Here is a peek behind the scenes in our Brooklyn studio where we do all of our printing. We enjoy making beautiful things by hand using traditional techniques. We are celebrating our 20 year anniversary of our shop, and are very happy to share a bit of our process with you!

We always hand mix the ink for each job that comes to us. We use a Pantone book to determine the formula for the color, and the proportions of inks to combine. Because each ink is hand mixed, we are able to match anything from a swatch of fabric to a scrap of paper. We pride ourselves on getting the color just right each time.

Before we begin printing, we measure out where the plate should print on the card. We have to be very precise in order to keep the printing straight, and especially when there are multiple runs of colors. Taking the time to set up perfectly (or as close as we can) saves time in the long run.

Our plates are made out of a polymer plastic with an adhesive back. Traditionally, letterpress was done using hand set metal or wood type, but this new technique of photo polymer saves time, and allows us more freedom to use a variety of font and image options. We are even able to print a drawing that a client send us, with a bit of editing on our end.

Once the plate is adhered to the base, we ink if up and do a test print. We always double check the measurements and alignment and make any adjustments before beginning the print run. We also check to make sure the color matches the Pantone guide. If it’s a little off, we can make small changes by adding tiny dots of ink to the press. At this point, we also check the level of impression on the paper and make any adjustments. We prefer to have a nice bite into the paper, so you can really feel the impression.

Here is a shot of our favorite press, a Golding Jobber, inked up with a beautiful forest green after a run of stationery. All of our work is printed on one of three presses in the studio. When it’s printing time, we hand feed each piece of paper into the press. The presses all run on a motor, so the press closes, making the impression and transferring the ink from the plate to the paper. We retrieve the paper and stack it to the side, and keep printing! Once we’ve finished the run, we go through each set of cards to check for any imperfections before packing the job up to send to our client.