This book shows manufacturers of etching presses can profit making small etching presses for 102 reasons. By adding a small, beautiful model to their product line offers many business advantages.

Having helped design and sell over 250 Halfwood Presses of this description, the author offers 102 reasons why making mini etching presses will be profitable for existing and new businesses. A few designers and makers of mini etching presses in Germany include Martin Schneider, whose Open Press Project group designed a benchtop, 3D printed etching presses in 2018.

When Tom Kughler and his wife Margie made the first Mini Half wood press in 2004, it was the model of a large etching press. It was a surprise when the author took it outdoors to print Plein Aire.

It was a traffic stopper! Kids playing with their families came running to ask what he was doing. They watched as he made prints with his Mini Halfwood Press on a picnic table under the shade of a tree.

For the next 15 years, the team made presses with cosmetic wood and brass for aesthetic embellishments like rosewood, ebony, polished metal, as well as ivory inspired by musical instruments for performance. Printing professionally functional was always important despite their toy-like size and antique styling.

For teachers as well as professional artists, the Halfwood line had high value in helping students experience printmaking. It was true for adults, but kids benefited, too, as proved in Riga, Latvia, for example.

There, Grafika Skola, a music and art workshop in the heart of the city, has a Mini Halfwood press for their outreach programs. Dozens of inspiring photographs came back to the author.

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