Thursday, November 4, 2010

Continuous tone lithography - the Collotype process

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9 comments:

  1. Is there anyone using this process today?

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  2. Yes, but it will take some research and six degrees of separation luck:

    Benrido Printing in Japan

    The Lichtdruck Museum in Germany
    Lichtdruck
    Bärensteiner Straße 30
    D - 01277 Dresden
    Tel: 49 (0)351 / 318 70 - 51

    (http://lichtdrucke.com/my_html/e_home.htm)

    Try getting in touch with Michael Intrator: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/michael-intrator/9/250/96b He used to own Black Box Collotype in Chicago and is/was a pioneer in Collotype and exotic halftone screening methods. He might be might be able to be contacted through:
    Jannes Fine Arts LLC
    4850 W Belmont Avenue
    Chicago, IL Metro Area
    Phone: (773) 282-2247

    But you'll have better luck finding a printer that does 10 micron FM which provides virtually the same degree of image reproduction fidelity.

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  4. Black Box is long gone, Nick Jannes. the former owner has passed away.
    Amazing printing was done there, we did everything from limited edition Ansel Adams/Rauschenberg to posters for Sears. It was not uncommon to put 10 or 12 colors down on a job, on 1 color presses with no proofing system! The collotype presses were donated to the University of Arizona, they were 44" x 64" rotary direct monsters from the 1890's, the only presses of their type to have automatic feeders installed on them.

    We also experimented with screenless lithography by exposing heavily grained diazo plates with continuous tone positives, the scale was short but we made it work, the process died when the plate manufacturing line shut down at Howson Algraphy. This process was later used on web presses at Case Hoyt in Rochester by Anson Hawsley. They even used it to print an Audubon magazine cover.

    Printing used to be more fun in those days!

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  5. Gary, although sad news, thank you so much for the update.

    I met with Michael Intrator (Creative Director/Technical Director of Black Box). when he would come to the Creo booth at the various GraphExpo print trade shows in Chicago. That's where we would show examples of what we were doing with halftone screening - especially Staccato 10 micron - and he would bring samples of what he was doing and we'd pass a bit of time chinwagging about print quality. I used to bring samples of my antique books printed with the collotype process to engineer meetings at Creo. The quality of that print process was one of the inspirations for Staccato FM screening.

    When I knew Michael, Black Box was at 4840 West Belmont Ave. In Chicago. They then moved to 4850 when their building was demolished to make way for a bank. Then the company moved to Plate Drive.

    Their's is a story that should have been documented for the quality of work they produced and as the last North American printer using this beautiful but brutally challenging printing method.

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  6. Gordon, I am not dead yet, even though some of you out there have written me off. I don't go down that easy. I have a few surprises for your blog to come, I will keep you posted.
    My philosophy is (Stick and stay and make it pay)
    I am extremely busy, and working steadily to make the process of the future a reality. (DC) I will explain it later. Michael Intrator

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  7. Michael Intrator is, has been and will always be the most creative thinker in the printing business...period. When people talk of "thinking outside the Box" it is Michael who says "Who needs the Box?".Remarkable individual.

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  8. Just stumbled across this site/blog. While packing up to move I ran across two Brian Davis autographed posters from 1981 printed using the collotype process. My brother, who was a relatively well known Canadian typographer and book designer brought them back from a Chicago trade show some 30 years ago. Do they have any value or is there any interest in them by anyone?
    Greg Goluska

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  9. Judging by the auctions that I attend, art prints, limited edition giclees, et. al. have virtually no resale value.

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