Step 5 of the process
Print the block
By hand, thin smooth paper and firm overlapping pressure give the most even print. Heavy cotton paper usually needs a press. Lift one corner to check before peeling, and change one thing at a time when a print comes out patchy.
- Paper by hand
- thin and smooth, roughly 40 to 160 gsm
- Paper on a press
- roughly 170 to 300 gsm
Lay the paper onto the inked block, or the block onto fabric, and do not let it shift. By hand, rub the back of the paper with a baren or the bowl of a wooden spoon in small overlapping circles, working out from the middle and over every edge. Hold the sheet down, lift one corner to check, and keep rubbing where it is pale. Printing without a press compares the hand methods.
Paper decides how hard this is. Thin, smooth paper picks up ink under hand pressure, while heavy printmaking paper is made for a press. One supplier guide puts hand burnishing at about 40 to 160 gsm and press printing at about 170 to 300 gsm. See paper for lino printing, barens and small presses.
If prints stay speckled, blotchy or filled in, the cause is almost always the amount of ink, the pressure or the paper, and why a lino print is patchy sorts them out. Fabric follows the same steps on a padded surface, see how to block print on fabric. A batch of cards is a good first run: linocut Christmas cards.
Ready to move on when: The print is evenly inked from edge to edge, the lines are open, and two prints in a row look the same.
Common mistakes at this stage
- Letting the paper slide while burnishing, which doubles the edges.
- Printing heavy cotton paper by hand and blaming the ink.
- Adding more ink when the real problem is uneven pressure.