h has been blown
a very finely powdered resin, which is allowed to settle somewhat
before putting in the plate. The plate is allowed to remain in the box
until a fine deposit of resin has settled all over it. It is then
carefully removed and heated over a gas burner until the resin adheres
firmly to the plate. The resin is melted only to such a point that it
forms a fine grain all over the plate, leaving interstices of bare
copper between. The paper, on the gelatine surface of which the
picture is printed, is now placed in a tray of warm water, and the
parts of the image which have had the least exposure are thereby
dissolved and washed away, the image being thus fully developed on the
paper. This is placed in contact with the grained plate, which has
been placed in the tray of water, and firmly squeezed in contact with
the plate. The paper is stripped off, leaving the gelatine film on the
copper. The plate is now removed from the tray and dried, and is then
ready for etching, which is accomplished by placing the plate
successively in several baths of acid of different strengths until the
desired results are obtained. This process gives a shallow plate, of
not great wearing quality, and, as a rule, requires a great deal of
work by the engraver to bring the plate up to anything like the copy.
The light tints come out very soft and smooth, but the black tones
etch "flat" and lose all detail. These blacks must be put in by hand.
The poor wearing qualities of these plates make them undesirable in
cases where a large edition has to be printed.

The next process is the "deposited" plate used by "Goupil" of Paris,
in which copper is deposited by electricity upon a swelled gelatine
film which has had a grain formed upon its surface chemically or
otherwise. The deposition has to be continued until the plate has
acquired the necessary thickness, which takes about three weeks; and
this is a long time to wait in these days, when a publisher usually
expects his order executed in ten days. These plates are practically
hand made. The process gives a plate that could not possibly be used
without a great deal of retouching by an expert engraver. Goupil turns
out a beautiful plate, due principally to his large force of
engravers, one man working on a particular part of the plate, then
passing it on to another who does some other portion, and so on, until
the plate is finished. In this way each engraver becomes exceedingly
skilful in one