BLINDING

(plate blinding) Loss of ink-receptivity in the plates’ image areas. Plate blinding can result from a defective plate, improper exposure, or bad plate processing; but more often blinding is the result of calcium buildup in the image area of the plate, causing it to accept water and not ink. Calcium comes primarily from paper, but can also originate from tap water, old or contaminated fountain solution, or on rare occasions from ink. A good calcium washup is recommended along with new plates, fresh fountain solution (from RO or DI water if possible), and a small add of Complexing Solution to fight calcium from paper or ink. See also “calcium wash”, “Complexing Solution”, and “buffers”.