Creating Artwork for Letterpress

These suggestions are provided as general guidelines for creating art for Letterpress printing. We would love to review your individual projects in advance, to discuss the specifics as they relate to your project. Advance planning is especially critical to a successful Letterpress project.

Guidelines

Creating files for Letterpress is similar to conventional printing with these exceptions:

• Ink Color: When creating your file use Pantone spot colors, not CMYK or RGB. Make a spot color for each PMS color you will use. Typically you will have 1 or 2 colors in your file. We can also create a custom color to match other related items – please ask us for details.
• Paper Color: We recommended that you print dark ink on a light paper. Inks are transparent and the paper color will show through. Should a light color on dark paper be required, foil stamping or engraving are options (engraving differs from Letterpress in that it creates a raised image). We can also run the image through the press two times to build up the color intensity.
• Images:
  • Screens: Grayscale images can be used if made with a coarse screen (85 line or less) but are not recommended.  If you need to screen a color we recommend a second color that is lighter, instead.
  • Thickness: Please keep rules and lines above ¼ point and do not specify a hairline.
  • Fonts: We suggest keeping your type 5 point or larger for best results.  If your are reversing type please stick to 12 point or larger, smaller type can fill in. You can also apply an outline stroke to allow for ink gain.
  • Solids: Letterpress solids will print differently from conventionally printed litho solid. While Letterpress does lay down a thick film of ink, the process tends to show the texture of the sheet. Also, solid areas do not give appearance of depth that fine type and thin lines do. Also, solid areas can cause the stock to ripple, especially on thinner sheets.
  • Registration: Letterpress does register well, however, it does not have the capabilities of a modern offset press. Avoid trapping key lines and design with a white area between colors.  Black and very dark colors may be overprinted over lighter colors.
  • Depth: The type depth is dependent on the paper. Typically Letterpress papers are thick and soft to allow the type to create a deep impression. When creating fold-over items we typically back off on the pressure a little to avoid embossing the backside of the piece.
• Image and File Prep: Letterpress excels at line copy and type, so vector images from Illustrator or freehand work well. Show crop marks as a register color. Feel free to use our template library of standard products. If you have bleeds please extend the image past the trim line.
• Die cut, Emboss and Scores: These effects work well with Letterpress paper. Images to be embossed or die cut should be called out in a different color layer (typically magenta).  Indicate scores with a cyan line. Please review any intricate shapes or patterns with us in advance of creating the artwork. If you will be folding a thick cover stock we find a kiss cut works better than a score.
• Envelopes: It is best to print on the flap of a ready-made envelope. While we can print in other areas you can see bruising on the other side of the envelope.