Saturday, August 16, 2008

Printing Day

Yesterday afternoon I spent at the press with the last of my Litho Sketch drawings and solution. Sadly, I discovered recently, that Amaco has discontinued the Litho Sketch line.... I can't even give you a link to it because they aren't making it any more.

I was running low on the plate solution you need to charge the master in order to ink it and heard through some printing pals that the company was going out of business. I looked everywhere online to see if there might be a supply hidden somewhere and failed. Next plan was to call around and find out what the substitute for the plate solution might be, seeing as how I still have 25 master plates in my possession. Again, a deadend, Amaco admitted that even they have tried to find another possibility and couldn't. When speaking with Amaco I was stunned to hear that they had stopped production 6 years ago because it was such a slow mover. It has taken that long to finally run out of product.

What I have loved about this product is the immediacy of getting a print. It's some kind of coated paper that allows you to draw with litho crayons. Once the drawing is complete you charge the plate with the magic solution and roll on litho ink with a brayer. Simple as that. Once through the press and you have something that resembles a stone lithograph without all the solvents and processing involved. It's been grand!

Other products have been suggested to try that may be good alternatives to the Litho Sketch wonder. I'm distraught to have it taken from me just as we were getting to know each other, making beautiful prints, hey, I was falling in love. *sigh*

The new replacement plates are on their way here from Graphic Chemical (the most wonderful printing supply catalog!). I'll post my opinion after the blind date. I'm hoping to be smitten but Litho Sketch is still a fresh wound... it just won't be the same.

roll up table

paper plate

inking station

off the press

print from the paper litho plate

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