Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1869-02-23
M i - g g 1 | "a N V .
HOW GHRoMOS ARE MADE,


HOW GHRoM0S ARE MADE.
CHRoMo-L1TnoGRAPnY is the art of print
ing pictures from stone, in colors. The
most difficult branch of (which is now
generally implied when chromos are spo-
ken offs the art of reproducing oil paint
ings. When chrsmo is made by COM
pent hand it presents an exact counter
part 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 photography must first be brief
ly explained. The stone used IN lithograph-
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 sort of colored
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
dampencd with a sponge. The oil color
(or ink) is then applied with a common
printers roller. OF course, the parts of
the slab which contain no drawing, being
wet, resist the ink; while drawing itself,
being oily, repels the water, but retains
the color applied. 1t is thus that, with
out raised surface or incision-as in
common printing, wood-cuts, and steel en-
gravings--lithOgraphy produces printed
drawings from a perfectly smooth stone.
In chrome the first proof is light
ground-tint, covering nearly all the sur
face. 1t has only faint, shadowy re-
semblance to the completed picture. 1t
is in fact rather shadow than an outline
The next proof, from the second stone,
contains all the shades of another color.
This process is repeated again and again ::
occasionally, as often as thirty times. We
saw one proof, in visit to Mr.. Prang's
establishment group Of cattle-that
had passed through the press twelve times !;
and it still bore greater resemblance to a
spoiled colored photograph than to the
charming picture which it subsequently
became. The number of impressions,
however, does not necessarily indicate the
number of colors in painting, because
the colors and tints are greatly multiplied
by combinations created in the process of
printing one over another. In twenty-five
impressions, it is sometimes necessary and
possible to produce hundred distinct
shades.
The last impression is made by an en-
graved stone, which produces that resem-
blance to canvass noticeable in all Of Mr..
Prang's finer specimens. English and
German chromos, as rule, do not attempt
to give this delicate final touch, although
it would seem essential in order to make a
perfect imitation of painting.
The paper used is white, heavy "plate
paper" of the best quality, which has tc
pass through heavy press, sheet by
sheet, before its surface is fit to receive an
impression.
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
practised eye in the finished speci
men. The production of chrome, if i
is at all complicated, requires severa
months-sometimcsse csseveral years-of care
full preparation. The mere drawing of thu
diifereit and entirely-detached parts OF
so many different stones is of itself worl
that requires an amount of labor and |
degree of skill, which to person unfa
miliar with the process, would appear in
credible. Still more difficult, and need
J ing still greater skill, is the process 0
: coloring. This demands a knowledge
] which have hitherto almost exclusivel
} monopolizcd, and, in. addition to il
: the practical familiarity of printer wit
mechanical details. "Drying" and 'ree
Q istering' are as important branches of th
I art Of making chromos as drawing an
: coloring. On proper registering, for e,
Q ample, the entire possibility Of producin
: a picture at every stage of its progre
f depends, Registering is that part Of