More Than Identifying with an ID Chart

-The complexity of an offset lithography object

Lin, Ju Ying, Potography Specialisation, UvA, Dec. ,2022

Object Record
Title: A street view at the intersection in Koningsplein with
two citizens standing under a stop sign.
Process: Offset lithography (Image) and letterpress (letters
beneath)
Maker: N.V. Vereenigde Fotobureaux
Date of making: Unknown
Date of photography: 1935 ca.
Size:
With Frame/ Without Frame/
Length: 533 mm Length:482mm
Width: 359mm Width:332mm
Mounting: mounted in a wooden frame and may adhered
on a fiberboard

Fig.1 Upper left: Detail of the stop sign shows dots with clear edges (0,8x).
Bottom left: Detail of the letters, 0.8x. Obove: The front of the object taken
under visible light. Photo: Ju Ying Lin.

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Fig.2 The back taken under
visible light. Photo: Ju Ying Lin.

Description:
The monochrome print shows a street view at the intersec-
tion of Koningsplein and Single, facing towards Herengracht.
In the centre of the image stands a streetlight in art-de-
co style, and a stop sign sits next to it. There are two men
standing under the sign. Cars, trucks, and trams were also
captured in the image.

The image has a wide tone range, however, the contrast is

low. The focus of buildings in the middle and long distance
of the image is less sharp than that of in the front. Moreover,
a strip formed by a lighter tone and less focus area to the
image right is discernible.

Regarding the mounting, the print has a wooden frame and

is adhered to a fiberboard. Two pieces of wood were stitched
together at the lower edge. A piece of paper was glued
on the fiberboard at the back. Two picture hangers were
screwed at the top of the backside of the object, and each
had a straight line which may draw by pencil to mark the po-
sition of the hangers. The halftone print, the frame, the fiber-
wood, and the paper glued on the back tightly adhered into
one work.

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Fig.3 The diagram shows what
comprises an offsetpres. Firstly,
the plate will be dampen by wa-
ter, inked, and then transfer the
inked image on the paper through
the rubber blanket inserted into
the offset cylinder. From: Gary R.
Brannon, An introduction to photo-
mechanical techniques in cartogra-
phy, Waterloo 1986.
An Overview of Offset Lithographyy
The process of making an offset lithography print consists
of several steps, however, what makes it different from oth-
er photomechanical printing processes are the below three
elements: the evolutionary halftone screen, metal plate and
rubber blanket installed in sheet-fed equipment.
An offset press has three main cylinders: one is the plate
cylinder where the metal plate is inserted, another is the
offset cylinder where the rubber blanket is, and the other is
the impression cylinder which transports the paper. To make
an offset print, first, an image in continuous tone needs to
be broken into dots in the means of using a halftone screen,
which is placed between the camera lens and the light-sen-
sitive material. Then, a halftone image can be obtained on
the surface of the light-sensitive material by exposure. The
image is then transferred to a grained metal plate, usual-
ly zinc or aluminium. Finally, insert the plate into an offset
press, the inked image would be “offset” from the plate to a
rubber blanket and then to the printing surface.

Fig.5 An offsetpres. The first

Potter press, based on Rubel de-
sign. Ira W. Rubel of Rutherford,
N.J., is the most widely credit-
ed with the invention(1904) of
offset litho press for paper and
Potter Printing Press Co. was
the manufacturer building the
equipment. From: Patricia Don-
nelly eds., 75 years of lithogra-
phy:1882-1957, U.S. 1957.

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 What is a halftone screen and how does it work?

The basic idea of making a halftone screen is to seal two sin-

gle-line screens ruled on glass together, face to face, so the
lines are at the right angle to each other. The lines are first
to cut into the glass with a diamond cutter and etched to the
desired depth. The greater the number of lines per inch, the
better the resolution of the image produced, and thus, the
greater its details and the more complete the illusion of a
continuous tonal range.

Fig.6 The diagrams show the The screen breaks up the continuous-tone gradation of the
relatiobship between the contin-
uous image(the image you want original image into uniformly spaced dots of various sizes.
to copy), the lens, the halftone When the light coming through the lens strikes the halftone
screen, and the light-sensitive ma- screen, the light either passes through the clear portions of
terial (where the hlaftone image
the screen, or it is absorbed by the opaque portions. In order
place). Upper from: Dusan C. Stu-
lik and Art Kaplan, The Atlas of An- to form a high-quality image, a certain distance must be kept
alytical Signatures of Photography between the screen and the light-sensitive material.
Process” Halftone”. Below from:
Erwin Jaffe, Halftone photography
for offset lithography, Pittsburgh
1964.

