IMPROVEMENTS IN PHOTO-MECHANICAL PRINTING, AND IN APPARATUS TO BE USED IN SUCH PRINTING, PARTS OF WHICH APPARATUS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES." PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ernest Edwards, of Lincoln Terrace, Willesden
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Photographer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PHOTO-MECHANICAL PRINTING, AND IN APPARATUS TO BE
USED IN SUCH PRINTING, PARTS OF WHICH APPARATUS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO
OTHER PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ernest Edwards at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th October 1871.
I, ERNEST EDWARDS, of Lincoln Terrace, Willesden Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Photographer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PHOTO-MECHANICAL PRINTING, AND IN
APPARATUS TO BE USED IN SUCH PRINTING, PARTS OF WHICH APPARATUS ARE ALSO
APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:―
In my previous Patents No. 35 13, dated the 8th of December 1869, and
2106 1-2-1
L
1570 TLA

page_text: improved methods of photo-mechanical printing and improvements in
other methods.
This Invention relates to further improvements in carrying out the
same methods described in those Patents, to improvements in the
materials and appliances for carrying out the same, part of which
improvements are applicable to and may be used in other processes, and
to a method of compound or colour photo-mechanical printing, in two
or more tints or colours.
First I have not found any of the existing printing rollers used for
spreading the ink upon the prepared gelatine surface from which
impressions are to be taken (which surface I call the "forme") answer
the purpose perfectly in inking the gelatine "formes."
The first part of this Invention consists in making rollers for this
purpose of a composition of glue, gelatine, albumen, or or other analogous
body, and treacle, glycerine, or other analogous body, to which is added
a considerable proportion of oil or grease or oil combined with an alkali.
Any of the oils or greases may be used.
Rollers made according to this part of my Invention have a quality
(of not tearing the gelatinous "forme") not possessed by any existing
roller, and are specially suitable for inking the gelatine "forme." Other
substances besides oil may be used, such as a solution of india-rubber
or gutta percha in a suitable solvent. I also sometimes add chrome alum
or some substance tending to produce insolubility of gelatine, so as to
render the composition of which the roller is formed tougher and more
durable. The quantity of oil, grease, or qualifying substance may be
varied to meet various cases, and I use rollers made in this way, for the
purpose of inking in ordinary and lithographic printing as well as in
the methods described, and other analogous methods of printing from
gelatinous formes."
The second part of my Invention consists in producing a wash or stain
over the surface of the picture by means of dyes or water colours. I add
to the water which is used for damping the gelatine "forme" sufficiënt
of a dye or colour of a desired tint. The plate having been wetted with
*the water and colour as above, the surplus is removed by means of the
"squeegee" and blotting paper. Sufficient however has been absorbed
by the gelatine to produce on the paper when printed a perfectly
uniform tint upon the parts which are usually unaffected, whilst the
parts which are inked with greasy inks are printed in the usual way.

page_text: The third part of my Invention consists in methods of compound or
colour photo-mechanical printing for obtaining pictures coloured with
several colours. This I effect in various ways:
-
First. I produce in the usual way a number of photographic negatives
from the same subject, exactly alike in size, the number of such negatives
being the same as the number of colours in which the pictures are to be
printed. I then paint out with an opaque substance in the usual way
in each negative all except the part required to be printed in the par-
ticular colour to which the negative refers. A printing "forme" is
then made from cach negative, and each such ".forme" is inked with
a suitable colour. Pictures are obtained by printing each picture upon
each "forme" in succession, and register (or the proper adjustment of
the picture) is obtained by marks on the "formes," or the press, or by
marks on the negatives themselves. Two or more colours may be used
with each "forme" by means of my Invention of compound inking
described in my Patent of December 8th, 1869, No. 3543, and tints also
may be produced from each "forme" by means of the improvement
described in the second part of my present Invention. Sometimes the
effect of colour produced by the photographic negative is the reverse of
that desired, for instance, in the red of the cheeks in a portrait where
the negative gives high lights, to avoid this I produce a transparent
positive from the negative, and exactly its size, and I use this to produce
a printing "forme". painting out whatever parts are not required, as.
already described. Where only one photographic negative is obtainable
I attain the same end by using a series of masks, each mask covering all
of the negative except that part which is intended to be printed of a
particular colour. Opaque paper made transparent where required may
be used for this purpose, or paper or thin metal cut out to the proper
shape, or sheets of gelatine, collodion, talc, or other suitable substance,
which may be interposed between the negative and the sensitive sheet or
forme," or may be placed behind the negative.
"
1"
Second. I also produce such compound and colour prints by making
in the first instanco a photographic negative of the subject to be printed,
and producing therefrom (by means of a gelatinous "forme") a number
of prints in a pigment of a colour, the actinic effect of which is equal
to that of the paper on which they are printed, for instance, light blue
upon white paper. Certain portions of each of these are then worked up
in black and white, the portions being those which are intended to be

