7/30/2019 Designing for Letterpress by Gilah Press

1/11

WhattoExpectWhenDesigningfor

LetterpressPrintingMay13,2011byKatFeuerstein,founderofGilahPress+Design

Ifyoureadesignerwithanunquenchablethirstforknowledgeofallthings

printkeepreading.Belowyoullfindtipsthatcovertheinsandoutsof

designingandpreparingyourworkforletterpressprinting.Letterpressisa

centuriesoldmethodofprintingusingmainlyhandfedpressestocreate

tactilereliefprints.Originally,eachleadorwoodcharacterwouldbesetby

hand,onebyone,butluckilyfortodaysdesigners,theprocesshasbeen

modifiedtoworkwithdigitalfiles.Wearenolongerlimitedtowhatbitsof

leadandwoodtypeareintheprintshopanyfontorvectorbasedartyou

createonyourcomputercanbemadeintopolymerplates.

Simpleconsiderationsinthedesignprocesscanhelptakeyourprojecttothe

nextlevelwhenitcomestimeforletterpressprinting.KatFeuerstein,founder

ofGilahPress+Design,tellsdesignerswhattoexpectwhendesigningfor

letterpressprinting.

1.Unlessyouarelookingtoachieveahalftoneeffect,itisbesttoavoidusing

photographsandcontinuoustoneimages,suchasgradients.(ex:1a)

7/30/2019 Designing for Letterpress by Gilah Press

2/11

2.Screensofcolorscanbeprinted,butalsowillhaveavisiblehalftone

pattern.Ifyouwantamoresolidscreen,itisbesttouseasecondsolid

Pantonecolor.(ex:2a)

3.Floodsofcolorarenotassolidonletterpressastheyareonoffset.Thisdoes

dependabitonthetypeofpressyourprinterisusing.Aproofpress,suchasa

vandercook,iscapableofbetterfloodsofinkthanaplatenclamshellpress,

suchasaC&PorWindmill.Wehaveusedothermethodstoincorporatea

floodofcolor,suchashavingonepartofaproject(theflood)printedoffset

andletterpressprintingtheotherparts,orbyusingacustomduplexpaper.

(ex:3ac)

7/30/2019 Designing for Letterpress by Gilah Press

3/11

4.Whendesigningforletterpress,nolineweightshouldbelighterthan.25

point.Lighterlineweightswillnotholdupintheplatemakingprocess.Keep

thisinmindforyourfontchoicesaswell.Fontswithverythincomponents

mayneedtohaveaslightstrokeaddedtotheminordertoholdupforplate

making.Ingenerally,trynottouseanytypesizesmallerthan4point.(ex:4a)

7/30/2019 Designing for Letterpress by Gilah Press

4/11

5.Ifyouwanttoprintalightinkonadarkerpaper,plantousesilverorgold

ink.Thesearereallytheonlyletterpressinksthatareopaqueenoughtogive

amplecontrastforlegibility.Ifyouaregoingforasubtleeffectwithapattern

orsomethingthatdoesnotneedtobelegible,thenyoumightoptforwhite

ink.Ifyouarelookingforaverybright,legiblewhiteinkonadarksheet,

considerwhitefoilstampingorengravingratherthanletterpress.(ex:5ab)

7/30/2019 Designing for Letterpress by Gilah Press

5/11

6.Aswithoffsetprinting,metallicinksdonotlookverymetalliconuncoated

whitepapers.Thepapertendstoabsorbthemetallicnatureoftheink,and

lessensthelightreflectionofthemetallic,makingitappearlikemoreofaflat

color.Ifyouaregoingforahighmetalliceffect,Gilahrecommendseitherafoil

stamporoffsetprintingonacoatedsheet.(ex:6a)

7/30/2019 Designing for Letterpress by Gilah Press

6/11

7.Forasubtleeffectonpatterns,decorativeelementsorlargetype,ablind

deboss(letterpressprintingwithoutanyink)canaddanamazingtactilequality

toyourproject.Dependingonwhattheprojectis,itcanbeprintedwithout

anyink,oruseatintbase(clearink)tofurtherenhancetheimage.Wedonot

recommendusingablinddebossforanysmalltypeorthingsthatwouldneedtobelegible.Atoothy,cottonstockyieldsthebestresultsforthisprocess,

smoothstocksdonotworkaswell.(ex:7ab)

8.Whiletwosidedprintingisnotidealforletterpress,itcanbeachieved.

