Recommendations for large format A3 scanner to scan 11x14 prints

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Originally Posted by Larry Kellogg

I meant traditional photo books, before digital photography.. I consider copy cameras to also be scanners.

What other process do you have in mind?

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Wrong on three fronts:

A copy scanner is an optical process, not a digital process, and more importantly,

A copy camera is not used for photolithography, the process by which high quality photo books are (were) made,

A copy camera is used to make a conventional negative of a print, if you don't have one available.

Somehow a print is used as the source and is transferred to a plate, no? That's all I was trying to say. If this not true, then my friend is wasting his time producing the final prints for a book, and he's worked on a lot of books.

It would be great if you could explain photolithography in three sentences. :-) The Wikipedia entry is quite long.

Yes, a copy camera creates a negative from artwork when you don't have a negative. Sorry I mentioned that, I was wrong.

Larry you are not mistaken about the use of copy cameras in the offset printing process. Reflective work would be shot on them creating either line work negatives or screened halftone images. Halftones would include B/W, duo-tone and even 4/color separations. The film produced from the camera work would then be assembled into composite film or plating flats that would be used to burn the printing plates.

I remember when we would paste up a page with text and photos adhered to a board (pasteboard) and photograph the whole page with a big process camera on lith film that had the halftone dot pattern built in. Kodak made a big deal out of using elliptical dots so you didn't get a sudden perceived jump in density around 50% when the dots suddenly touched

We still use elliptical dots at work. They help smooth skin tones. I never used the film with preflashed halftone dots.

Thanks Ron, I feel like less of an idiot now. ;-) I mean, I haven't done the old type of printing, but I kind of have the workflow in my head. How does one burn a printing plate?

Along those lines, I've started another thread on printing black and white photographs, and have come to the realization that I can experiment with duotone by using two photopolymer plates, one for black, and one for, say, Pantone 11 Gray. The thread is here: http://www.largeformatphotography.in...y-option/page6

Feel free to join in.

I talked my ideas over with someone at a letterpress place and they said that duotone were not letterpress's strength, but that it can be done, and that it works best for high contrast photographs. Anyway, I'll add more information on the other thread.

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Originally Posted by Larry Kellogg

Thanks Ron, I feel like less of an idiot now. ;-) I mean, I haven't done the old type of printing, but I kind of have the workflow in my head. How does one burn a printing plate?

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In my old graphic arts days, we used NuArc plate burners with metal halide bulbs to burn plates for the offset press. Plate burners were much more intense than the UV exposure boxes used for alternative process work.

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Originally Posted by djdister

In my old graphic arts days, we used NuArc plate burners with metal halide bulbs to burn plates for the offset press. Plate burners were much more intense than the UV exposure boxes used for alternative process work.

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Interesting. So, were the plates made out of metal? How were the plates processed after burning? These days, maybe I can pick up a plate burner for $50, LOL.

It's cool that you worked on a foot operated letterpress. I've operated hand cranked Vandercooks.

Dan is correct about the use of plate burners. Over the years I used several styles of burners from flip top to large step-and-repeat machines that burned plates for the folding carton printers. All of these used either a 5KW UV light source or even in one shop we used old carbon arc lamps.

Most plates are aluminum that I worked with, but there are some plastic and paper plates as well. Processing usually required a plate processor that worked only with a specific type of plate. The basic process is one of developing the image, washing off the removed coating and the coating the plate with gum to seal the surface of the plate. Currently we are using Heidelberg's chem free plates that use no developer in the processor. The gum washes off the coating as well as finishes the plate with gum. These plates, as well as different ones for many years now, are imaged by laser plate setting equipment and in our shop the processor is in line with the plate setter so it is an automated process.

As far as duotones on a letterpress I think the primary problem would be the inks. I don't think that are transparent enough to control the trapping issues involved.
I used a Vandercook press once in a bookmaking workshop. It was fun and reminded me of printmaking classes back in school.
A friend has a 1909 Chandler and Price treddle powered press.

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Originally Posted by Larry Kellogg

Interesting. So, were the plates made out of metal? How were the plates processed after burning? These days, maybe I can pick up a plate burner for $50, LOL.

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We used both metal and paper plates. I can't remember how we processed the plates, other than manually wiping some fluid over the surface of the plates. The metal ones lasted longer, and of course cost more. In High School we never did 4 color offset work because that was too challenging for a bunch of kids, but we did two-color offset jobs for the school.

I thought the letterpress was more fun and created nicer graphics, but we never did photos or halftones on the letterpress, only on the offset press.