stainlessb
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qaStaHvIS yIn 'ej chep
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What I collect: currently focused on most of western Europe, much of which is spent on France, Belgium, Germany and Great Britain Queen Victoria
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Post by stainlessb on Feb 8, 2023 16:21:42 GMT
my understanding of watermarks is they are placed on one side of the sheet of paper. When then printed upon; was the watermarked side "up" (same side the stamp is printed on), or the reverse? Or did this perhaps not matter to the printer which side of the paper was placed into the printing press?
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khj
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Post by khj on Feb 8, 2023 23:28:12 GMT
If the paper supply/feeder wasn't fixed (i.e., a roll in rotary press), I would think it depends on whether the printer cared. In the specialized catalogs, you can often see listings for inverted, reversed, inverted & reversed... watermarks.
I guess it's like when I use a copier/printer. When I have to print on specialty paper that is watermarked, I really don't pay attention to the orientation of the watermark. I just reload the paper as needed, without regard to loading the paper in a consistent direction.
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stainlessb
Member
qaStaHvIS yIn 'ej chep
Posts: 4,665
What I collect: currently focused on most of western Europe, much of which is spent on France, Belgium, Germany and Great Britain Queen Victoria
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Post by stainlessb on Feb 9, 2023 0:26:15 GMT
Thanks khj My curiosity relates to the earliest issues, flat plate printing. GB penny reds (as an example) often the watermark is readily visble, and then there are those stamps that without clarity (or other method) the watermark is not readiy visible sometimes I ponder the oddest of things! |
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khj
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Post by khj on Feb 9, 2023 0:50:17 GMT
Basically, I would think that primarily flat plate press printings would have the opportunity for paper to be inserted face up/down option. Hence my example of when I use a copier/printer today.
The rotary press, based on the pics, I don't see how someone could inadvertently/easily install the roll upside-down -- but then again, I've never done printing. I defer to those more familiar with postal printing. At our local print shop that prints out our "blue-prints", you can see the paper roll, and there's just no way to install the roll any other way because the paper simply won't feed through properly in any other orientation of the roll.
When the watermark is hard to see, it's usually how the paper was manufactured, rather than the subsequent printing. The only color that I've consistently run into problems with "seeing" watermarks are yellow and yellow-orange colored stamps. But that may just be me.
The later British watermarks, such as the Scott Wmk 314(1957) and Scott Wmk 373(1974) can be especially difficult to see, simply because the watermark is very weak in the later issues. It's not caused by the printing, because even in the margins/selvedge those watermarks can be difficult to see in those later issues. So when they began intentionally printing sets with the watermark sideways, it was aggravating to try to determine whether upright or sideways, much less even seeing the watermark!
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