Hi everyone! This past week I learned about a new process called Photoengraving! This process allows you to “develop” a photo onto a metal plate and then ink up the plate to make a print of your photo!
The first thing I had to do was pick a picture I wanted to use. I had a few pretty decent pictures I took of the moon through my telescope, so I used one of those! Then I brought it into photoshop to bring the size to 4 inches by 5 inches, and I added a few “stars” to break up the black space around the moon. It was then printed onto translucent paper, and was placed ink side down onto a metal plate, and exposed to strong UV light for about a minute. After that process was complete, I developed the plate in room temperature water by rubbing a soft brush over the top of the plate. I did this for about 3 minutes. After that was completed, the plate had to be hardened by being exposed to more UV light, this time at a longer exposure. Once that was done, it was ready to print! It took me a few failed prints to get it right, but I finally got it looking like how I imagined it! 
The process sounded simple at first, but I had never developed photos before (these processes are closely related) and I messed up on my first plate, no worries though! I found out what I did wrong, and fixed it for the next plate! It definitely takes getting used to if you aren’t used to working with developing film! I can’t wait to make more moon prints this week!!
