Thanks Randall. Now this is something I can actually use.
Wim
Op 29 sep 2009, om 07:25 heeft Randall Petersen het volgende geschreven:
With regard to the current uproar about movie poster forgeries, I am
surprised that there has been virtually no discussion of what to me
is a very straightforward way for virtually anyone to personally
evaluate a supposedly vintage poster or lobby card for authenticity.
Although modern printing techniques have indeed become so good that
forgeries can often fool the naked eye, the same is not true when
viewed under a microscope. Under even low power magnification, the
differences between stone litho printing, offset printing, inkjet
printing and other techniques become glaringly obvious, such that
even an amateur (like myself) can discern them easily.
Here are a couple of examples (photomicrographs) of stone litho
printing:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v370/rkpetersen/poster%20analysis/DSCN4134.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v370/rkpetersen/poster%20analysis/DSCN4137.jpg
Notice the variability in size and spacing of the individual
'greasy' marks created by the litho crayon. Stone litho printing is
very distinctive under the scope.
Here's an example of photogelatin printing, used for vintage lobby
cards from the 30's onward:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v370/rkpetersen/poster%20analysis/DSCN6479.jpg
This photo unfortunately doesn't show it overly well, but with
photogelatin printing technique, under the scope you clearly see a
pattern of fine reticulations, almost like a spider web or sponge,
caused by the gelatin drying and cracking.
Here are older and newer examples of color offset printing:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v370/rkpetersen/poster%20analysis/DSCN4138.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v370/rkpetersen/poster%20analysis/DSCN6467.jpg
Note that the ink dots of three different colors are evenly spaced,
although offset from each other. The dots vary in size depending on
the amount of ink deposited. Although there are many different
forms of offset printing, the nuances of which I don't pretend to
understand, as far as I know, all of them involve evenly space ink
dots.
Here's an example of inkjet printing:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v370/rkpetersen/poster%20analysis/DSCN6472.jpg
Notice how each 'dot' is actually elongated into a smear, due to the
rapid back and forth movement of the print head, which also results
in a definite 'grain' to the image. Ralph DeLuca had an even better
example of this on his website, from one of the fake Black Cat lobby
cards. He posted the link here awhile ago although the image doesn't
seem to be there anymore.
This is very easy stuff to learn, and all it requires is a small
handheld scope, in the 50-100X range. You can get one with a built-
in light off ebay for ten or twenty bucks. With it, you can inspect
a poster properly. For example, under the scope, the printing on a
forged lobby card (like that Black Cat) done on a high quality
inkjet printer would look nothing like a lobby printed with
photogelatin technique. I have a Creature From The Black Lagoon
lobby that is almost too mint to be real; I became suspicious of it
for other reasons as well. However, this card was clearly done with
photogelatin technique. So I consider it to be authentic, unless
someone provides verifiable evidence to the contrary. On the other
hand, as Todd has mentioned, if all known authentic Dracula
onesheets are stone lithos and yet the one Profiles in History is
auctioning is color offset, I would consider that fairly damning
evidence that this poster is not authentic (although perhaps not
intentionally forged).
Certainly it wouldn't hurt for anyone who is at all concerned about
the authenticity of their collection (or of potential future
acquisitions) to obtain and learn to use a small hand microscope.
I've found it to be useful on many occasions.
Randy Petersen
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