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ELECTROTYPE PROCESSES. 



through which the drawing is cut is covered with a conducting 

 substance, and an electrotype plate is deposited upon the etching. 

 When this is removed from the mould, it requires to be trimmed, 

 for it is impossible to etch a plate, or to bite the etching, so that 

 all the lines shall be exactly of the same depth. To remedy this, 

 the face of the electrotype is levelled by grinding and burnish- 

 ing. The following instructions for artists are published by the 

 patentee. 



Instructions on Glyphography for the Amateur. " The amateur 



must remember that he is producing a work of art for the surface 

 press, and not for copperplate printing. 



" The drawing or etching should not be made with lines of equal 

 thickness in all the tints. If it is so treated with a thick line, and if 

 the cross hatching be kept of the same strength as the principal line, 

 it will appear like a coarse pen-and-ink drawing. If it is treated in 

 the above manner with a fine line, and the work laid very close, it 

 will have the appearance of one of the old etchings. The amateur, 

 therefore, will do well to remark, that it is only by a judicious mix- 

 ture of bold and delicate work that beauty of style can be obtained; 

 and as the darkest shades are generally foremost, and become gradu- 

 ally lighter to the distance, so that the darkest or nearest tones should 

 generally be formed by the boldest work, and gradually increase in 

 delicacy to the offscape. 



" Etching is a process nearly resembling drawing with a very fine 

 pen or pencil, and should be proceeded with as follows : 



" Having obtained a polished copper-plate with an etching ground 

 properly laid, proceed to put your design upon the plate. 



" If it is a print or miniature that is being copied, you must make 

 a sketch or tracing of the same with a black-lead pencil : it must 

 then be traced on to the plate, remembering always, that the proof 

 from the block will be in the same position as the etching ; and that 

 nothing must be etched or written backwards, as for the ordinary 

 copperplate printing. 



" In order to trace the object on to the plate, take apiece of trans- 

 fer paper, 1 place it face downwards upon the plate, secure the corners 

 with a piece of wall wax or paste, or hold it steadily down, if there 

 is not much to trace ; then place on your sketch or tracing, go over 

 the outline with your etching-needle or a very hard black-lead pencil, 

 removing a corner at a time to see that all is correctly transferred, 

 and nothing omitted, or that the outline be not too heavy arid thick, 

 in which case you must trace lighter. 



" Having thus got your subject, as it were, sketched upon the 



1 To prepare the transfer paper, take some thin post or tissue paper, rub the sur- 

 face well with black-lead, vermilion, red chalk, or any colouring matter; wipe this 

 preparation well off with a piece of clean rag, and it will be ready for use. 