page_text: reproduced in the various colours. These prints are then photographed
and printing "formes" made from the negatives upon which only the
parts worked up in black and white are reproduced, and prints produced
in the colours desired for each part.
a
I
64
Third. Another method consists in masking out in the gelatine
'forme"
those parts of the picture not required for each particular
colour or printing.
Parts of each of the above methods may also be combined and a basis
of paper coloured or partly coloured by lithography or other means may
be used as described in my Patent of December 8th, 1869, No. 3543.
I intend these improvements to apply not only to the process of
printing from gelatinous surfaces hardened with alum, and known
and practised as the " 'heliotype process, but to all analogous methods
and to all other methods of printing where they are available.
"
'SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Ernest Edwards in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 19th April 1872. .
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ERNEST
EDWARDS, of Lincoln Terrace, Willesden Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Photographer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Ernest Edwards, Her special licence, that I,
the said Ernest Edwards, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Ernest Edwards, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter, during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PHOTO-MECHANICAL PRINTING
AND IN APPARATUS TO BE USED IN SUCH PRINTING, PARTS OF WHICH APPARATUS ARE
ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others)
•

page_text: that I the said Ernest Edwards, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same
to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Ernest Edwards, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :—
In my previous Patents No. 3543, dated December 8th, 1869, and
No. 2485, dated September 15th, 1870, I have described various improved
methods of photo-mechanical printing, and improvements in other
methods of such printing.
This Invention relates to further improvements in carrying out the
same methods described in those Patents, to improvements in the
materials and appliances for carrying out the same (parts of which
improvements are applicable to and may be used in other processes),
and to methods of compound or colour photo-mechanical printing in two
or more colours or tints.
=
The first part of my Invention consists in improvements in the manu-
facture of the rollers used for spreading the ink upon the prepared
gelatinous surface from which impressions are to be taken (which
surface I call the "forme").
"
I have not found any of the existing printing rollers as ordinarily
used for spreading the ink upon the "forme' answer the purpose
perfectly; one special disadvantage being that the adhesion between
such rollers and the "forme" is so great that the gelatinous surface is
often torn from the latter by the roller, instead of the ink upon the
roller being left upon the surface of the "forme" as desired.
it is difficult to distribute the ink properly upon the " forme."
Moreover
This part of my Invention consists in adding oil or grease, or oil
combined with an alkali, to the composition of glue, gelatine, albumen,
or other analogous body, with treacle, glycerine, or other analogous
body, used in the manufacture of printing rollers, I do not confine
myself to the use of any particular oil, but I use any of the oils or
greases; nor do I confine myself to the use of any particular propor-
:

page_text: I have found the following a good proportion for the composition
of rollers for inking gelatinous "formes".
-
Gelatine
Glycerine -
Oil
Water
-
2 parts.
1 part.
-
1 part.
-
2 parts.
Sometimes I use other substances besides oil or grease, such as a
solution of india-rubber or gutta percha in a suitable solvent. I also
add sometimes a small proportion of a substance tending to produce
insolubility of gelatine, such as chrome alum, tannin, or gum lac, so as
to render the composition of which the roller is formed tougher and
more durable. For instance, I use a proportion of twenty grains of
chrome alum to one ounce of gelatine.
Rollers constructed according to this part of my Invention may be
used for the purpose of inking in ordinary letter-press, lithographic, and
other methods of printing, as well as in the methods described, and other
analogous methods of printing from gelatinous "formes."
In order to improve the texture of the surface of the rollers I some-
times add to the composition of which they are made, paper in a fine
state of division, or paper pulp, or flock. And sometimes I use to
make the rollers a basis of india-rubber in the form known as india-
rubber sponge.
I claim as my Invention the addition of oil or grease, or oil com-
bined with an alkali to the composition of treacle and gelatine ordinarily
used for making printing rollers. Also the addition of a substance
tending to produce insolubility of gelatine to the gelatine used for
making such rollers, or of india-rubber, substantially as described.
-
The second part of my Invention consists in methods of producing
a wash or stain over those parts of the picture, printed from gelatinous
"formes," which are absorbent of water, as well as an impression in
greasy inks from those parts which are repellent or partly repellent of
water.
In printing such pictures the prepared gelatine "forme" is first
damped with water, which is absorbed by those parts of the "forme"
unacted on by light (in the method well known and practised), and

