The clichés and stamps familiar to office workers are made, as a rule, in special workshops. The same ones that are used in artistic craft are made exclusively by hand for each object.
Instructions
Step 1
To make a print from liquid photopolymer, draw it in a graphics editor. Print the negative on matte film using a laser printer. Features of photographic film: the negative should be contrasting, there should be no "veil" in the light areas.
Step 2
Treat the negative with a special shader to add optical density. If you need to keep the negative, then put a protective and separating film on it. Along its perimeter, stick adhesive border tape at a distance of 3-7 mm from the edges. It will prevent the polymer from spreading.
Step 3
Moisten the negative with a little water (to improve contact with the solid polymer) and place it on the prepared plate made of solid polymer. Pour liquid photopolymer into the resulting "mold" and cover with a transparent film.
Step 4
Place the entire resulting composition in a copy cassette (2 polished glasses with plastic stops at the corners), clamp them with glasses and place in the exposure chamber so that the readable side is at the top. The optimal distance to the cassette from the UV radiation source is considered to be 10-15 cm. The distance is set using the installation design. If the distance is small, the uniformity of the light flux will deteriorate, and this will lead to different cure rates. At a greater distance, the exposure time will increase, and this will reduce the productivity of the installation. The thicker the glass in the cassette, the longer the exposure time.
Step 5
Set the exposure time from UV light source to cassette. After illuminating the first side, flip the cassette negative side down to illuminate the second side. Then disassemble the entire form and carefully remove the negative. Try not to tear off the print elements from the backing.
Step 6
Wash uncured polymer in running water using a brush and detergent. To improve the strength of the cliché, dry it with an industrial hair dryer, then place it again for 15 minutes in the exposure chamber for tanning (final exposure), which will give the printing plate its strength properties. That's it, the print cliché is ready to use.
