Let’s talk about another common mistake — this time it happens during the printing stage of linocut! This one mainly affects those who print with traditional linoleum — the gray or brown sheets with jute fabric on the back.

You press your linoleum block down onto the paper like a stamp.
The order is wrong — the right way is to place the paper on top of the block.
So: block on the bottom, paper on top!
The difference is that you have much more control over your printing result. Linoleum plates are quite stiff compared to rubber stamps, so they don’t press down evenly.
As a result, your print will likely have missing areas where the ink didn’t transfer properly — simply because you can’t see where more pressure is needed.

If you place your linoleum block flat on the table and lay the paper over it, you can carefully lift the paper in certain spots during printing to check how it’s going. Missing color? Then you probably need more pressure — or a little more ink! With a bit of practice, you can easily roll on extra ink. I show you exactly how to do this step by step in my online course. Perfect, even, and consistent prints are the goal — and we can achieve that together!

When you print without a press, every print takes time, effort, and energy.
So it’s even more frustrating when one turns out badly.
I’ll show you how to save your prints and avoid this mistake next time.
Interested? I’d love to have you join my course and print along with me!