Guides
The cyanotype process: chemistry and safety rules
How the cyanotype process works: the iron chemistry that makes the blue, and the safety and waste rules that actually apply in a home studio.
Archive
August 2026
Reviews
What beginner printing presses need: kit and checks
The core kit for beginner printing presses, from blankets and packing card to feeler gauges, plus the setup checks that keep impressions even.
Reviews
Fitting out a printmaking workspace: what to buy before the first tool arrives
Beginner kit for fitting out a printmaking workspace in 2027: the equipment a print room needs before any hand tools arrive, drying, containment, washing.
Guides
Getting printmaking workspaces right the first time
Realistic plan for printmaking workspaces in 2027: how to lay out a print room in a normal house, wet and dry zones, air movement, drying capacity, floors.
Guides
Carving out room for a linocut project on a shared table
Small-space setup for linocut projects: how to carve, ink and print relief blocks on a table you also eat at, including the pack-down routine and the eye protection.
Guides
Home printmaking: signal versus noise as of 2027
Home printmaking in 2027 means sorting genuine studio upgrades from market noise, then carving, proofing and drying a small edition on a press.
Guides
A weekend audit of your printmaking supplies shelf
A weekend plan for emptying, grouping, testing and labeling printmaking supplies, ending with a swatch book and a disposal decision for every container.
Industry
What a printmaking press costs to buy, move, site and run
A practical breakdown of what a printmaking press costs to buy, move, site and run, with figures for rigging, blankets, servicing, ink, paper and studio time.
Maintenance
Habits that quietly wreck a beginner printing press
The habits that damage a studio press or its owner: leaving it under load, adjusting while it moves, and getting used to solvent fumes at the bench.
Reviews
Work surfaces compared for a beginner printing press setup
Choosing and arranging the surfaces around a press: the stand it sits on, the feed and receive tables, and the clean bench a damp sheet needs.
Reviews
Printmaking workspace surfaces: solvent resistance versus flatness
Best work surfaces for a printmaking workspace: comparing bench tops for a print room on solvent resistance, flatness, repairability and cost.
Reviews
Beginner printing presses: first principles
The four press families a beginner actually chooses between, the five specifications that decide fit, and how to judge guarding on a secondhand machine.
Guides
Home Printmaking Guide: Which Processes Fit a Home Studio
Relief printing and cyanotype fit an ordinary home; etching, dichromate processes and sprays need a ventilated shop. Read the safety data sheet first.
Reviews
Home printmaking, tested against experience
Gouges, brayers, barens and bench hooks compared on the details that matter to a first-time buyer, with the marketing claims that mean nothing.
Industry
5 lessons worth learning about linocut project ideas
How independent relief printmakers choose projects, build a recognizable body of work, and handle the naming and rights questions that come with selling.
Reviews
Printing press materials: blankets, plates and paper explained
How to choose materials: choosing blankets, packing, plates and papers for a studio press, plus the lead and solvent hazards that arrive with secondhand letterpress.
Reviews
Sealing, shelving and containment: choosing printmaking workspace materials
How to choose: choosing floor seals, shelving, containment and consumables for a print room, plus how to read waste rules and green marketing claims accurately.
Guides
Home printmaking documentation: photographing, mounting, captioning and numbering an edition
A copy photography setup for prints made at home, plus how to hinge, mat, caption and number an edition so the record outlives the print itself.
Guides
Photographing printmaking supplies for listings and inventory
Photograph printmaking supplies for inventory and sale listings with repeatable lighting, labeled swatches, honest condition shots, and organized files.
Costs
Pricing linocut prints: cost per copy and how to read supply bundles
A 20 print linocut edition priced line by line, with materials per copy, burn rate tracking in grams and sheets, and a price test for supply bundles and free gifts.
Reviews
Home printmaking: storing materials and prints
Home printmaking storage: caring for paper, enclosures, ink, blocks, tools, solvents, and finished prints in a household studio.
Reviews
Printmaking Supplies: Date Labels and Stock Rotation
A practical routine for printmaking supplies: mark received and opened dates, rotate older stock forward, store film flat, and keep spent baths separate.
Industry
Judging a linocut class: where project ideas fit
A checklist for a linocut class or open-access studio: induction, safety, waste handling, tutor questions, and where your linocut project ideas fit.
Reviews
Scales versus timers: printmaking measuring tools compared
Scales and timers compared for printmaking: which named models suit first-time buyers, what each measures, and where the money is best spent.
Industry
Layout lessons: what a printmaking workspace looks like after year one
The changes experienced printmakers say they made after their first year in a room, from waste routines to the shelf they wish they had never built.
Maintenance
Printmaking workspaces: power, paper and water
Printmaking workspaces are easier to use when power stays out of wet zones, paper stays off cold walls, and a water-damage plan is ready.
Features
Six printmaking exercises that each test one variable at home
Six one-variable exercises for home printmaking, each changing one thing at a time, with a recording method and a schedule for repeating them.
Features
Six short projects that build one printmaking skill at a time
Six short projects that each build one material handling skill, from mixing to a target color to sizing paper and degreasing a screen properly.
Features
The linocut shortlist: projects worth cutting before you buy more gear
Eleven linocut projects chosen because each one teaches a different thing, from reduction color to repeat pattern, bound zines and exchange prints.
Costs
An honest review of printmaking supplies
An honest review of printmaking supplies covers named relief, screen and cyanotype materials, what each is for, and where the money goes in a working studio.
Reviews
Get the linocut buying order right before your first cut in 2027
A buying order for relief printing, what a starter kit leaves out, and how to read sale pricing and tool condition claims without overpaying.