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Four Kinds of Beautiful

May 12th, 2010

Close-ups of the four color printing process, courtesy of Half-Man Half-Static.

[via Tom Gauld]

Posted in Comics History, Photography, Process

Discussion¬

  1. Jesse says:
    May 14, 2010 at 11:21 pm

    As a graphic arts student working with late 70’s and early 80’s presses, I’ve had the importance of color registration *ahem* impressed on me on a daily basis. It is an exacting manual process, far removed from today’s push-button technology of computer adjustments. If nothing else I’m finding an incredible appreciation for the sheer TIME involved with older printing mechanics — so many, many hours of setup and frustration to ensure readers casually flipping through those comics saw the action and art as opposed to blurred text and patchy color.

    And then, on the other hand, I find a heartwarming coziness when confronted with vintage printing gone awry. Halftones running off with each other, smudged dialogue bubbles, streaking solid patches … it somehow breeds maniacal life into the product. The knowledge that someone, somewhere, tried hard to bring this to you, the reader, intact and presentable and failed, showing all too well there is far more than a machine behind the process.