There are very few things that have not been improved by technological progress, and the printing press is one. To most, faster is better, but to those of us who are passionate about the print media, there is nothing like the tactile quality of the impression made by a letterpress on paper.
Letterpress is a relief printing process that is virtually unchanged since the first Guttenberg press in the 1500’s. The printing press changed the world, in case you didn’t know, and 500 years later it remains a very important part of culture, literature, and art.
The letterpress is a slow, deliberate process that, because of it’s need for painstaking attention to detail, and laborious assembly of elements, has been relegated to an artisan pursuit. Recent years have seen a resurgence of letterpress, and the medium has gained in flexibility with the arrival of flexographic (a photo-polymer plate technology) printing plates. Now, the average letterpress operator can design graphics digitally, output a film, and burn his or her own plates in a few minutes. This allows the letterpress to enter the 21st century media as it allows for the use of custom logos, versatile typography, and simpler 2+ colour jobs.
Other options include printing with Letterpress, scanning and using the texture and opacity variations of the letterpress to create really original, gritty typography in the digital realm. There is no photoshop brush or textured font that will accurately reproduce the variance you get with a real letterpress.
I picked up my letterpress, about 80 drawers of type, furniture, and all the ‘trimmings’ needed to make it turn over about 8 years ago. I spent the first 6 months cleaning, organizing and sorting. Since then I have used the press for custom labels, die cutting, woodcut prints, linocut prints, broadsheets, wedding invitations and birth announcements.
Even though it is a labour of love, getting your own invitations or announcements can be surprisingly inexpensive. When you compare a custom letterpress invitation, printed to your own specs (or leave it to me, I have good ideas sometimes) it can be comparable to those hideous gold-leaf things that you choose from a book at the printers.
Granted, the price can rise quickly if you choose 3+ colours, or make the job more complicated, but I can get your wedding invitations to you with matching envelopes for packages starting at $600 for 200 including paper costs. I’d be happy to discuss a cool project like this with you so
contact me if you want a quote.
For now, enjoy some of the projects I’ve pressed out in the last few years.
There are very few things that have not been improved by technological progress, and the printing press is one. To most, faster is better, but to those of us who are passionate about the print media, there is nothing like the tactile quality of the impression made by a letterpress on paper.
Letterpress is a relief printing process that is virtually unchanged since the first Guttenberg press in the 1500’s. The printing press changed the world, in case you didn’t know, and 500 years later it remains a very important part of culture, literature, and art.
The letterpress is a slow, deliberate process that, because of it’s need for painstaking attention to detail, and laborious assembly of elements, has been relegated to an artisan pursuit. Recent years have seen a resurgence of letterpress, and the medium has gained in flexibility with the arrival of flexographic (a photo-polymer plate technology) printing plates. Now, the average letterpress operator can design graphics digitally, output a film, and burn his or her own plates in a few minutes. This allows the letterpress to enter the 21st century media as it allows for the use of custom logos, versatile typography, and simpler 2+ colour jobs.
Other options include printing with Letterpress, scanning and using the texture and opacity variations of the letterpress to create really original, gritty typography in the digital realm. There is no photoshop brush or textured font that will accurately reproduce the variance you get with a real letterpress.
I picked up my letterpress, about 80 drawers of type, furniture, and all the ‘trimmings’ needed to make it turn over about 8 years ago. I spent the first 6 months cleaning, organizing and sorting. Since then I have used the press for custom labels, die cutting, woodcut prints, linocut prints, broadsheets, wedding invitations and birth announcements.
Even though it is a labour of love, getting your own invitations or announcements can be surprisingly inexpensive. When you compare a custom letterpress invitation, printed to your own specs (or leave it to me, I have good ideas sometimes) it can be comparable to those hideous gold-leaf things that you choose from a book at the printers.
Granted, the price can rise quickly if you choose 3+ colours, or make the job more complicated, but I can get your wedding invitations to you with matching envelopes for packages starting at $600 for 200 including paper costs. I’d be happy to discuss a cool project like this with you so contact me if you want a quote.
For now, enjoy some of the projects I’ve pressed out in the last few years.
