3D Printing the Woodburytype — Plastic Printing the Plate or Gel Printing the Image?

The Woodburytype process is one of the only printing processes capable of producing continuous tone. It is a 2.5D process that produces a textured relief print from a gelatin-based ink that contains no photo-active element and therefore does not degrade with time. Despite all these advantages, the process is time consuming and requires the use of precision equipment to build the printing plate. We explore the initial insights into using more common additive manufacture technologies in producing both a printing plate and in ink characterization for selective deposition of the viscous gelatin ink itself.