St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1890-11-15
NEWSPAPER PICTURES.
POPULAR PROCESSES EMPLOYED BY
THE Rig DAlLlES.

E>J DftlL-iIo'
HOW Thpv Turn Out a Quick Cut-Ahe
Cbo,x Method and the oto-EngraV"
en-, process-Unknown to the News
n,rsrs of a Few Years Since.
Tho illustration of newspapers Is new
,,ronrb of art. Ever since its beginning
&c onnrentices have been trying to find out
+ho j.. 1rn1est and most effective methods
for the reproduction Of drawings IN order
thea hey might be made with the greatest
nossibIe ouickness, engraved on metal
with the utmost attainable CELEBRITY ana
nrin,pd clearly and we'll at the rate or w.
900 comics per hour. To such perfection |
have the processes for this purpose been |
bror, rht that the turning out OF pictures
all ready for the lightning presses Is now
adays hardly more than mat'er ol le"
minutes time.
TIE CHALK METHOD.
MIST interesting of the processes EN-
plovcd in newspaper illustration, from the
noinr of view of simplicity, is what may be
termed the ''chalk method" Take thin
he'd of smooth chalk laid upon metal sur
face. and draw upon it with fine steel
point any picture you may desire. Inc
steel point will cut the lines of the picture
ont Of the chalk to the metal, and thus you
will have it in the shape of an lntagno
Make a stereotype from this intaglio and
Won have your metal plate to print the
nicture f,om Could anything be more
| simple?
! such is the idea of the chalk process. In
| anolyjne it, instead of pure chalk various
| mixtures are used, such as plaster OF Paris
which is merely chalk in another shape,
with A certain proportion of white caro-
lima CLAW. The stuff, pulverized and stirred
ND with water, is spread over rectangl-
| lar sheet of polished steel. as you would
sprpad a slice of bread with butter, to an
| even thickness of about one thlrty-second
of an inch Now you are ready to begin
| operations as soon as you have baked the
steel plate in an oven for while until the
chalk layer has been rendered perfectly
hard
QUICK PROCESS.
II Will hardly do for You to attempt to
draw Your picture directly upon the chalk,
lest Won make mistakes The best way is
to make your sketch on piece of paper,
and then, LAYING it down upon the chalk
surface. 90 over the lines with a pencil
point, W hich will indent the paper and
leave ma ks beneath upon the chalk. Lift
the drawing and you find under it, in the
chalk, its reproduction, Now you apply
YOUR steel point directly to the chalk, cut
ting all tae lines of the drawing dowr
through the chalk to the surface OF the
| steel plate. When you finish the opera
r tion the dark steel of the plate shows
through the chalk in all the lines of thu
: sketch. And these lines are perfectl.
2 clean and sharp, thanks to the keennes
of the kniteliSe steel point employed. Al
( vou have to do for the rest is to pour mott
= en- lead over the chalk surface in molt
8 ard let it get cold The lines that are GU
o out of chalk will he reproduced in relic
t upon the lead, and thus you Will hav
your metal engraving to print the news
f paper picture from, mounting it for tn
= purpose on a block thick enough TO max
q it level with the type.
u ZINC PICTURES"
Il Though so advantageous for its simple
ity the chalk method is not so good for lin
. work in the way Of sketches ana pOrtral'
= as the zinc process so called. In
{ former, however, by reason of its cheal
81 ness. is most useful to provincial new
= naDers which cannot afford the compar
It lively expensive Photographic plant r
% a,!ired by the latter In the zinc process
+ to begin with, an ordinary photograp
!, reduced to the required size is taken VIII
u a camera of the pen-and-ink sketch Ora"
on cardboard by the artist. Next smoo'
= plate of zinc is flowed over with an alb
le men solution that forms sensltlzed SIX
> on the surface; the glass negative or q
a. picture is laid upon this zinc plate ana u
two are put together in the sunlight. Wh
as are to he the black lines of the print
hi II trar ems
a. ont in the negative The sunlight go
II through wherever the negative is traI
W narent, and has the effect of hardenll
the sensitized skin beneath, SO that
OF clings tightly to the zinc. 1t requires on
d one minute to perform this operation.
VI DRAGONS BLOOD FINISHING.
~ Now the zinc plate is taken and glver
N coating over the sensltized SKIN or hthe
~ raphers' ink, rubbed on with roll
Ia after which the plate is washed. In
A. places where the sunlight has not stru
w the zinc owing to the opacity of
OF glass negative. the senstized skin read
@n washes off, together with ink that COW
ui if but elsewhere it clings. Thus after
g washing the perfect drawing in ink
cc.'' mains upon the zinc plate. To make
" ink lines harder the plate is brushed W
pow,!ered dragons blood. Then 1T
nluuoed into a bath of acid, which e
away the zinc wherever it IS not protec
INV by the ink, so that when it is taken out
It lines Oh Ihe vi d" us "" s - ~.
~ above the rest of the surface of the pls
a. like a map for the blind, and when mou
.as ed sstype high on metal base you n
oil YOUR "cut' ready to print from.
nc processes" have infinitely multlp
;ob | within the last few years--so mucn so
10 fact. that the student Of engraving Is agf
tho at contemplating their variety. AT pres'
hot however, the zinc method seems to De
nv, most available for journals of the per
At all events, it is employed by maJo
nv of the big newspapers of the country. :,
~ Considerably used for newspaper II
.ro tration is that of photo-engravlng, WI
somewhat resembles the zinc method
oil glass plate, however, is used Instead
~ metal one. This glass plate is covered
ha a thin LAYER of sensitized gelatine, whie
civ permitted to dry Then the photogra
80 glass negative Of the drawing, made
n,,,e the camera Just as in the other case, Is
over the gelatine, and the glass plate
the negative, with. the gelatine layer
soso tween them, are put in the sun for hal
ass hour.
.irly Inc ll9no l'alueils ', one ,Ia+a 1rheravt
~ | strikes through the negative, 80 that
n;1l, the glass plate is subsequently put
70 water all the rest of the gelatine comes
"a leaving the drawing on the glass in
,a~s tine lines l@Moist plaster Of Paris Is sp
r. over the plate next and permitted
: 10 harden; when it is taken off it is mo
mold