Letterpress is the process of pressing plates with your design into a soft paper to create a wonderful texture and visual depth. In letterpress each color and each side printed is a separate press run and setup. So the cost increases with each color we print and with each side we print. We can use ink colors, overlapping inks or no ink to create various interesting looks and textures. 

 

LARGEST SIZE FOR LETTERPRESS

Our press is capable of printing up to 9x12" pieces. However we won't necessarily print a solid piece that size. Depending on the artwork and the specifications we'll review and see if it'll work for our press. Paper can be up to this size. 

 

DOUBLE SIDED PRINTING 

When printing on two sides of a card or piece, keep in mind that with letterpress much of the beauty is in the impression. When you print double sided, the second side to be printed will press back the impression on the first side where artwork overlaps. So we recommend designing items that don't overlap front to back in order to maximize the texture you're going to see on each side. 

 

SHOW THROUGH TEXTURE

The deeper we press into the paper to get more of an impression and texture, the more that texture may show through on the opposing side. Typically this is not an issue but we want to mention it in case you prefer to see little of this show-through texture on the back side of your piece. If you prefer to see less show-through please notify us prior to printing and we will give less of an impression on the front in order to have less show-through on the back. 

 

SOLID FLOODS OF COLOR
We do not recommend printing large solid floods of color with letterpress in most instances, especially if it's a double sided piece. When we say large we're meaning 3/4+ the size of a business card. The paper has to be hit very hard in order to get the ink to print as solid as possible. This can warp the paper so it will curl or not lay flat. Mid-toned and dark colors especially will look splotchy and not solid, although all colors will somewhat. Some people really like this look and embrace it as the natural feel of letterpress, but if you're looking for a solid color like you would get in digital printing it is not going to look that way. It will also have substantial show-through on the opposing side which is why it's not recommended for double-sided printing. 

 

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EMBOSS AND DEBOSS

Emboss is where the texture is raised above the paper. It is the process of impressing two plates together, one on each side of the paper to create a raised texture on the front side. This cannot be used with colored ink it's just for the texture and raised impression. 

Deboss is standard letterpress printing where the impression goes into the paper. So whatever design we are printing will push into the paper. We can do blind impressions with no ink or colored impressions with ink. 

 

DO YOU DO PRESS CHECKS OR PROOFS

We do not offer press checks or proofs for printed projects. There are variances in letterpress and we'll do our best to match your color and project specifications. For custom designed projects you will see pdfs of our design along the way. 

 

SMALLEST SIZE TYPE PLATES CAN HANDLE

The plate maker's recommendations are what we use to set the font size and line with minimums. The reason being is they will not guarantee their plates will hold up with smaller sizes. If you want smaller sizes we can print them for you but will not guarantee the plate will not break or will hold up during printing, in which case no cost could be refunded due to your waiving the size requirements.

We can print as small as 4 point type. Line weight as small as ... Dot size as small as ... 

 

BLIND IMPRESSION
A blind impression is printing texture only with no ink. We can print any aspect of the design with no ink, however we recommend using patterns, logos or large areas, as small type areas will not be legible without the ink. The cost is the same as a separate press run with ink. 

 

PRINTING PHOTOS & IMAGES 
We do not recommend printing photos or images. Since this is a one color at a time process, it will not come out looking like an image. We have to print each color individually and photographs and images are better printed using digital or offset printing, which we do not offer. 

 

COLOR MATCHING - OR MATCH INK COLOR TO PAPER
We require a Pantone color from the Uncoated Pantone color book in order to know what color you are selecting. The colors always will vary from piece to piece but we do our best to keep color as consistent as possible. If you want us to match your color to another paper or item you have, we will do our best to select a color close from the Pantone book but cannot guarantee the match. Usually we can get close to the color.