The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1868-01-18
from the Boston Daily Advertiser
How ChrG,Mos Are Made.

! How CbrGGnOs Are Made.
| Chrome iLhograpby is the art OF printing
| pictures from stone, in colors. The most
| diihcutl branch ofit--which is now generally
implied when chromos are spoken offs the
art Of reproducing oil paintings. When a
| chrome is made by competent hand, il
presents an exact counterpart oil The original
! painting, with tho gradations of limits and
shades, and with much Of the spir; ard tone
| Of y production of the brnsh and pallet.
! To understand how chromos uro made,
the ar: of photography must first be briefly
explained The stone used in lithoeaphing
is species OF limestone found in Bavaria,
snd * wrought iato ,hicli slabs with finely
/ polished surface The drawing is made up,
! On the slab VITA sort Of colored soap,
! FbIch adhcrcs 10 the stone, and enters INFO
a chemical combination with it s.tcr he AZ.
| pilcstien Of cetiail Hciis and gums. When
the drn@,ing IS complete, the slab is pat or
/ she press, aud carefully dampcned with t.
sponge. The oil color or lux is lAcn op.
| pied with common printers roller. q,
course, the paris Of the slab which con;aiu
no drawing, being wet, resist the lux while
the drawing itself. being oily, repeis the
ratcr, but retains The color applied. 1t ID
! thus tLn', without raised surface or inci.iou
AS in common printing, wood.cuts, and
steel engraving, -! iihography produces print
cd drawings from n perfectly smooth stone
! In q chrome, the first proof is ligh
| ground-tirt, covering nearly all the surface
It Las only faint, Shado.y resemblance to
the completed picture. Ii is in fact rather
shadow than on outline. The next proof
| from the second stone, contains alI TIE shades
Of another color. This process is repeated
! again and again ard again occasionally Is
| often os thirty times. We saw one proof
in visit to Mr.. PrangS establishment, -
group o! cattle, that had passed through
! he press twelve times and it still bore &
| greater resemblance to spoiled co!orcI
| photograph than to the charming picture
which it subsequently, became. The number
Of impressions, however, does not necesaa.
| r!ly indicate the number OF colors in q rain,
ing, because the colors and ,ints are greatly
multiplied by combinations created in the
process Of printing one over another IL
twenty-five IMPRESSIONS il il sometimes re
cessary and possible to produce hundred
distinct shades.
The last impression is made by an engrav
ed stone, which produces that resemblance
| 10 canvas noticeable in all Mr. Prang's ircr
specimens. English and German chromos
as rule, do not attempt to give this deli
cate final touch, although ii would seem to
be essential in order to make q pcrlec, I'M.
,a'ion Of painting,
The paper used is white, heavy ''plae
| paper" Of the best quality, which has to
pass through heavy press, sheet by sheet,
before its surface is GI to receive Oh impress
| sion.
| The process thus briefly explained, we
need hardly add, requires equally great skill
and judgment at every stage. a single err
ror is instantly detected by the pracised eye
in the finished specimen. The production
Of chrome, if it is at all complicated, re.
quires several months-sometines several
years--of careful preparation. The mere
| drawing Of the different and entirely de-
tached parts on SO many different stones is
Of itself a work that requires an amount of
labor and degree of skill, which, 10 a per.
soh unfamiliar with the process, would ap.
pear incredible. Still more difficult, and
needing still greater skill, is the process of
coloring, This demands a knowledge which
artists have hitherto almost exclusively mo.
nopolized, and, in addition 10 it, the prac
| teal familiarity Of printer with mechanical
details. Drying" and Registering" are
| as important branches Of the art of making
chromos as drawing and coloring. On prop.
er registering, for example, the entire pos.
sibli,y Of producing picture at every stage
Of its progress depends. Registering" Is
tha, part Of q pressman's work which con.
sisis in so arranging the paper in the press,
| tha. il shall receive the impression on OK.
actly the same spot of every sheet In
book work, each pngc must be exactly op.
posite the reee printed on the other side OF
,he sheet, in order that the Impression, il on
thin paper, may not ''phow through" LII
newspaper work this is of less importance,
and often is uot attended TO wi,h any special
care. But in chromo.lihograpA the differ
ence of u hal. shfead.h woald spoil pic
ture for it would hopelesS!y mix up the
| colors.
! After the chrome has passed through the
press, it is embossed and vanished, and
then put up for the market. These final
processes are for the purpose Of breaeias
the glossy light, md OF sohenlng the hard
outlines which the picture receives from tho