Transfer the photograph or drawing to transparency film. This can be done professionally on an AGFA Imagesetter machine, especially if the image is a photograph, or you can simply draw on transparency film with a dark marker. The AGFA Imagesetter can add a screen to a digital image; if the stochastic screen is not embedded in a digitized image, you must preburn the plate with a stochastic screen before burning it with the hand-drawn transparency.
Work in a low-light work space. Remove the photopolymer plate carefully from the black envelope and peel off the protective plastic. Place the transparency film on the clean, dust-free plate. Place the plate in the vacuum part of the plate burner, making sure that there is good contact between the transparency film and the plate. Extract the air for a few minutes, and then burn the plate for the number of seconds required. (Some experimentation may be required. A test plate can be cut into small pieces and burned with a Stouffer step wedge to determine exposure time.)
Remove the plate and film from the plate burner. Take the image off the photopolymer plate and set it aside. Bring the plate to a sink, still in a low-light environment, and fill the sink with lukewarm water. Submerge the plate and let it sit in the water for one minute. Then gently wash it with a soft brush for one minute. Remove the plate from the water and gently squeegee the plate. Return it to the plate burner, this time on top of the glass, and burn it to harden it for another minute or so. Now the plate is hard and can be brought out into the light.
Lay the plate on some sheets of newspaper. Ink the plate in the same manner as you would ink any intaglio plate. Wipe the plate gently with a tarlatan until the hard areas of the image are free of ink. The ink will remain in the pitted areas of the plate. Tiny little circles hold the ink, where the stochastic screening created a kind of aquatint texture in the plate. (It is easier to wipe the plate if you have a magnetic counter that holds the plate while you wipe.) Wipe the edges of the plate with the soft cotton knit rags. The edges must be free of ink.
Take the inked and wiped plate to the printing press. Soak printmaking paper for 20 minutes, then remove one sheet from the water, blot it on a towel and place it over the plate. (It is a good idea to make some registration marks with tape on the printing press to indicate where the plate should go and where the edges of the paper should go, in order to center the paper.) Run the plate and paper through the press. Do not use excessive pressure, as the plate is somewhat softer than a zinc or copper plate; use the minimum amount of pressure needed to get an image to transfer.
Peel the paper off the plate and lay it on a rack to dry. Re-ink the plate and repeat the process. At the end of the printmaking session, the plate can be cleaned with baby oil and a soft toothbrush to get the ink off. No solvents are needed.