Letterpress has been replaced by offset
printing for most purposes, but not all. When it comes to elegance, letterpress printing still commands a
price. People love to print wedding and other invitations, business cards etc
in letterpress. The gravity of those elegant impressions surpasses the levity
of offset printing. Despite being expensive, people love to flaunt those
impressions on cards that signify defining moments in their lives. It evokes a
sense of nostalgia. The engravings convey a message and the events are etched in
the memory of recipients. Letterpress printing can be
the perfect solution to your printing needs whether it is wedding invitation,
business car printing or something else.
Types of Letterpress Print
The Letterpress printed material boasts of
tangible prints. There are various ways in which such tangible prints can be
imprinted on papers. Simply speaking there are various types of such prints. Letters
can be embossed, debossed or blind. Your preference and significance of the
occasion or purpose are the two things that determine the type of print. So the
letters may have a stamping effect with a raised texture or a depressed texture.
The raised letters are known as embossed ones and the depressed letters are
known as debossed ones.
Embossed Printing
To print such letters the letters are pressed
upwards from backside. It obviously leaves a debossing effect on the backside
and an embossing effect on the upper side.
Debossed Printing
In such prints the letters are pressed from
the upper side. Like in embossing effect this also produces a debossing on the
uppeside and an embossing effect on the backside.
Blind Printing
In this type of printing, ink is used to
produce the effect. So what you get is just an impression of letters in ink.
There is no effect on the opposite side. This is the type of letterpress print
that most people look for.
The letterpress print evokes a sense of
proximity to the recipient be it a business card, an invitation or anything
else. You can create a number of different effects with the help of letterpress
print. Each of them has a different appeal. Most people prefer the debossed or
embossed prints for printing items like visiting cards. On the other hand, the blind
effect is popular in wedding cards and other invitation cards.
Contemporary Letterpress
Though the print has kept its nostalgic flavor
intact, the method of printing has undergone a sea change. Printers no longer
use the wooden or metal blocks for letterpress
printing. Instead they use polymer plates which can be carved out in
different forms and colors. The polymer plates are prepared separately for different
sets of letters. This is done photographically. In the first stage the letters
and the embellishments are designed in computer. Yes, this is now done in
computer. This obviously widens the scope for designs and embellishments. After
the design is finalized, a printout of the same is taken on a film. This is
then used a negative photographic plate for developing the polymer plate. Next
a polymer plate is taken and it is dipped in a water-soluble and light-sensitive
synthetic material. It is then kept against a clear support and the negative
film is kept in front of it. Next, UV light is made to pass through the film
and onto the polymer plate. As a result, the portion of the plate that is exposed
to the UV light gets hardened up, and the rest of the material is washed away.
The hardened portions of the plate become raised surfaces and give shape to the
letters, ornaments and designs. The polymer plate is now ready to print
embossed, debossed or blind letterpress printed material on invitation cards,
greetings cards, business cards etc. If you need the same material in different
colors, you need to prepare different plates for different colors.
Owing to the use of computer in designing, you
can have rich designs, patterns and ornaments on the cards. This enhances the
beauty of the card. You can also get exquisitely designed letters through
computer.
Requirements of Good Letterpress Printing
You need good quality tactile paper with rich
texture for Letterpress
Printing. This is all the more required for the embossing and debossing
effects rather than for the blind printing effect. You also need to design the
photographic plate in good resolution. Otherwise, the debossing or embossing effect
won't be clear.
