Answers to Frequently asked Questions
What is letterpress? Letterpress is a method of printing from raised plates, pressing the ink into paper to create a sculptural relief print. It is one of the oldest methods of printing: Gutenberg was a letterpress printer, and more recently, Ben Franklin, too. Although it is not a terribly efficient way to print, requiring antique presses, patience and skill, it is truly beautiful and unlike anything else. You can see and feel evidence of the craft in each printed piece with rich layers of ink cleanly and distinctly pressed into soft paper.
What is your process? How do I get started? First, decide what you’d like to print, and how many of each. We can put together an estimate for you, help you design your pieces, or print your design. Give us a call or send us an email and we’ll be happy to answer any questions. You can also click our customize link on the left of our site for detailed information
Can you custom design something for me? Yes! We love custom designing. The first step is setting up a time to talk about what you’d like to do. Give us a call or send an email and we’ll get started.
How long does custom design take? Custom design can take anywhere from a week to a couple of months, depending upon the complexity of the project and how clear of an idea you have of what you’d like to do.
I am in a rush; can you print quickly? We will always do our best to meet your deadlines. Rush charges may apply; please check with us for press availability.
Can you ship my envelopes early? Yes! We can ship envelopes early for an additional charge of $35. Please be sure to indicate when you need your envelopes, and to which address they are to be delivered on your order form.
I love letterpress but am on a budget. What are ways to keep costs down?
Keep your design to one ink color, one side. Use our house paper and choose from our ink palette. If you need an rsvp card, print a one sided postcard. Use a hand embosser for the return address on your main envelope.
How can I get the most value for the price? Print more pieces. With letterpress, the plates and setup account for a good deal of the initial cost in running a job. It’s much more expensive to set up and run a job twice than to run double to start. If you are unsure of what quantities you will need, we’d be happy to quote two or three different quantities to give you an idea of the cost difference.
Can you letterpress metallic ink? Yes, all day long. But please know that metallic ink will not appear very glittery when letterpressed unless you have a large area of coverage. Even then, it is a subtle look. With line art and text, silver will appear to be a light gray; gold a light brown. The larger the coverage area, the more of a metallic glimmer you will see.
Can you match a color swatch? Yes. If there is something you are matching – other pieces to go with your letterpress, ribbon, envelopes, a fabric swatch, let us have a sample and we will mix your ink to coordinate. We will find the closest Pantone color (from the Solid Uncoated Swatchbook) as our guide.
Can I print a light ink color on a dark stock? We don’t recommend printing a light color on a dark stock. Letterpress inks, even opaque ones are transparent and will show some of the paper through the layer of ink. So, a light blue on a brown will be very difficult to read, a green printed on a red will appear brown as the colors mix. You can however print a silver and most metallic inks on a dark stock with good results. The pigment in metallic ink is made of larger particles that cover a dark stock better.
Can I get a proof of the printed piece before the job runs? Your proof to sign off on will consist of a pdf file and detailed description of your project. You are more than welcome to schedule a press check on the day that your pieces are to print. As we never know exactly how long it will take to set up a job, please know we can give you an estimated range for a press check on a specific day, but cannot guarantee a specific time.
I am not sure of how many invitations I will need as we are still compiling our guest. Is there a way to estimate this? One of the most time consuming parts of any event is putting together the guest list. You will need just one invitation for each household, but if your event is very formal, you may want to include additional invitations for each guest over the age of sixteen. Unfortunately there is no magic formula; we would recommend allowing for extra invitations as a safety if you don’t have an exact count. It is much more expensive to re-print a job than to add extras to the first run.
Can you help with the wording for my invitations? Yes, we’d be happy to help any way we can. You are welcome to take a look at different wording on our sample invitations and rsvp cards. Online, RealSimple.com, VersIt.com and TheKnot.com are good resources. Emily Post’s Etiquette , 17th Edition by Peggy Post may be found at your local library or bookstore. These resources can also help with etiquette for addressing envelopes, too.
Can you use other papers? Yes, we print on papers from around the world, and can get just about anything you’d like. If you have a specific paper you’d like to use, just let us know. If you’d like to look through our swatch books and paper samples, we can set up a time for you to come in.
Can I supply my own paper? Yes, just let us know which kind of paper and the size, and we’ll let you know how many sheets we’ll need.
I have artwork I’d like for you to print. Can you do this? Yes. If you are a designer, please refer to our Checklist for Submitting Artwork on our customize page for specs. If your design is set up in another program or is a hard copy we can help you get it ready to print; artwork fees may apply.
I am a designer and would like to set up a file for letterpress. Any guidelines? Please send Illustrator or pdf files. Make sure all artwork is vector and all text is outlined. Letterpress is best suited for spot color and line art, so make sure you have all colors at 100% with no transparencies or halftones. Indicate with a box or crop marks your registration on the page. If your project is to print in multiple colors, send us the composite file in the colors we are to print, choosing your colors from the Pantone Solid Uncoated swatch book. And if you are supplying your own paper, please check with us to see how much we will need. To make sure we have our bases covered, you can refer to the Checklist for Submitting Artwork under the customize tab in the left column on our site.
I’d like to letterpress something I’ve seen in a magazine. Can you do this?
No, unless we have express written consent from the designer or owner of the copyright. Most designs are copyright protected, as are our designs. We are happy to design something perfect for you. The more ideas and visuals you can bring in the better to give us an idea of the style and colors you love.
Can you print a design with solid coverage and reversed out type? Yes, we can. We will have to balance the amount of ink coverage with the detail in the reversed out type to make sure the text stays crisp. A darker ink a light stock will show more of the paper texture through; a lighter color on a light stock will seem like more solid coverage. If the text is very fine, we will have to be careful not to add too much ink. If the reversed out type is larger, we will be able to add more ink for more solid coverage.
Can you print areas of solid coverage with fine type or line art? Yes, but will have to balance the ink coverage with keeping the finer lines clean. If you have a design with a lot of solid coverage and you’d like a rich, opaque layer of ink with fine type, we’d recommend using two different plates to run the job.
What does solid ink coverage look like when letterpressed? It depends to a great degree on the color, the amount of coverage and the paper stock used. Sometimes, depending on the other elements in the plate and paper texture, letterpress can have a velvety or water color look. It is very pretty, and distinctly letterpress. If you’d like your design to have more of a velvet texture, or more opaque solid coverage, just let us know and we can make it happen. Please be aware that large areas of solid coverage can require a great deal of pressure when printing letterpress. If you are printing one side of a business card, for example, or both with a lot of solid coverage, we would recommend using a double thick paper stock as your paper will compress when printed.
Can we visit your shop? Of course! We’d love to show you around the shop. Our hours are by appointment Monday-Friday 9-5; just give us a call or send us an email and we’ll set up a time for you to come by.
Do you have samples of your work? Yes; let us know a little about your project and we will be happy to send you samples of our printing and papers in similar ink colors and technique. If you'd simply like to see the quality of our work, our range of capabilities and examples of our letterpress printing on different stocks, we can send you a general sample packet, too.