Everyone panics the second an aluminum plate starts catching an ink haze across the negative space, but frankly, hyper-sterile contrast is completely overrated. If you wanted razor-sharp, clinical margins with zero tonal drift, you could have just used a digital plotter or basic screenprint. A subtle breakdown in the gum barrier gives the final impression an organic depth that actually reminds the viewer a human being suffered over a press bed. Perhaps people should stop scrubbing their plates raw with counter-etch the moment a ghost of scum appears.