My first printrun

Wasted foil from being set up wrong.

On Monday I decided that I would try and get the rollers working. Two of them worked but not the one that rolled the foil back onto another roll after going through the press. After a bit of tinkering, I found that there was a gauge on the side and the main roller was locked in tight. I undid it and it worked. So I set up the roll of foil underneath the platen and then push the foil through what I thought was the appropriate avenues of the roller. It didn't go any where. After much frustration, I had to ask my husband who then explained that the foil has to go behind the big roller and the come back around the small roller underneath it to then hook onto the back.

So this is my first print which was just so exciting. As I hadn't yet worked out the heating element on my platen, the first print didn't even print on the page. Just an impression. I started to pack behind my tympan sheet and it was okay. But as you can see, only one side was very strong with foil. So I pushed the impression up to 5 on the guage. Wow! it came out really strong. But as I printed more I realised that it was starting to bleed on the image. I wasn't happy. But I started to get the hang of adjusting the impression and packing with butcher's paper (newsprint) to create a better print.

But I did learn:

• you need to have impression bar up for the rollers work and move the foil along
• that you need to adjust the suckers and air whenever you change the paper.
• and its best to heat up the platen to its full potential before you start printing.

So next up is printing different coloured foil on top of each other and printing on cardboard.

Locking up my Heidelberg Windmill

Learning to operate a printing press is not an easy job. I had ordered my metal plates with my business card design which has three colours of gold, black and royal purple. There is also an embossing plate of the Pritee Penee 'P' logo.  I was ready to print, or so I thought I was.

The platen jammed shut

As you can see it is jammed shut after I was trying to run the impression. The impression helps run the rollers that moves the foil. I had put the impression on the highest setting of 25 and had the platen close to shut. when I turned on the machine the platen clunked and totally locked up. Nothing I could do would budge the impression or the platen. Eventually I had to ask my hubby to use his muscles to jiggle and push the flywheel. He has a brilliant mind understanding machinery. This information was found on a brilliant site called Briar Press. 

So what did I actually learn from this. 

• Don't put the impression on the highest possible number just because you think that is best.
• Don't pull the impression handle, have a closed platen and then start the machine.
• Trouble shoot with someone else before you throw your hands up! The web, ex-printers and engineers are a great resource.

My Heidelberg GTP is unusual. It only foils, diecuts and embosses and doesn't use ink. It's known as a special cutter and creaser.
So even the impression handle does not have a red ball or black ball on the end of it like other Heidelberg Windmills.It is very hard to find information but hopefully as I learn I can help someone who

Impression handle on GTP

wants to use a Heidelberg GTP.


Next step is to get the foil to print onto card or paper. 

My Butterfly Hearts Wedding Design on Minted.

Vote for my design on minted.™ see more from Pritee Penee vote for me! Check out my competition in Christmas cards and Save the Date cards at Minted.

As a designer, it is always hard to design for people I don't have a brief from, so I thought I would enter my design through the minted competition. Please feel free to comment on how I can make my design better. I have already uploaded one design and hope to have my second design up in then next couple of days.

Papercuts

In the last month, I have been doing paper cutouts as I like to call them. I got the opportunity to do some for HJ Gillespie who was creating an exhibition called Chinese Takeaway. Hayley and I have known each other for a while but had never worked together as artists. She allowed me to create borders without limitations. 


I knew the Chinese culture very well and have a Chinese husband. I tried to use rounded circles as the Chinese symbols and designs are centred around this. As you can see I also cut out flowers with branches.

Then I got courageous and wondered what it would look like if the edging would tell a story as well as what Hayley had painted. There were supposed to be five stars for the southern cross but I got a bit too vigourous with the eraser when I was erasing out the pencil marks. I also umed and aahed about the lattice work on the boat and in the end intuition made me do it. Below is the finished painting of my friend Hayley, the amazing artist. The exhibitions was called 'Chinese Takeaway' and the location of the artwork is in the As You See It Hair Gallery. How cool is that! Going to a hair salon that displays an artist each month with the fabulous artwork.

Here is a flower that I cut out of the water colour paper that was left over.

Now have a look at what Hayley did to it.

And this one shows utensils of a Chinese cook. You can just make out my cutouts of a teapot, wok and cleaver.

The Heidelberg machine.

I have set my set myself up as a sole trader but wanted to call my business Pritee Penee. I have purchased my ABN for three years. So, I am going to be around for three years at least.

Finally after researching and finding a supplier I have found the heidelberg machine that I wanted. It is coming all the way from New Zealand from a company called APM (New Zealand) Ltd. I am so excited because I was recently involved with another supplier of used printing machines who didn't have a heidelberg with the size of 15in x 18 in. The bottom line though was that he stopped emailing me or returning my phone calls. Bad business practice! I think people will stay with you if you are honest about what has happened. But I was determined to find a machine that could do what I wanted.

To be honest, I don't know how to use the machine, but I am eager to give it a go. I suppose it's like anything, jump in and learn from your mistakes. Many a time as a graphic designer I have wanted to achieve an effect or learn a new software program with no one to teach me. The internet is great as often someone has done it before. I am self taught on all my software programs. Enough said this is going to be trial and error. I have started designing wedding invitations and will post them up when I have produced a sample.