Typically,ifsomethingistwosided,wewillaskyouwhichsideofyourproject

willbethefeatureside,andthenwewillgoabitlighteronimpressiononthe

reverseside.Theimpressionwillshowthroughtotheothersideofthesheetabit,soitisoftenrecommendtomoveyourjobtoadoublethickcoverweight

paperorhaveacustomduplexmadeafterthejobisprinted,ifyourprojectis

wellsuitedforthat.(ex:8ab)

7/30/2019 Designing for Letterpress by Gilah Press

7/11

9.Paperchoicesareimportantinletterpressprinting.Papersthatare

toothier/softerand100%cottonwillshowtheimpressionthebest.These

typesofpaperarefluffier,sotheyhaveabitmoreroomtoshowoff

impression,andthetoothinessisironedoutwhenprinted,givingavaried

texture,whichmakestheimpressionevenmorevisible.Stiffer,smoother

paperswilltypicallynotshowasmuchimpression,butcanstillyieldnice

results.Smootherpapersarebetterifyouhavealargerareaofsolidinkcoverage,astheyarenotasabsorbent.(ex:9a)

7/30/2019 Designing for Letterpress by Gilah Press

8/11

10.Letterpresshasbeenmodernizedtoworkwithcurrentdesignsoftware

suchasIllustratorandInDesign.Negativesaremadefromthedigitalfiles,and

thenaraisedpolymerplateismadefromthenegatives.Thismeansdesigners

arenotlimitedtowhatleadorwoodtypefaceswehaveinhouse,rather,what

typefaceyouhaveavailabletoyouonyourowncomputer.(ex:10ac)

7/30/2019 Designing for Letterpress by Gilah Press

9/11

11.Ifyouareusedtospecifyingjobsforoffsetprinting,youmaybeabit

surprisedatthepricejumpsinletterpressversusoffsetwhenitcomesto

quantityandinkcolorincreases.

Sinceletterpressisahandfedprocess,usingonlyonesolidPantoneinkcolor

atatime(nofourcolorprocess),youwillnoticeafargreaterjumpinprice.

Mostletterpressprojectsendupbeing1or2inkcolors,nottosaythat3,4or

moreisnotpossible,butyourclientwillneedtoponyupmoremoneyfor

theseprojects.Typicalquantitiesforletterpressareanywherefrom1toabout

2,000.(ex:12ac)

7/30/2019 Designing for Letterpress by Gilah Press

10/11

Overall,Ifyouareunsureofsomethingorhaveaquestion,itisalwaysbestto

contactyourprinterbeforeshowingyourdesigntoaclient.Yourletterpress

shopwillletyouknowifyourdirectioniswellsuitedfortheprocess,andifitis

not,theywillusuallybeabletomakesomegoodrecommendationsonhow

youmightbeabletoachievetheeffectyouarelookingfor.(ex:14a)

7/30/2019 Designing for Letterpress by Gilah Press

11/11

GilahPress+Designwasfoundedin2004byKatFeuerstein.Aftergraduating

fromMarylandInstitute,CollegeofArt(MICA)withagraphicdesignBFAin

1999,KatworkedasadesignerandartdirectorforBaltimoreareafirmsuntil

shebustedoutonherowntoexploretheworldofprintmakingasitrelatesto

design.Since2004,theGilahPressstudiohascontinuedtogrowandthrive.

StayintheloopbyfindingusonFacebookandTwitterunderGilahPress.

www.gilahpress.com