Fig.7 On the left is a rectangular

glass halftone screen and it is used
for black and white continuous tone
image; on the reight is a circular one,
which is used for colour work. The
circular screen is set into a frame so
that it can be rotated to change the
screen angle for colour-separation.
From: Erwin Jaffe, Halftone photogra-
phy for offset lithography, Pittsburgh
1964.
Fig.8 The four images
present the difference
effect in resolution with
four ruling ratio. From left
to right are 60, 85,100,
and 120 lines. From: Louis
Walton Sipley, The photo-
mechanical halftone, Phil-
adelphia 1958.

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 Plate preparation
Zinc and aluminium plate are most widely used in offset li-
thography. The grained plates need to be coated, exposed,
developed, and etched to make the image area ink recep-
tive while the non-image areas are water receptive. Then, it
is ready for printing.

There are two different plate-making processes based on

what type of coating solution is used. One is the albumin
process, and the other is the deep-etch process which ap-
plies gum arabic as a coating solution. In the case of the
albumin plate, the light-hardened colloid forms the printing
image; in that of a deep-etch plate, the light-hardened col-
loid forms a stencil which surrounds the image.
Fig.9 Upper left: Zinc metal
with “Standard“ 0 grain (50x).
Upper right: Zinc metal plate
grained for small presses.
Below: Showing the relation-
ships between “Standard “ 000
grain and a 150 line screen
(50x). From: Louis Walton Sip-
ley, Offset Plate Making : Albu-
min Process, New York 1945.

Fig.10 Pouring coating on a plate on a whirler. From: Louis

Walton Sipley, Offset Plate Making : Albumin Process, New
York 1945.

Why is a rubber blanket necessary?

By offsetting the image from the rubber blanket to paper,

less pressure is received by paper than printed directly by
the method. As the rubber impresses the ink most delicately
to the paper which is similar to the fleshy pad of the human
finger, there is less stretching and distortion of paper during
printing and less risk of creasing and overlapping.

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Fig.10 The description on
the print indicated the year
of the imgae taken and the
trademark. Photo: Ju Ying Lin.
Fig.11 Below left: N.V. Ver-
eeniged Fotobureaux’ sig-
nature/stamp is on the back
of their work, stated "COPY-
R I G H T: N . V. V E R E E N I G E D
FOTOBUREAUX AMSTERDAM
". Object resource: University
of Amsterdam. Photo: Ju Ying
Lin. Right: Photo taken by N.V.
Vereeniged Fotobureaux in
1935. From: Amsterdam City
Archive Image Bank.
Object Biography
The exact year when the print was made into offset lithog-
raphy is still unknown, however, what can be sure of is that
the photo of the print was surely taken around 1935. There
are two reasons to support the idea. One is the indication,”
Koningsplein 1935”, shown at the bottom right of the print.
The other is a photograph, found in the image bank of Am-
sterdam City Archives, which has the same” stop” sign and
was taken at Koningsplein in 1935 as well. The finding can
also lead us to the possible photographer, which is a photo
agency based in Amsterdam, called N.V. Vereeniged Fotobu-
reaux .
N.V. Vereeniged Fotobureaux consisted of various press pho-
tographers and was active from 1915 to 1941. They captured
things that happened in Amsterdam, from people’s daily
work lives to the city’s special events, from family photos
to city views. The publisher who made the print could be a
company that had a trade number 8, as “UITGAVE® RADE-
MAKER NR.8 ” is shown at the bottom left of the print.
When making a halftone image, different types of halftone
screens were used based on the colour tone of the works
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 you want to reproduce. In this case, with a black-and-white
continuous tone photograph, a rectangular, crossline screen
would be employed in making a halftone negative (for the
albumin plate) or positive (for the deep-etch plate). There is
a strong possibility for applying an enlargement during the
process can be raised due to the size of the image.

Some equipment or human error may have occurred during

the photographic process or halftone photographic process.
This is because an out-of-focus area in the middle-distance
image and a fading strip on the right side of the image can
be detected. The former may be caused by shallow depth
of field and foggy weather which could blur the image. The
latter, however, is yet to be clarified. The uneven coating
is less likely to lead to fading because the whirler is ap-
plied when pouring the coating solution on the plate and it
should produce sufficiently uniform thickness coating.

