Copying pencil Copying pencil A copying pencil, also indelible pencil or chemical pencil, is pencil whose lead contains a dye. The lead is fabricated by adding a dry water-soluble permanent dye to powdered graphite—used in standard graphite pencils—before binding the mixture with clay. Copying pencils were introduced in the 1870s and were originally marketed for copying documents, especially for making permanent copies of a permanent original. This was achieved by creating a hand-written document using a copying pencil, laying a moist tissue paper over the document and pressing down with a mechanical press. The water-soluble dye in the writing would be transferred
Negro (lead pencil) art which was dark enough to be reproduced with early photographic technology. It was used as a replacement for lithographic printmaking, just as pen and ink line art essentially took the place of intaglio in late 19th-century illustration. While the name is used in the artistic sense, the word "Negro" literally, depictions of stylized African natives have been used in marketing campaigns and product packaging. One of the original producers of negro pencils was the Koh-i-Noor company, however those manufactured by the company today are composed of lead that is slightly less dark and waxy than the originals. Cretacolor produces