Letterpressed to Impress

March 2, 2011 | Posted by Cam Hoff

It should come as no surprise that in this age of the paperless office and cheap digital printing, that people are coming back to a more tactile method of printing. Something that stands out from the pack the moment you pass out your card and the recipient feels it between their fingers. This is where the 500 year old craft known as letterpress printing has re-entered the scene with stunning results.

Letterpress is a relief printing method that imparts a unique handmade quality by impressing a reversed raised surface into the paper, creating an embossed effect as it prints. This process was invented by Johannes Guttenberg (the father of movable type) in 1440 and served as the primary method of printing until the advent of the linotype in the late 19th century. Today we're seeing a resurgence in commercial letterpress shops that use a 'water-wash' photopolymer plate that can produce a relief printing surface from a digital file. 

One such shop, and the reigning champ of letterpress for my money, is Studio on Fire out of Minneapolis, MN. Their seven presses and in-house platemaking make them one of the larger exclusive letterpress shops around, but the quality of their work is what makes them a truly sought after printing partner. They've lent their expertise to projects ranging from posters to coasters alongside the more traditional applications like business cards and wedding invitations. A unique service they have pioneered is edge coloring, the application of contrasting ink to the edges of business cards. Since letterpress is usually done on extra thick card stock, the colored edge can add quite an unexpected hit of color that looks amazing.   

Another small American boutique printer cranking out some beautiful letterpress work is Alex Daley's one woman shop, Dolce Letterpress. Based in Bohemia, NY the bulk of her work is invitations, announcements, stationery and business cards all done with a handcrafted flair.

Here in Calgary the availability of letterpress printing is relatively slim. Unicom Graphics apparently offers some letterpress services with a hot metal typesetting facility, likely the only one of it's kind in town. Also for the sake of old timey authenticity, I should mention that Heritage Park also has a letterpress, even though it's not available for commercial printing. 

While digital and commercial offset printing will always have it's place as we go forward, it might be a good time to consider letterpress printing for your next business card or invitation. It is admittedly more expensive than the common conventional printing methods, but making a good first impression could prove to be priceless.