Letterpress / Offset

Letterpress Printing

Nothing can compare to the quality and feel of a letterpress wedding invitation or a letterpress business card.  Letterpress printing is the ‘relief’ printing of text and image using a press in which a reversed, raised surface is inked and then pressed into a sheet of paper to obtain an image. With letterpress, the ink is impressed on the paperboard or tissue sheet. It works best with simple messages and designs of 1 to 2 colors.

Your type or image will be indented into the paper. Using a raised surface printing plate or type, the depth of the resulting “bite” will vary depending upon the type of paper. Thicker, softer papers will carry a deeper impression than hard or thin papers.

Usually you don’t want to print a photograph or fine dot screen by letterpress.

Offset Printing

Ink sits on the surface of the paper. Offset printing works with all types of line art, close registration of ink colors, half tones, duo-tones, and 4-color process images. This process is ideal for full ink coverage, reverses, and bleeds.

Depending on the artwork, we can recommend the best Printing Method for your job as well as mixing the two processes depending on the project.