Brayer

[1] The word is derived from the verb to "bray", meaning "to break, pound, or grind small, as in a mortar".

[3] Such small rollers were sold as "brayers" from at least 1912[4] and later in the century the term was applied in the U.S. to hand-rollers of all sorts and sizes.

[5] Later, rollers could be made of composition, vulcanized rubber, sponge, acrylic, polyurethane or leather.

The roller is passed systematically across the surface to produce an even layer of ink.

The roller is then applied to the forme, block, stone or plate so that the ink is evenly transferred to the raised or receptive areas before the next stage of transferring the ink, by moderate pressure, to the printing surface or offset substrate.