Letterpress printing – A play on your senses
Letterpress is a printing process that plays on your senses and leaves you with a dreamy, magical experience when you run your fingers over the top of the elegant and rustic invite. This process has resurged in popularity with the digital world growing in leaps and bounds, so it feels special to be a part of something crafted with time, care and attention.
Letterpress is like stamping. It uses a metal plate of unique artwork inked on the raised surface. Once pressure is applied, the artwork is stamped on to the paper, leaving a gorgeous, three-dimensional impression on sumptuous paper stock.
WHEN DO YOU USE LETTERPRESS PRINTING?
When you want your invitations to be a beautiful timeless keepsake.
When you appreciate the craftsmanship of handmade invitations made with an antique letterpress.
WHY IS LETTERPRESS SO EXPENSIVE?
Letterpress was invented by Mr. Gutenberg in the 15th Century and the machines aren’t made anymore. There are a finite number of vintage machines available and skilled craftsman who know how to operate them. Polymer plates are able to combine images, text, and design elements but many steps of the process are still done the old fashioned way - requiring a high level of craftsmanship and attention to detail. The position of the print has to be manually registered, each sheet has to be inspected as it goes through the press, and the final product has to be trimmed by hand.
Modern technology is now infused with old machinery to create a handmade, one of a kind work of art. In short, letterpress printing is labour intensive and the materials (polymer plates, paper) cost more.
PROS
Handmade craftsmanship will impress your guests.
Letterpress can achieve crisp, detailed artwork, thin fonts with high quality inks on cotton like paper, creating a deep, pillowy impression.
It is best used to print vector based designs.
Simple script fonts or even block text instantly looks elevated and truly striking - you don’t need an over the top design or more than one ink colour to create a standout piece.
CONS
Each colour requires a custom die since only one colour ink can print at a time, it is more costly than standard digital printing. More colours means more plates and more setup costs as well as labour.
Due to the intricate process, it requires more time for printing than standard digital printing.
It is unable to capture the colours of a photograph the same way digital printing can.
