Multi-Block & Reduction Print Kit

Multi-block: a separate block per color, each printed in register (aligned) on the same paper — the colors layer. Reduction ("suicide print"): one block, cut for color 1 and printed across the whole edition, then cut further for color 2 and printed again, etc. — the block is destroyed, so the edition cannot be reprinted. Multi-block is forgiving; reduction is final and dramatic.

Aligning each color's print on top of the previous, exactly — a registration jig (a corner mark, a pinned corner) holds the paper in the same position for every print. Misregistration (a color offset by a hair) blurs the image; perfect registration layers the colors cleanly. Registration is the multi-color print's precision skill.

Oil-based for the pro — slow-drying (working time to ink and print a whole edition), rich color, and archival. Water-based is easier to clean (soap and water) but dries fast (hard to print an edition) and is less rich. The serious printmaker uses oil-based ink with solvent cleanup; the beginner uses water-based.

A set of identical prints pulled from the same block(s), numbered and signed (e.g., 3/20) — the printmaker's tradition. The edition size is fixed and declared; the prints are identical within it. A reduction print's edition is fixed by the reduction process (you cannot add more later); a multi-block edition can be reprinted. The edition is the print's integrity.