Direct-to-Plate Photopolymer Gravure

Direct-to-Plate Photopolymer Gravure

May 25-29, 2026

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Limited to 8

The Soulful Print is how many refer to DTP (Direct-to-Plate) prints. There is something uniquely emotive about DTP gravure prints, a form of alchemy achieved by crushing ink into paper. And because the plate has an emulsion of photopolymers, you can chose to go beyond transferring only your photographic images to the plate. You can let DTP open a whole world of mark-making and composition, allowing you to take your work to new places, or simply produce the soulful prints of your photographs. The remarkable advantages of DTP prints have captured the admiration of critics, curators, exhibit judges, and collectors alike.

Over the past several years, digital printers and drivers have changed rapidly. Keeping DTP up with these changes has at times been challenging, but with challenges come opportunities. Running plates through a straight-path printer, such as Epson, still works wonders on a plate. New approaches to controlling printers offers options for refinements, and it all still works. Once you grasp the technique, DTP transforms into a vibrant artistic journey. It is not only more direct but also significantly faster than traditional copper gravure, all while avoiding the toxic mess ferric chloride in copperplate gravure.

DTP produces gravure-quality prints from UV-sensitive plates without the cumbersome equipment requirements of a vacuum or contact frame, transparency films, screens, or carbon tissue, completely eliminating the need for multiple baths of ferric chloride. Gone are the days of the tedious cycle of masking, etching, re-etching, deoxidizing the plate and doing it again; the rinse-and-repeat routine. Whether you started from film, paper, or digital, with digital imaging, you can unleash your creativity, enhancing your content, allowing anything you envision to grace the plate: drawings, photos, text, collage elements – if it can be digitized, it can become part of your masterpiece.

Utilizing a range of Epson inkjet printers, you can effortlessly print your image directly onto a plate’s emulsion before exposure. No special inks are required; Epson’s OEM pigment inks, Cone inks, and other aftermarket options work beautifully. Even some of the latest artist-grade dye-based inks may yield fantastic results.

Thanks to direct-to-plate technology, you can now expose your work directly under the sun, as well as under UV fluorescent or UV LED lights and point light sources, achieving remarkable effects. The results are consistently reliable and repeatable, far surpassing those based on transparencies. All this adds up to a process that is creatively dialectic; it gets to the printing stage much sooner and with fewer expensive plate-making catastrophes.

This innovative process fosters a creatively dialectic experience, allowing you to reach the printing stage much sooner and with fewer costly plate-making mishaps. Transitioning to the art-making process becomes more energizing, enabling you to refine and experiment with your work, ultimately enhancing your artistic interpretation.

The journey of printmaking is not just about the final piece but the exploration and discovery that happens along the way. Each modification of ink, each adjustment of the plate, and each moment spent in the studio contributes to a deeper understanding of your artistic voice. Embrace the unexpected outcomes that arise from exploring your work, as they often lead to the most profound revelations in your work. Join us in our workshops where we foster a supportive environment for creativity and innovation, allowing you to push the boundaries of your artistic practice while ensuring safety and sustainability in your methods.

Gallery of Direct to Plate prints here.

For a short history and explanation of photopolymer gravure plus additional examples please visit here.

Don Messec is an artist/printmaker/photographer who highly values the print. His skills have been honed over decades through printing his own work, managing other master printers on projects and direct collaborations with luminaries such as Clyde Butcher, Robert Stivers, Gregory Kondos, Ricardo Mazal, and many others.

Making Art Safely is Don Messec’s latest endeavor, spanning over 30 years of introducing innovative thinking, technology, and materials to artists who do not want to “die for their art.” Don’s MFA is from UIUC, and he began his printmaking experience at Bob Blackburn’s Printmaking Workshop in NYC in the 1980s. Sounds so long ago. Don Messec was the founding director of the Printmaking Center for Safe and Non-toxic Printmaking, a world-leading academic-studio unit in research and development, cultivation, and education toward safer printmaking for artists and art instructors. Now, transitioned into MakingArtSafely, where the importance of works on paper continues to be promoted and developed.

Workshop Itinerary

• Monday morning begins with students arriving at the studio between 9:30-10 AM.
• Daily instruction is 10 AM to 4 PM with the studio open to students between 9:30 AM and 7 PM. Exception is Friday when the workshop ends at 4 PM.
• Bring a lunch everyday except Wednesday, when we go out Dutch for a late lunch. COVID dependent.
• If opportunity and conditions collide we may get to add a photo excursion.