Fig.12 Above left and right:

Advertisments of camreas for
photo-lithography and off-
setpres in early 20th century.
Both from: Warren C. Browne,
Offset lithography , New York
1917. Below left: A overhead
camera. From: Patricia Don-
nelly eds., 75 years of lithogra-
phy:1882-1957, U.S. 1957.

8
Lens flare could be a possible equipment error in the half-
tone photographic process. With extra unwanted light re-
flecting within the lens, the flare gives the effect of a small
fogging exposure, causing a loss in contrast in the shadow
areas of halftone negatives, or a flattening of detail in posi-
tives. However, the exact reason could only be made sure of
by undertaking several experiments.

Condition
Overall Condition

Overall, the object is stable due to no sign of any active

agent. However, acidification caused by the mounting fiber-
board and paper itself could deteriorate the image in a long
run. An overall discolouration and water damage on the sur-
face can be observed. Also, there is some physical damage
to the front and back sides of the object. The print does not
have a smooth surface and this can be recognized under
raking light.

Condition

a.Physical damage

i. Image Loss:
Skinning, shallow scratches, and abrasions can be seen on
the surface. Some are in moderate degree as the mounted
board directly reveals; some are in minor degree as the im-
age itself was slightly peeled off and the paper fibres came
loose from the surface. A moderate degree of medium loss-
es at the back can be examined as well. These may be given
rise to inappropriate handling, heavy use, or improper stor-
age.

ii. Dirt/Dust:
The dust has accumulated on the surface, particularly at the
corners and areas between the frame and the print. Trapped

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 dust is concentrated on the right side of the print and this
may indicate inappropriate storage. For example, the print
may be placed with the image at the right angle to the
floor, accumulating dust only in certain areas. Dust clean-
ing should be considered a first priority since it could cre-
ate a stimulating environment for insect or pests, and this
will lead to biological damage. However, the possibility of
scratching off part of the surface should take into consider-
ation when removing dust from the surface.

Some tiny black adhesion glue residues were attached to

the surface and a slight amount of dirt was embedded in
the image surface, mostly at the top of the print. And this
may indicate improper storage or use because the brown
line formed by ingrained dirt at the top could be associated
with attaching to other objects.

Fig.12 Above image: A

slight degree in medium
loss can be seen on the
surface(0,8x). Second
image Some black resi-
due sat on the right of
the print seem glue on
the image surface(0,8x).
The right image
shows a distribution of
image loss in red. Photo:
Ju Ying Lin.

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Fig.13 A brown ingrained dirt sitted on the top right of the print can be seen on the
left image(0,8x). The above image shows a distribution of dirt/dust on the image surface
marked in magenta. Photo: Ju Ying Lin.

Fig.14 The distribution of scratch marked in green. Photo: Ju Ying Lin.

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b.Chemical damage

i. Discolouration/Yellowing:

The image has an overall yellowing, and a discolouration

sits along the edges of the paper at the back (from out-
side to inside). Several reasons can cause discolouration.
One could be the oxidation of cellulose where the chemical
bond between the hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon atoms
was rearranged by emitting or absorbing visible light. An-
other reason could be the acidification of paper and mount-
ing fibreboard. Paper manufactured after the 20th century
uses heavy chemistry and this could discolour paper. Disco-
louration could also cause by environmental factors such as
smoke.

c.Water damage

An overall water stain distributes on the surface. Part of the

stains make these areas lighter in colour and cause tideline
along the edges of the stains. Tideline stains, much rec-
ognised as mechanically activated degradation, are created
from the movement and deposition of coloured particles,
either dissolving polar (migratable) particles or pushing for-
ward apolar particles. However, certain chemical reactions,
particularly oxidation, may occur at some tidelines edges.

Very high mechanical stresses are known to be capable of

breaking cellulose chain. Some examination has indicated
that the wet-dry interface at the leading edge of liquid wa-
ter absorption could possibly concentrate the stresses to a
very high level, causing oxidation. (Banik and Bruckle, 2011)
Oxidation at the tideline could thus lead to localized disc-
olouration as well from coloured material newly created at
that line.

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 Fig.15 Above: A overall water stain can be ob-
served on the image surface. Left: A clear tideline
was formed at the edge of water stain (0,8x). Pho-
to: Ju Ying Lin.