page_text: the surplus is removed by the "squeegee" (a flexible tongue or strip
fitted into a frame or handle), and by blotting paper or other absorbent
material, or by other convenient means. The "forme" is then inked
with greasy ink, and the ink adheres to those parts which (having been
acted on by light) have not absorbed the water.
This part of my Invention consists of adding a sufficient quantity of
a dye or colour of any desired tint to the water used as described for
damping the gelatinous "forme." The surplus water, so coloured,
having been removed as described, a sufficient quantity has been
absorbed by the gelatine to produce upon the picture when printed a
uniform tint upon the parts which are usually unaffected, whilst the
parts which are inked with greasy inks are printed in the usual way..
Any suitable colour or dye may be used in carrying out this part of
my Invention, and I do not limit myself to any particular proportion
of colour or dye, the quantity of which may be varied to suit the par-
ticular tint or effect desired.
I claim as my Invention the addition of dyes or colours to the water
used in damping prepared gelatinous plates used for printing from,
substantially as described.
The third part of my Invention consists in improved methods of
obtaining pictures, coloured with several colours, by means of photo-
mechanical printing which I effect in several ways.
The first method which I adopt in carrying out this part of my
Invention consists in producing in the usual way (as well known and
practised) a number of photographic negatives, exactly alike in size,
from the subject which is to be copied. And I make the number of
such negatives the same as the number of different colours in which
the pictures are to be printed. I then paint out, or stop out, with an
opaque substance in the usual way in each negative, all except the
part required to be printed in the colour to which the particular negativo
refers. A printing forme" is then made from cach negative, and
each such "forme" is inked of the particular colour desired. Pictures
are then obtained by printing each picture from cach "forme" in
succession, and accurate "register" (or the proper adjustment of the
picture upon the printing "forme") is obtained by marks upon the
"formes," or upon the press, or upon the negatives themselves, to which
marks cach picture is carefully adjusted. Two or more colours may
be used with cach "forme," by the means described in my Patent of
"

page_text: December 8th, 1869, No. 3513, and tints may also be produced from
one or more of the "formes" by means of the method described in the
second part of my present Invention. Sometimes it happens that the effect
of colour produced by the photographic negative is the reverse of that
desired, as, for instance, in the red of the checks in a portrait, where
the negative gives high lights. To avoid this result I sometimes produce
a transparent positive from the negative, and exactly its size, and I use
this "positive" instead of the negative to produce the printing "forme,"
painting out whatever parts are not required, as already described.
Where only one photographic negative is obtainable I sometimes
carry out this part of my Invention by using a series of masks, each
mask covering all the negative except that part which is intended to
be printed of a particular colour. Opaque paper, made transparent in
the parts required, may be used for this purpose, or paper or thin metal
cut out to the proper shape, or sheets of gelatine, collodion, talc, or other
suitable substance made non-actinic, which may be interposed between
the negative and the prepared sensitive gelatinous sheet or forme," or
may be placed behind the negative.
Another method in which I carry into effect this part of my Invention
consists in making in the usual way a photographic negative of the sub-
ject to be reproduced and printed, and producing therefrom (by printing
from a gelatinous "forme") a number of prints in a pigment of a colour
the actinic effect of which is the same as that of the paper on which they
are printed; as, for instance, light blue upon white paper. I use the
same number of such prints as the number of colours in the picture to s
be reproduced, and I work up in black or white by hand that portion of
each of such prints which is to be printed of the colour to which the
particular print refers. A photographic negative is then obtained from
each of these prints, upon which negatives only the several parts worked
up in black and white are produced. The remaining part of the design a
of a colour actinically identical with that of the paper, as already
described, not being produced upon the negatives. From these negatives
separate gelatinous printing "formes" are obtained, and each of such
"formes" is used in succession with a different coloured ink for printing
the pictures.
"
A third method of carrying out this part of my Invention consists in
masking" out in the gelatine "forme" all those parts of the picture
except those to be printed in the particular coloured ink then being used,
:
3

page_text: I claim as my Invention the methods substantially as described of
obtaining pictures printed from prepared gelatinous surfaces in two or
more different colours.
I wish it to be understood that my improvements are intended to be
applied not only to the processes of printing from gelatinous surfaces
hardened with alum, and well known and practised as the "
"heliotype"
process, but also to other analogous methods, as well as to all other
methods of printing so far as they are available..
In witness whereof, I, the said Ernest Edwards, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.