Etching & Embossing Induction

At the beginning of or induction we were given a brief overview of some key things to remember when embossing and etching. 

• Don't use material which is too thick. The paper will not sink into something which is too thick
• Images must be silhouettes to etch properly
• Lettering - serifs tend to fall out/off. Sans serif fonts are preferred, no smaller than 12pt
• The etching takes 7 hours to develop, this timeline must be kept very carefully because it can over etch and not work for printing or embossing
• What we are wanting to emboss must be softer than the material with the etching on (copper or wood etc)
• Avoid card and tiny designs
• If we want the lettering to be coloured and the background white it is very difficult - steer clear
• If we want to emboss then copper etching is best
• If we want to deboss/indent laser cut is best
• If we do not want the paper to have the marks from the embossing plate visible we must use copper plate which is significantly bigger than our design

although its possible to etch the negative space out of a copper plate, this is not recommended as it is a waste of copper and does not always produce the most effective results. Its probably best to do this using a laser cutter.

Below is an example of an etched copper plate

Preparing the copper plate

Step 1: Sand down the top surface to ensure it as smooth as possible

Step 2: rinse the dust off the plate & dry off

Place the design & copper plate onto the UV bed for exposure

Create a solution with water at around 18degrees

Peel the blue layer off the plate and then place the plate into the warm solution to allow for it to develop. Using a sponge, repeatedly wipe down the plate with pauses in between. Once the solution has been fully removed, blot the copper plate using newsprint paper.