I’m wondering if the following sequence of events seems unreasonable to get a very, very clean print on a Universal III.
The project is an important certificate for a major university signed by the president and all. This is essentially for the text part of the certificate, not including the recipient’s name. Printing area is about 13″ x 11.5″.
The main issue is the president’s name which is quite small (he will sign above it) and there is a 1″ square in each corner. There will be a second color that will overprint over parts of those squares + be the border of the certificate.
To print this in a fairly dark blue on Stonehenge paper with a pretty serious impression, we
1) double inked the plate
2) wiped off the president’s name so it printed very light
3) printed the print
4) wiped the president’s name again
5) double inked the plate and then
6) printed the paper for the second time (registration wasn’t an issue on any print).
The issue was balancing those squares and trying to get the ink to cover very solidly and not get squeeze on the small type.
It doesn’t seem like anything was going to let us avoid the double print on the squares and the large type. That much ink was going to create other problems.
Should we have just set it up and print the president’s name on a separate run?
Ray
On a Vandercook it is always a good idea to separate out the elements of the form. If not, adding impression to the squares might help.
Wiping is good; impressed with your procedure. Is this a photopolymer plate or photomechanical? Only ask because the former is somewhat problematic in this regard.
Stonehenge does require a serious impression.
Gerald
http://BielerPress.blogspot.com