Were always trying to come up with inventive ways to get a tight registration on multi color jobs.  I find it quite annoying to be constantly adjusting my gauge pins, moving the plate, taking apart the chase, adjusting furniture etc, etc, (you all know the drill).  The closest way I found was using transparencies which I wrote about in an earlier post Multicolor Registration, but we have something in the works that might be alot easier when using photopolymer plates. 

We are using something called a translation stage which consist of a base and a platform and the platform moves in extremely small and precise increments, I’m talking microns.  What we came up with is to mount a piece of .25 inch aluminum to the platform of a translation stage, thus making it ”type high” when a sticky back photopolymer plate is added. You can actually take the whole translation stage and lock that up in your chase.  When you need to make fine adjustments you need to turn the dial on the translation stage and you can move the platform right to left without ever adjusting your gauge pins.

When we finalize the details to this, I will be sure to share it with everyone.  In the meantime, if you have no idea what a translation stage is or what I’m talking about, here is a picture for your reference.  For those who have an idea of what I’m talking about, I would love to hear your ideas on this.  If anyone is interested in this please contact us at contact@dolcepress.com.

I think this is a question that does not have a definitive answer.  It’s all based on preference but after trying both types of plates I have found some pros and cons of both.  Lets start with photopolymer (pp).  If you have a design with fine lines (o.75 or less), the pp will not really hold a line that well.  Meaning if you intend for the line to be .5, once you print it it will turn into a .8 line.  That can really mess with ones design.  If you do not have fine details to your designs then you don’t have a problem.  Also, the sticky backing can be kind of a nuisance.  Either the pp slides or it is so sticky you cant get it off your base.  After repetitive pressing the pp can be quite tough to remove.  I have to say, since the pp is transparent, the registration is really a cinch.  That in itself may be the reason I might stick with the pp. 

Now the Magnesium.  Magnesuim will give you a crisp image at pretty much any resolution.  If you want a .25 line then that is what you shall get.  Also, (I might get some rebuttal to this) I feel I get a deeper impression with the magnesium plates although, Boxcar Press has addressed this problem by making a deep relief base as well as deep relief photopolymer (for more information regarding bases and plates read our post on Making your own base…).  Registration can be tough with the magnesium since they are mounted type high on wood and unlike pp it is not transparent.

I guess you might have to try both as well to see what you prefer to work with.  Happy letterpressing!