Solar Plate – Five Basic Steps
Create an image on a transparent film:
By drawing or painting with opaque or semi-opaque media on transparent film or sandblasted/grained glass
By photocopying an image on to special photocopier transparency film
By computer-generated (or computer-manipulated) images printed on to the special transparent film made for the type of printer used, e.g. inkjet or laser
By getting a print bureau to print a high resolution film from your digital file or even your image
Exposure: This transparency is put image side down on to unexposed photopolymer plate sandwiched in a contact frame (basically, a padded MDF board plus 3mm glass held together with a bulldog-type spring clip). The frame is then taken outside and exposed. (NB As with all photographic methods, the exposure time must first be determined using a small test strip.)
Wash Out: Where UV light reaches the solar plate, the photopolymer hardens. Where opaque areas on the film prevent UV light reaching the plate, the photopolymer remains soft and water-soluble. So, we take the exposed plate and wash out the image using a soft brush and warm water. The image appears after a few minutes.
Drying: The wet plate then has to be dried quickly to prevent watermarks forming. Use a fan heater or hair-
drier.
Post-exposure: The plate needs to be left in the sunlight for about the same time as the original exposure. This ensures that the photopolymer hardens fully.
Summary: the five steps
