Frequently Asked Questions
What services does your printshop offer?
For over 20 years we have offered the following services to realize all manner of our customers’ printing needs:
- Design
- Letterpress printing
- Scoring
- Edge painting
- Corner rounding
- Envelope lining
- Limited binding and finishing
We can outsource additional services, like die-cutting and foil stamping, to our partners.
How long do projects take?
Most projects take 4–6 weeks to design and about 4 weeks to print. Often we can streamline that if need be.
Is letterpress like embossing?
Well… technically letterpress printing pushes an indent into the paper, which is called debossing. Embossing on the other hand is a process where a die is pressed on both sides of a material resulting in the design being raised on the front.
Can you print without ink, leaving just an impression?
We sure can – this is called a blind impression. It does leave an impression in the paper, but we find that it is often too subtle to easily discern with the eye. We typically recommend printing with transparent medium or a very light ink instead, which offers greater contrast with the paper to an elegantly minimalist effect.
Can you print on both sides of a paper?
Absolutely! On thinner papers, we need to be mindful that the impression doesn't blow distractingly through to the other side, but thicker papers rarely give us too much trouble.
How do you match colors?
We custom mix our inks using the precise formulas of base inks specified in the Pantone uncoated swatch book. If you do not have access to a swatch book, please schedule a time to come by our studio to select colors or provide a physical sample of your desired color which we will match.
Can you match CMYK colors?
Not typically. We do have a swatch book showing Pantone’s recommended best CMYK matches for spot colors, some of which are closer than others. However, we can use that to find a target solid swatch.
What kind of ink do you use?
For many years we have used oil-based printmaking inks, but we are transitioning to rubber-based inks. Either of these bases allow us to precisely mix colors by hand.
Do you do foil stamping?
We do not do foil stamping, but we can outsource that part of a project to other shops. We do, however, print in-house with gold and silver metallic ink. This looks different than foil stamping, but it can have a nice effect. Contact us for samples of metallic printing.
Can you print white ink on black paper?
Yes, but it might not have the effect you are looking for. Letterpress inks are translucent, so the paper really shows through, making the ink very light. For a stronger effect than white ink on dark paper, we might recommend using silver ink which is more opaque, or outsourcing to one of our partners for foil stamping.
Do you have business card templates?
We do not have templates, although you’re welcome to peruse our website or come into the studio to review our archive of cards to customize for your use. This would still incur a design fee, but would be significantly less expensive than designing from scratch.