Stamp Security And Innovation: Cartor

A 2009 58 page A4 PDF of a Cartor slideshow presentation by Ian Brigham is available for viewing and downloading at http://www.upaepweb.com.uy/uploads/...b9c4da93.pdf

This covers the whole range of modern stamp printing and is a worthwhile read (lots of pictures, too). It is naturally from the perspective of the printer, which offers a rare opportunity to see it their way.

GLENN

Glenn.

quite impressive!

I met Ian 15 years ago when he was still with WSP.

Glenn, thank you for posting that link.

After reading it though I have more questions.
On page 39 it mentions Preparation On Pre Press Techniques.

- non standard 4 colour workings.

Does that just mean that they are capable of adding specialty colours
to the CMYK cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black)?

I was also surprised in learning that they are capable of
using mixed screens on one stamp (100LPI, 300LPI and 600LPI screen) or on a souvenir sheet
page 41

I knew that Cartor printed some of the Machins and a couple for Austria plus also for some smaller
postal agencies but was impressed by the list of European countries they had printed stamps for.
Norway, Russia, Switzerland, Portugal, Poland, Ireland, etc.page 56

But someone should let them know that MOROCCO is not in Europe.
Not yet anyway.

Lithograving, from memory (always risky!) I am sure that Cartor said when I visited them that instead of using a strict CMYK range of inks, they could substitute, say, the process Y (yellow) ink for a spot /special / Pantone colour of, let's say, orange, if it enhanced the final appearance of the stamp.

As for mixed screens on the one stamp, as screening is set on the computer before reaching the cylinder creation stage, anything is possible within reason, as the cylinder will print whatever it has been engraved to print.

Yes, Cartor has a large range of clients. The amount of work created by them for the British Post Office goes way beyond just the Machin stamps that you mention, as many of the commemorative issues are also from their premises in La Loupe, France. Marginal cylinder blocks prefixed by a C signifies a Cartor printing on British stamps, e,g., C1C1C2C1.

GLENN

So each represents a different colour, correct?
Was the 2 from a second cylinder ?

I'm basically only acquainted with the sheet markings
on Canadian stamps. Sometimes just "traffic lights" other
times using design elements taken from the stamp.

As for example these below :

Canada Scott 2115



The C is for the UK paper manufacturer Tullis Russell Coatings formerly Coated Papers Ltd.

6 offset colours (3 process& 3 "special") represent by "traffic lights"

The 1 represents the engraved plate used.



Canada Scott 1692b



Now this one shows only one blue 1 for the engraved plate even though the souvenir sheet was printed by
3 colours steel engraving and 6 colours offset featuring falcons and horses.
Which would indicate that Canadian Bank Note used the giori process where one single engraved plate
prints the 3 colours on one pass through the press

Lithograving: Quote "So each represents a different colour, correct?
Was the 2 from a second cylinder ?"

Correct on both counts.

GLENN

The color gamut represented by CMYK printing is quite narrow. There are lots of colors that simply can't be reproduced. Lime greens and oranges look muddy. Pantone actually created a proprietary process called Hexachrome to address this shortcoming. They added orange and green inks to the mix. Spot color "touch" plates have been used for years to enhance certain colors.

Thanks for your input southpaw.

The USPS Postal Bulletins usually state what Pantone Matching System
colours where used in addition to the process colours CMYK.

https://about.usps.com/postal-bulle.../pb22340.pdf
Page 38


Here for the Innovative Choreographers Stamp 2012 the printer
Banknote Corporation of America added two PMS colours.
Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, PMS 533
(Blue), PMS 4685 (Tan)


So PMS 4685 (Tan) will look like this.

http://encycolorpedia.com/e8d4bf

It's nice to see some stamps that still have real gum and real perforations on them rather than self-adhesive stickers with cut corners.