Culture and Society Author: Robert Wrightbros

Firstly, letterpress and using it to make letterpress invitations is nothing new. In fact letterpress died awhile ago and has been resurrected back in the late 90's thanks to Martha Stewart and Martha Stewart Weddings magazine. From there, we have all heard about letterpress printing and how it is used for letterpress invitations, stationery and birth announcements but what really makes it so special? Let's take an abbreviated look at what it takes to turn out your beautiful letterpress wedding invitations or personalized stationery.

Design plays a crucial role in the look and readability of your personalized stationery. This comes from years of design experience and talent and it sets the tone of your piece. Advanced knowledge of software such as Quark, Photoshop and Illustrator and Indesign can be used to make proofs of the stationery and then to make plates. Too much design can make your letterpress invitation may look too busy and too little can make it plain and lacking. You need to find what works for you. Regardless, the design is crucial but what really sets it apart is the way it is printed and the paper stock chosen. The way it is printed refers to the impression or the depth of the impression. Too shallow and it doesn't provide any depth or tactile feel to it. You want the person reading it to want to reach out and touch it and say "wow! that's nice!" as they rub their fingers over the text. It is critical though, that the ink not be to heavy and slurred or too lite, where you see kinda of a border order the text of just blank paper and a thin line of ink. It has too be just right or it doesn't work. All this also depends on the paper as well. You can't get good impression on thin paper, it needs to be 600gsm and thick preferably cotton to really set it apart.  This is how to do real letterpress printing.

Once the proof of your stationery is approved, a negative is made and the negative is placed on a light sensitive photopolymer plastic plate, placed under vacuum and exposed to light. After the correct time has elapsed, the plate is washed in water to remove the unexposed material and then dried. Once dry, the plate is exposed again to light to harden the material. The plastic is now hard enough to withstand the pressure of the platen press.

The plate is then cut to size that will allow it to fit correctly on the milled aluminum base that will used in the press. The plate is attached to the base with adhesive and then the base is locked in the chase. It is then placed in the press. A first impression is taken to begin setting the project for printing. This process can be tedious. The paper is aligned to the correct specification of the proof and then impressions are taken to see and check ink quality, depth of impression and correct alignment.

Once the alignment, ink and pressure quality standards are met the run begins for that one piece. Each piece of the job is then setup in the same way and careful attention is made to maintain ink consistency so all pieces look the same. A typical letterpress wedding invitation of four pieces may take 3-4 hours to print at a leisurely rate. Personalized stationery may take half that time. It is a very detailed process but the result is a beautifully crafted work of art to many.

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