Working with Letterpress

So You Want to Use Letterpress

Nothing makes Cranky less miserable than making you and your work look its very best.  We would rather get our customers moving in the right direction then have to phone and gripe about a potential problem spotted when the artwork arrives in our e-mail box. With this in mind, below are some tips for working with letterpress. We will continue to add more practical information on letterpress design and production.

Earthy Charm and Rugged Good Looks
Much letterpress printing today is a bit rough, a touch crude and slightly unpredictable. It is most successful when used to produce design work that plays into the quirky demeanor of the medium and not against it.

Prints Well on All Kinds of Crap
Paper stock selection is an important part of creating for letterpress. Unlike digital or offset printing, plain old commercial grade stocks such as Chipboard or Graphic Coverboard make intriguing material for letterpress work. Cranky House Stocks include these and other unconventional papers from which to choose. Many are made of 100% recycled paper. Even our classier Lettra Line stocks are made of 100% recovered cotton rag content. Overall letterpress materials bring a welcome change from a boring old white coated offset stock world.

Who Needs the Whole Damn Rainbow Anyway?
Some of the best letterpress work is printed in one or two colors. Good ideas, design, typography and paper choice can trump mind-numbing technicolor any time. This is not to say we frown upon color. Three, four or more pedantically chosen spot color combinations are very doable and spectacular.

A Dark and Light Side
Letterpress inks are translucent. When printed one on top of another you get the appearance of a third color where overlapping occurs. Light colors can be printed over dark colors or vice versa to eye-catching affect. Plan for overlapping colors in your design, it doesn’t cost a thing to do.

Throw Stock Color Into Your Palette Mix
Unusual effects can be achieved when light ink colors are letterpressed on darker colored paper stocks. Keep in mind though that paper stock color will show through ink and change the appearance the colors.

Bite and Smile
Bite is the depression or indentation that occurs in the paper’s surface when the image is letterpressed with a heavy impression weight. Bite often is what bedazzles people about letterpress and what sets it apart form other forms of printing. However, the amount of bite must be carefully considered when designing for letterpress. Too much bite can be dangerous. Cranky also has moans about bite below.

Beauty in the Old and Mottled
An lighter impression weight is called a ‘kiss’. This type of impression will cause the image to slightly break up and mottle. Kiss impressions, when planned as part of the look of the design, can be just as visually fetching as a bite. The mottling of a kiss impression will vary somewhat through the run. When used effectively this gives a letterpress printed piece a handcrafted, one-of-a-kind or weathered look. Try kissing one color while biting another for a cheap thrill.

Forget the Ink Altogether
How about printing with no ink at all? With letterpress you can use an inkless blind impression where the image is created with just a bite impression in the paper surface. Just try to get your digital printer to do this. We must caution that on ordinary card weight stock a blind impression will show though to the back side of the stock and should be taken into account in the design. By far the best way to use a blind impression is on one of our Stocky Weights Board Stocks.
NOTE: A blind impression is similar to but not the same as embossing which is a more precise and complicated process. Cranky also offers embossing for an additional charge.

Letterpress is not All Fun and Games

Bite Will Bite Back
We all like bite but there are some who suffer from over-bite. Keep in mind that a heavy bite on the front of most paper stocks will show through to the back. This does not have to be a problem as long as it is understood and considered in the design. The thinner the stock the more the bite back. On text weight stocks it is unavoidable and most card weight stocks will have some bite show through. The only way to have no bite show through is to use one of our Stocky Weights board stocks if they suit your design. Think before demanding very heavy bite.

Letterpress is not the Same as Offset Printing
Halftone perfection, flawless screened tints and flooded areas of impeccably solid color are qualities where offset printing excels and letterpress does not. Letterpress is fabulous for so many reasons but mimicking offset is not one.

Don’t Use Halftones Half-assed
In the right designer’s hands letterpress halftone images can look quite spiffy. Unfortunately, when used poorly halftones can also look ugly as hell. Think very carefully about how you propose to use halftones. Halftones need to be 100 dpi or coarser and will print better on a smoother harder paper stock. If you are considering using halftones it may be best to call to discuss your ideas before completing the artwork. There is an additional charge for halftones. See Artwork Preparation for more information on using halftones.

Tints Can Cause More Pain Than Halftones
A 100 line tint printed in letterpress is not a thing of great beauty. Tints work better as a smaller part of a rougher styled design. If you are after a smart refined style then an additional color may be a better approach than a tint. Any tints will incur extra charges.

Solid States
Larger solid areas can be tricky when printed in letterpress. Translucent inks, textured paper and a less sophisticated inking devices make letterpress printed solids appear quite different than those run offset on smooth coated stocks. Paper texture will show through letterpress solids. The printing difficulty is increased when a single color plate has both larger and finer areas in the image. If you are after very heavy solids it may help to discuss your ideas in advance of finishing the artwork. Alternatives such as additional color runs, double-bumping or offset lithography in combination with letterpress may be preferable for difficult solid images.

Reversed Type
Throw some reversed type into your solid areas and the situation gets even nastier. Reversed letter forms do not hold up perfectly under the great force of a letterpress impression. The reversed type may become a little distressed. If this is acceptable in your design all is fine but if you wish to look at the type under a loupe and see no imperfections it’s just not going to happen.

Try to Keep Type Sizes 6 Point or Larger
We know kids these days like illegibly small type. Letterpress does not reproduce fonts well at microscopic sizes. Besides, our eyes can no longer read 4 point type.

Tow the Line
Line art is particularly well suited for letterpress but not just any line. You are probably pushing your luck with lines thinner than .25 point or hairlines.