do you have an artwork or design to print?
production guide.
Modern letterpress printing uses laser-cut polymer plates as the printing surface for ink to be applied. We work with a NZ based company who produce high quality plates - the artwork is rendered with incredible precision and consistent accuracy. Your artwork is sent as a digital file and the plate is made true to the details in the file. A separate plate is made for each colour in the artwork, including any blind debossing or embossing required. It is the combination of plate, pressure and quality paper that produces the distinct surface impression letterpress is renowned for. The guidelines below will help you get your files set up for successful letterpress production.
File preparation guidelines
vector PDFS are best.
Our favourite way to receive files are editable PDF’s, outputted from a vector based program (e.g. Adobe Illustrator or InDesign). An editable PDF means it can be opened in Illustrator without any missing image links or font errors. All artwork should be vector paths and fonts outlined. Set up your file to CMYK colour mode. One PDF is required for each colour (including any debossing/embossing). For this reason it is helpful if you create separate layers in your artwork file for each colour. Our pre-press service includes creating individual files for each colour required. Everything is then converted to 100% black to be sent to the platemakers.
rastor images and
half tones.
Artwork should be scanned at a high resolution (600-1200 dpi) at 100% and converted into bitmap. The bitmap can then be placed into another program such as Illustrator or InDesign. You can then save your file as an editable PDF using the guidelines above. Half tone images need to be 100dpi or coarser and look best printed on uncoated paper to give a retro, old-school look.
BLEED AND CROP MARKS.
We have our own system for crop marks so you do not need to include these. However please make sure your artboard is the same size as the final trim size of your piece. Add a 3mm bleed if your artwork goes right to the edge of the cutting area.
Line weight and font size.
It is recommend that all line work has a stroke weight thicker than .3pt and fonts are no smaller than 6pt. This maintains legibility and ensures fine details are not vulnerable in the plate making process. Remember to convert all your fonts to outline. Make sure to double check the line weight on fine serif fonts and the sizes of dots on “i”s or periods. If you’re not sure if the details are suitable just ask us and we’d be happy to take a look for you.
colour
Please provide Pantone Uncoated Colours to specify the colours in your artwork. Any unspecified CMYK colours will be matched to the closest Pantone match (PMS). It pays to note that letterpress inks are slightly translucent and overlapping areas will create new colours as the inks are laid down on the paper (eg. yellow ink overlapping blue in a design will create green). This also means that the paper colour being used will also show through the ink slightly once printed. For this reason, printing white ink on a black or dark coloured stock results in a grey rather than bright white. If you would like to use a dark coloured paper then a metallic ink (which is opaque) would be recommended. While designing, you can get a feel on-screen for how overlapping printed colours will look by using the transparency palette.
Solid or reverse areas
of colour.
When ink is rolled over large, solid areas of colour the ink coverage gives a grainy characteristic against the texture of the paper, rather than a flat, solid appearance. Keep this in mind when designing your artwork and use this distinct characteristic to your advantage.
Bite and Blind Impression
The depression on the paper’s surface when an image is letterpress printed with a heavy impression is referred to as bite. The bite is a large factor of what sets letterpress apart from other forms of printing but must be carefully considered. A heavy bite may show through to the back if the stock is thinner. This isn’t an issue as long as it is considered in the design process alongside the right paper stock choice. We are also able to adjust the pressure of the press to ensure impressions don't compete with each other.
With letterpress you can use an ink-less blind impression where the image is created with just a bite impression in the paper surface. The best impact for blind impression is to use a heavy weighted stock and larger type faces or images.
PRE-PRESS SERVICES
We want your project to be a success, so please do not hesitate to reach out and contact us if you have any questions or require some help. We offer the following pre-press services to ensure the best outcome for your project.
Proofing.
A PDF proof of your final, print-ready artwork will be provided via email for approval prior to production beginning.
File Preparation.
If you would prefer us to prepare your file for you this can be arranged and charged at an hourly rate. Contact us to enquire about this service and we will provide a quote based on your design.
Artwork Clean-up & Digitising.
We can clean-up and digitise hand lettering, artwork and illustrations for letterpress. A high-resolution (600-1200 dpi) scanned image of the original artwork is required. Contact us to enquire about this service and we will provide a quote based on your requirements.