Preparation
1. Make sure you bring your lino, pre-cut and ready to print
2. Place a piece of newsprint down on the printing press and draw around the piece of paper that you plan to print your Lino print onto leaving a pencil frame on the newsprint. This will help you centre your Lino and paper when you have inked up and it comes to printing.
3. Put your paper to the side to keep it clean and Organise your roller, inking board, 'Relief ink(s)' and newsprint neatly on a table to ensure a clean and efficient printing setup.
Printing
1. Place a small grape sized ‘relief ink’ blob onto your inking board (depending on how big your print is).
2. Start rolling the ink in a neat section of your inking board. When rolling, you will start to notice the ink becoming noisy, and the texture will change. Ideally, you want to roll until your ink starts to look velvety.
3. Using the roller to create a nice even layer of ink on both the inking board and roller. Apply your inked roller to you carved lino block, making sure the ink is evenly distributed.
4. Once inked up, place your lino in the centre of your outline on the newsprint, design side up. Then take your paper and place it on top of your lino, within the outline you drew earlier on the newsprint.
5. Cover the lino with printing paper, followed by a piece of newsprint and packing paper (ensuring everything is level and clean), and fold the swan skin blanket out in two stages, half then whole.
6. Flatten the swan skin blanket gently using the palm of your hands.
7. Now wind the press wheel slowly towards you (don’t steer like a ship) until you feel it stop. If the press is too hard to wind, reduce roller tension ‘equally’ using the 2 clamp grips.
8. After rolling through the press lift-up a corner to see if your print requires another pass.
9. Once printed carefully place the print on to the drying rack.
10. Once you have finished making your prints, remove any excess ink from your lino block using the cleaning tools and wrap in newsprint to take away with you.
Cleaning up
1. Please allow 15 minutes at the end of your session for cleaning up time.
2. Wipe any leftover ink from the inking board using a spatula and newsprint. Making sure to throw the excess ink and dirty newsprints in the metal general waste bin.
3. Clean the inking board and tools using just a couple of squirts of zest spray in the brown spray bottle. This will dilute the ink and allow you to wipe cleaning using tissue.
4. Use the zest spray to wipe everything until it is spotless.
5. Place all tools and cleaning equipment back to its correct place and that’s it, you’re done!