The Historical Context Lying in The Object

I envision integrating the object into the permanent exhibi-
tion at the Amsterdam City Archive. In this case, keeping the
display case at around 20⁰c and under a relative humidity
below 60% are recommended for preservation.

The street view image provides a historical context for the ar-
chitecture, the monument, and the fragments of time in the
lives of citizens on the move. Unlike family portraits, which
by their very nature can but showcase those intimate famil-
ial moments that inspire the taking of the photograph in the
first place, street view photography is unique in that involves
the construction of collective memory.

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 Fig.16 Amsterdam, Koningsplein,
1890 - 1920. From: Rijksstudio.

Fig.17 The red arrow indicates

the perspective of all the images
in this page.

Fig.18 Koningsplein, 1913. From: Amsterdam City Ar-

chive Image Bank.
Fig.19 Koningsplein, 1924. From: Ons Amsterdam,
Febuary 1924.

Fig.20 Koningsplein, 1935. Fig.21 Koningsplein, 2022. Photo: Ju Ying Lin.

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 Fig.22 Koningsplein, 1906. From: Ons
Amsterdam, Febuary 1906. Foto uit de
verzameling van J.L.J. Meiners.

Fig.23 The purple arrow indicates the

perspective of all the images in this
page.

Fig.25 Saint Catharinakerk, 1910. From: Am-

sterdam City Archive Image Bank.

Fig.24 Koningsplein, 1912. From: Amsterdam

City Archive Image Bank.

Fig.26 One of the “Vier gezicht-

en op Amsterdam”, 1930. From:
Rijksstudio.

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Koningsplein, where the image was taken, is one of the
most popular tourists’ spots nowadays and a must-see site
for the newcomers during 16th century as well. Saint Cath-
erine’s church, a Roman Catholic church in Koningsplein,
was demolished in 1939 and the university library was built
at the same location in 1966. There are much more local
history waiting to be explored from the image, and by col-
lecting these little pieces, we closely connect ourselves not
only to the past but the place as well. If the object is kept
on the shelf, people will surely lose the opportunity to re-
alise the profound change taking place within the city and
the strong connection with the place they live. Therefore, I
would place the object in a public space where people can
appreciate its beauty.

To me, the print not only register the different tempos and
rhythms of the city but also represent the time through the “
historical trace ” that conservators might recognise as dam-
ages. For the considerable weight they carry in terms of how
long the print has been existed, a minimum intervention is
something I would propose. It is then the object could be
interpreted by the audience as a whole thus leading them
to search for the meaning belongs to themselves.

References
1. Warren C. Browne, Offset lithography : a treatise on print-
ing in the lithographic manner from metal plates on rubber
blanket offset presses : with which is incorporated a compre-
hensive digest on photo-lithography, and also on tinplate
decorating (1917) (New York: The National Lithographer)

2.Joseph W. Mazzaferri, Offset Plate Making : Albumin Pro-

cess (1945) (New York: N.Y. Lithographic technical founda-
tion)

3.Lithographic Technical Foundation, Halftone photogra-

16
phy for offset lithography (1946) (New York: New York Litho-
graphic technical foundation)

4.Lithographic Technical Foundation, Platemaking for offset

lithography : Deep-Etch(1946) (New York: New York Litho-
graphic technical foundation)

5.George W. Jorgensen and Michael H. Bruno, Lithographic

Technical Foundation, The sensitivity of bichromated coatings
used in lithography (1954) (New York: New York Lithographic
Technical Foundation)

6 . Pa t ri c i a D o n n e l l y e d s . , 7 5 y e a r s of l i t h o g r a -
phy:1882-1957(1957) ( S.l. Amalgamated Lithographers of
America)

7.Louis Walton Sipley, The photomechanical halftone (1958)

(Philadelphia: American Museum of Photography)

8.Erwin Jaffe, Halftone photography for offset lithography

(1964) (Pittsburgh: Pa. Graphic Arts Technical Foundation)

9. Gary R. Brannon, An Introduction to Photomechanical

Techniques in Cartography (1986) (Waterloo)

10. Dusan C. Stulik, Art Kaplan, The Atlas of Analytical Signa-

tures of Photography Process” Halftone”, https://www.getty.
edu/conservation/publications_resources/pdf_publications/
pdf/atlas_halftone.pdf, (accessed Nov. 2022)

11. Gerhard Banik and lrene Bruckle, Paper and Water: A

Guide for Conservators(2011)( Elsevier Ltd.)

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