Chromolithography

多色石版 / 1830s–1930s / Technique / Planographic Printing

Multicolor printing in which a separate lithographic stone is prepared for each color and the stones are overlaid in exact register. A dozen or more stones built up an intensity like oil paint and sent reproductions, labels, posters and cards into the world in quantity. The popularization of color printing begins here.

Dense color built from a dozen or more stones / Slight misregister between the stones / Flat solids used together with stipple / Border ornament used together with gold

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Dictionary entry

Best used for
Using the sheer number of colors as a sign of richness · Leaving the history of the printing process visible
Type
Treat the decorative display face at the same density as the border ornament.
Composition
Enclose the sheet in a border and set the main image at the center.
Material
Combine thick color from overlaid stones with gold at key points.
Caution
More colors do not make it richer. The order of the stones and the register decide the result.
Further study
The number of stones and the process of registration / The move from stone to metal plates / Its spread into yuefenpai and commercial labels

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