There has been minor changes to toner powders over the years, becoming much finer to accommodate the newer 600 and 1200 dpi machines, but the same principals apply for using all toners. Toners today contain all or a […]

Like I mentioned before, I believe ordinary oil-based ink is not toxic on its own; it is the use of hydrocarbon solvents that makes cleaning up so toxic. While I have done a fair amount of research into make ink more easily removed with waterbased solutions, I have realized these modifiers made the ink more […]

Because I wonder how many read the comments, I have decided to respond to Everfrees’ concerns here. Of course, press pressure is dependant on the paper one uses and has to be sufficient to place ink down into the deeper fibres of the sheet. So that will be sort of covered later on. Because we […]

Traditional lithographs have probably been printed on an etching press for a long time, as Senefelder use one until the wooden roller cracked and he found that a scrapping action could work just as well. Since most printmaking seems to be done by intaglio processes, litho presses are less common; but with the ease of […]

To make rolling up the plates a cleaner operation, I developed a subplate that is placed on a table near the press and ink slab, unto which one places the plate. The subplate is simply a smooth surface that has silicone applied so it rejects ink as well as the plate. Since it is best […]

A good lithographic printer probably can make most traditional oil based inks available to them work in this process, but some new inks can make printing much easier.  Hand printing with waterless plates requires ink with a good amount of tack, but traditional printers normally want less tack, so ink makers keep it low. Greasy […]

Silicones are organic polymers, molecules that consists of mainly of silicon and oxygen, which can be modified to produce a great number of wonderful products used by us daily. As printers we are only interested in the common caulking silicones that are used in the construction industry as sealers and adhesives. Even these come in […]

While I have time, I decided to add more information to this project. To understand waterless and its difference with traditional lithography, it doesn’t rely as much on chemistry as Senefelders original process did. Waterless is simply a delicate masking system to keep silicone from bonding to the plate. Any material that adheres well and […]

Practically any type of aluminium sheeting can be used for waterless lithography, but I presume most will be using those commonly used by printmakers coming in .012 inch thickness and grained on one side. After using the grained side, the plate can be recycled by cleaning the back and preparing it for taking on an […]

In 1990 I developed a usable process by which common caulking silicone can be used to make waterless litho plates and have made the process available to any printer interested in learning more about it. It has been published in the international refereed journal Leonardo, as well as Printmaking Today and on various websites on […]