How to Design for Letterpress

The Letterpress is like a giant metal clam --- inks are applied to an etched plate or set of type, and then squeezed down upon the print medium, called a substrate, to produce a printed design with an indented texture. How deep the indentation is depends on the pressure and set of the Letterpress. When you use digital designs rather than the old-fashioned wood block, your image is preprocessed into "rips" that are etched onto a special type of film with a laser. The film is then developed, placed against the plate and exposed. This basic digital-to-analog conversion can reproduce fine detail, half-tone photographs and tiny type for distinctive results.

Things You'll Need

• Vector-capable graphic design program
• Letterpress printer specifications

Instructions

1. Choose your design software. Letterpress excels at typographic designs and bold illustrations, so you will need a program that can produce vectors and has built-in typographic tools. Adobe InDesign and CorelDRAW are both full-featured options; tools such as Adobe Illustrator and QuarkXpress also offer functionality that will produce Letterpress-compatible files.

2. Choose your paper or print medium. Since Letterpress inks are usually translucent, darker colors on a light background give the best results and are the primary strength of this process. The choice of available paper textures and weight will also affect your design, with heavier papers capable of deeper impressions.

3. Establish one to four colors for your design palette. A Letterpress typically prints one color at a time, so printing multiple colors can be challenging. Adjust your palette or use overprint features in your design software to compensate for the paper showing through the ink.

4. Create a new CMYK image file in your design software, and set the size to match the dimensions of the paper you intend to print. Check with your Letterpress printer ahead of time to determine any limitations to the size --- many printers will not go over 17-by-23 inches. Set your bleed to at least 3 mm. If you choose to set crop marks, use a register color.

5. Fill your initial layer with a background image or color representing your paper choice. This step will remind you of the blank areas that will be knocked out in the preprocess stage.

6. Create a new layer and begin your primary design. Each color must be on its own layer when your design is completed. Either design first in black and then create each color layer separately, or design using your palette and have your software create the color separations for you.

7. Set your print indicators to tell your printer where to emboss or die cut and where to set perforations and folds. Call out areas to be embossed or die cut in a different color layer. Indicate scores or kiss-cuts with a cyan line.

8. Review any detailed illustrations and the overall desired results with your printer prior to finalizing the file. Delete your background layer and save the file according to your printer's specifications. In most cases, an .eps or .psd is sufficient.

Tips & Warnings

• Fonts should be at least 6 point or larger and set within large fields of dark color.

• If you use very thick or bold fonts, add a white stroke to compensate for the Letterpress ink gain.

• Make your sharp lines no thinner than .25 point, or one-quarter inch.

• Remove visual noise. Space lines and type with care to allow for the impression of the paper, and avoid bleeding in areas where you want definition.

• Avoid overly ornate fonts, or those with tiny details that the Letterpress may be unable to render well.

References

• Printer's National Environmental Assistance Center: Letterpress Printing
• PPLetterpress Community
• From Design Into Print: Preparing Graphics and Text for Professional Printing by Sandee Cohen

Resources

• PrinterNational: Information About Print Design
• CSSWow: 55 Breathtaking Letterpress Designs