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About posters  /  Printing technique               

In our poster's description we use the following terms for the printing technique :

• Stone lithography
• Offset
• Heliography
• Serigraphy
• Other techniques

A stone lithograph printer in 1898

Stone lithography Most of the advertisement posters from the 1870s through to the 1950s were printed by the stone lithography process. The print could have been from one hundred to a few thousands of examples. This hand printed technique is now highly valued in the original poster market for its fine artistic quality. The stone lithographers were true artists, in general staying anonymous. They spent days drawing on lithographic stones and printing one edition on their huge lithograph press, by the following process : Each color was hand drawn on a fine porous stone using lithographic crayons The drawing was fixed to the stone with acid Fresh ink was applied The sheet of paper was pressed on the stone, and in this way one color was printed on the sheet After drying, the process was repeated for the other colors. See example illustrated below the page. Offset   Photographic process : The 3 mains colors and the black are separated on films. Each color is applied by a photographic process on a metallic plate and engraved. From 1935 the offset slowly took the place of the stone lithograph. At the end of the 1950s most of the printers had quit the stone lithograph technique. If the original poster was printed in offset, it could be highly valued because it is the original edition. Heliography An old photographic method of printing generally in gray and white. A few flat colors could be added in some parts of the image. Most of the photographic or photo-montage posters until 1940 were printed by heliography. This technique give them a special charm and posters designed by some masters like the Swiss Herbert Matter or Walter Herdeg are highly valued. Serigraphy or screen printing Each color is transferred on a stretched silk-screen by hand or a photographic process, then printed. This technique was often used from the 1950s until now to print small editions, sometimes with a surprisingly high quality of  ink. Even if this method could be very mechanical, an artistic touch is present. Many beautiful modern original posters are printed using serigraphy. Other techniques With our 30 years of experience in the poster business we are doing our best to determine the technique of printing. And we will describe it as best we can. Nevertheless sometimes the exact method is not clear, it could be a mixture of techniques or an experiment in a small printing workshop etc. In these cases we will describe it as : "other techniques".

The successive steps of the stone lithography printing technique: the "Chauffage Deville"  poster by Jean Carlu, printed in 7 stone lithographic colors, using 7 stones                        1- Yellow                          2 - Orange                          Yellow+Orange           3 - Blue                            Yellow+Orange+Blue           4 - Black                            Yellow+Orange+Blue+Black           5 - Red                              Yellow+Orange+Blue                                          +Black+Red           6 - Brown                          Yellow+Orange+Blue                                          +Black+Red+Brown                7 - Grey                             The complete printed                                           poster in 7 colors The stone lithographers were true artists.

We are selling only vintage original posters, and we guarantee their authenticity Nous vendons seulement des affiches anciennes originales, et nous garantissons leur authenticité Die gesamheit unserer WerbePlakate sind alte Originalplakate, und wir garantieren für ihre Echtheit. Manifesti originali   Antiguos carteles originales