newbie, how to do etching, what kind of pen?

[Michael Buchstaller]

>I use the photo transfer method with good results. 
>Either you print the layout on transparency film directly (if you got a
>laser printer) or you print on paper, go to a copyshop and let it transfer
>to a transparency. Photo coated material is only slightly more expensive,
>and you can re-use the film you made, which is quite handy.

I have recently been f**ed up with those transparency films. Some time ago
o had a friend working in a pre-press agency who could output my PS files
on a linotronic, but now he is gone.
So i have been trying to print on various types of transparencies, but with the
laser most of them had not the density that is required. Printing with an inkjet
did just suck, too. Then (as a last resort) i printed on a sheet of drawing paper
(you know, that one that is partially translucent and used by architects for their
blueprints; i am calling it always "Butterbrot-Papier"). Printing with laser and
inkjet was both fine, and with slightly increased development time, the results
were far superior to everything i have ever gotten from transparencies.

So i would encourage anybody to give it a try !


-Michael Buchstaller