Improving ink coverage on large areas —> Double impression?

Is it feasible to improve ink coverage on large print areas by doing multiple impressions on the same piece of paper?

Would standard platen presses (C&P, heidelberg) be precise / accurate enough to print on the exact same registration so as to get a crisp print (especially for text)?

Thanks

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It is common to “skip-feed”, which inks the forme more than once, while impression is off.

Additional rollers, or rider-rollers are also regularly used to carry more ink to the forme.

I have seen this done many times. Keep in mind, though, that a press is only as good as the person operating it. Hairline registration on small text can be difficult for all but the most experienced printers.

Have you tried solving the problem with double inking the form (skip feeding) or using a rider roller?

Brad.

Hi, thanks for the tips!

“Skip feeding” is new to me. Would just using more ink on the inking plate achieve the same effect as skip feeding? And hence would this possibly result in “over inking” of the form?

Separately, I’ve read that “guides” help improve registration for multiple impressions on the . I’m not sure what these “guides” are. Do the “guides” refer to gauge pins?

Are “rider rollers” just additional rollers to “add-on” to a C&P / equivalent?

Many thanks for the advice.

Skip feeding doesn’t add a thicker layer of ink necessarily, it does insure a more evenly covered inking. I’ve never experienced the ills of over inking with this method, even when triple inking. The extra inkings eliminate any ink starvation due to large forms or inconsistent ink distribution on the rollers.

On a small handpress I default to double inking when printing most forms (unless they are really light and dainty). Triple-inking comes into play quite often as well. Of course, this is much easier to do with a handpress, as you are swinging the arm anyway. Having to throw-off on the jobber after every impression disrupts to flow.

With a large solid you are getting a bigger inked surface and the ink acts as an adhesive. The paper wishes to stay adhered to the form. The grippers prevent this. Still, the paper may pull slightly away from the platen and may not drop back down precisely in the pins. A gentle brush of the piece to the bottom and left is appropriate. This assumes the piece was precisely in the pins for the first impression.
This gives both double inking and double impression.

Hi Sprockett.
I skip feed all the time when I need to. I hand feed a C&P Newstyle with 3 roller coverage. But, I have set them for the lightest cover possible so that I can use Photopolymer plates. So, I take a print impression off for two rolls, then impression on etc. I do this in a routine so that every print has the same coverage and look. I dont deliver to a stack. This means i do 4 or 5 and remove them to a drying rack. I’m very happy with the quality, but I must say that a run of over 50 is raer for me. Also i am often printing linocuts which have solids.

I have heard, never done it, if you print the first press run in red and print black`over it the black covers better on a large area.

But, I am not a fan of printing text twice. Artwork works with over printing as a very small miss-register will not jump out.