When sending his plates, then, to be bitten, he should send a well-printed platinotype print with them, a print having just the effect he wishes for in the copper-plate. If clouds are to be introduced, the cloud negative should be sent as well. He will in due time receive a proof, which he must go carefully over, making any notes on the margin as to re-biting, etc. If it be retouched or utterly bad, it must be rejected. Of course, it is here evident that his art knowledge will come in, for if ignorant of art, how can he make remarks to the "biters" who are often artists? He must continue asking for proofs until he receives a satisfactory one, for no plate can be forced upon him if he can prove it to be wrong. If' he have real grounds for objection, he will find the English firms most generous, for they take a pride in their work. They have, in some cases, made as many as three plates from a subject for us, with no extra charge, and this we could never get a French firm to do. When he approves of the plate, he signs the proof to that effect. Then comes the great question of "colour," that is the coloured ink to be used; for one of the great advantages in photo-etching lies in the number of colours and shades of colours which can be used. Here, again, his artistic knowledge comes in, and he will find the effects produced by different colours are marvellous. Having, then, suggested his colour and tint, he will receive proofs printed in them, and he finally decides upon the tint suitable for each plate, and these are kept as standards on a file. The matter of printing papers, too, offers great variety and scope for artistic selection; but here the student will find he has not a free hand, the publisher often limiting his choice in that on financial grounds. The student must see, however, that if India paper be used, an unsuitable tint be not selected. For example, India paper may be yellow or white, obviously then, if the plate is to be printed in bartolozzi red, white India must be used, and not the ordinary yellow-tinted India. The student must be careful when sending his platinotype print, to cut it exactly to the limits he wants the picture on copper. Copper-plates can be produced in this way from prints in cases where the negative has been broken. If the sky is not an important part of the picture, it is better to have it a flat grey tint, or delicately gradated. The student, of course, remembering certain physical truths,as,for example,that still water is, as a rule, lower in tone than the sky which it reflects, etc. The best test of relative value of sky and water is to turn the picture upside down. All these subtleties must be carefully considered, for a sky lower in tone than the still water reflecting it, would, with rare exceptions, be a fatal artistic error, and enough to condemn the plate. The details which thus go to make or mar a picture are countless.

W. L. Colls On Photo-Etching

This, then, is our experience of the photo-mechanica processes, and, as we make it a rule never to write on anything we have not full practical knowledge of, we have asked our friend, Mr. Colls, to write us some particulars of these processes. We have done this because there are certain misleading books in the market on the subject; written by men without such special knowledge as can only be obtained by a man who has worked at the process for years and at nothing else, and who is, in addition, an artist. Mr. Colls is both a specialist and an artist in this work. In our opinion the future artists who practise photography will also photo-etch their own plates, which is greatly to be desired, but since these processes are at present kept very secret, this knowledge cannot now be acquired. Nevertheless, we feel that the day is not far distant when every artist who expresses himself by photography will also bite his own plates and make his own blocks, and the prints will be published by print-dealers as etchings are now. This, in our opinion, is the only method which can give full artistic satisfaction. A final important consideration is the number of good prints which can be pulled from each plate. Dawson's plates, being bitten deeper, will obviously stand more wear and tear than the others, and will produce a greater number of good impressions. Mr. Colls thinks that at least 3000 good impressions can be pulled from each plate, if the steel-facing will last. We append Mr. Colls' remarks: -

Methods Of Reproducing Negatives From Nature For The Copper-Plate Press

Preamble

"In giving a description of the various methods that are employed for reproducing photographs from nature for the copper-plate press, it is obvious that only those which are purely 'automatic' meed be mentioned, as it is impossible to give a true rendering of those beautiful forms and delicate gradations of tone, which we see in nature, by any but automatic means. For so ever-varying and sudden are her changes, that it is by photography alone we are able to secure these effects, and having obtained them, we require a process which will give us our impressions, and one which will harmonize with printed matter when required for book illustration.

"This we have in the Intaglio plate, which gives the most perfect tonality, and possesses all the richness and quality of a mezzotint plate, with the same degree of permanency.