The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1868-01-16
How Chromos are Made.

ing pictures from stone. In coiors. The
most difficult branch of (which is now
generally implied when chromos are
spoken offs the art of reproducing oil
paintings. When chremo is made by q
competent hand, it presents an exact coun-
terpart Of the original painting, with the
delicate gradations Of tints and shades,
and with much of the spirit and tone of a
production Of the brush and pallet.
To understand how chromos are made,
the art of TYPOGRAPHY must first be briefly
explained. The stone used in Gthograph-
ing Is a species Of limestone found in Ba-
varia, and is wrought into thick slabs with
finely polished surface. The drawing is
made upon the slab with a sort of coloIed
soap, which adheres to the stone, and en-
ters into chemical combination with it
after the application of certain acids and
gums. When the drawing is complete,
the slab is put on the press, and carefully
dampened with sponge, The oil color
Cor ink is then applied with common
printers roller. Of course, the parts of
the slab which contain no drawing, being
wet, resist the ink; while the drawing it.
self, being oily, repels the water, but re-
tains the color applied. 1t is thus that,
without raised surface or incision-as in
common printing, wood cuts, and steel en-
cravings produces printed
drawings from a perfectly smooth stone.
In q chrome, the first proof Is light
ground-tint, covering nearly all the sur
face. 1t has only a faint, shadowy resem-
blance to the completed picture. 1t Is in
fact rather shadow than an outline. The
next proof, from the second stone, con-
tains all the shades of another color. This
process Is repeated again and again and
again; occasionally, as often as thirty
w In vic fn
Mr. Prane's Establishments group of
cattle,-that had passed through the press
twelve times; and it still bore greater
resemblance to spoiled colored photo
graph than to the charming picture which
it subsequently, became. The number of
impressions, however, does not necessarily
Indicate the number of colors in paint
ing, because the colors and tints are great
ly multiplied by combinations created In
the process of printing one over another.
In twenty-five impressions, 1t is sometimes
necessary and possible to produce hun
dred distinct shades.
The last impression Is made by an en-
graved stone, which produces that resem
blsnce to canvas noticeable in all Of Mr.
Prang's finer specimens. English and
German chromos, as a rule, do not attempt
to give this delicate firal touch, although
it would seem to be e. sential in order TO
make perfect imitatio of painting.
The paper used is W Mite, heavy "plate
paper" OF the best qua ity. which has to
pass through heavy press, sheet by sheet,
before its surface is fit TO receive an i'm.
preston.
The process thus briefly explained, we
need hardly add, requires equally great
skill and judgment at every stage. A
single error is instantly detected by the
hn fi,,ic
The production Of chrome, If it Is at all
complicated, requires several months
sometimes several years-of careful pre-
paration. The mere drawing OF the diff
ferent and entirely detached parts on 80
many different stones is of itsslf work
that requires an amount of labor and a
degree of skill, which, to a person unfa
mliar with the process, would appear in
credible. S5:iIl more difficult, aud needing
still greater skill, is the process of color
ing. This demands a knowledge which
artists have hitherto almost exclusively
monopollzed, and, in addition 10 1t, the
practical familiarity of a printer with me-
chanical details. Drying" and "regis-
art of making cbromos as drawing and
coloring. On proper registering, for ex-
ample, the entire possibility of producing
a picture at every stage of its progress de-
pends. Registering" is that part of a
pressman's work which consists In SO ar
ranging tho paper in the prsss, that it
shall receive the impression on exactly the
same spot OF every sheet. In book work,
each page, must be exactly opposite the
page printed on the other side OF the sheet,
in order that the impression, If on thin
paper, may not "show through" In
newspaper work this is of less importance,
and often is not attended to with any
special care. But IN cbromo-lithograph
the difference of hair s-breadth would
spoile picture for it would hopelessly
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 breaking
the glossy light, and or softening the hard
outlines which the picture receives from
the stone, which imparts to 1t the resem-
blance Of painting On canvas.
Like every modern discovery, chrome
TYPOGRAPHY has its partisans and detract-
ors,-those who claim for it perhaps i'm
possible capabilities, and those who regard
it as mere handicraft, which no skill can
ever elevate into tbs dignity of an art.
We do not care to enter into these disputes.
Whether an art or handIcraft, chrome
lithography certainly reproduces charm
ing little pictures vastly superior to any
colored plates that we have had before;
and it is, at least, clearly entitled to be re-
garded as means Of educating the popu-
Lar taste, and thereby raising the national