Commercial Letterpress, Sort of

While they're not really new, I first noticed them earlier this year on CNN while at the former Day Job, and they're way older than that, I like the Dodge Ram commercials- the way they end at least.

So really the letters would be backwards, but still. It's a "cut" and type locked in a chase. (Not very efficiently- why have 2 high-speed coins on the left side, and another coin loose in the top right corner?, but I'm picky.)

It makes me happy.

Cheers,
ashley

Sleepy Weekend Happiness

Show & Tell: Polymer Plates

So you've seen some of the metal type used for letterpress printing. But how about "modern letterpress printing" techniques? How do you take a design on the computer and get invitations made from it?

Well, once the design is finalized by all parties, we send it off to our friends at Boxcar Press- they not only do their own printing, but create plates for other printers. And they have a special way to do it- with adhesive-backed polymer. (The traditional way was metal on metal. Another method is steel-backed polymer.)

At the class in which I learned to print (YEARS ago, oh my goodness!) we made our own polymer plates. Our line art file was printed onto a transparency sheet and was placed over the unexposed polymer. Together they were placed inside of a really cool machine that exposes the areas behind the transparency that are not inked. Once the timer goes off, we took the plate to the sink and scrubbed gently under running water, brushing away the part of the plate that won't be inked! Dried off, et voila, a polymer plate!

The plates we used were steel backed and attached magnetically to the base. Watch those fingers, the edges could slice them! The instructor told us about Boxcar's aluminum base and adhesive-backed plates- no more sliced fingers. I was sold.

Photo from BoxcarPress.com

As long as inviting's been printing, we've used Boxcar's plates. In a perfect world, I'd have a plate maker and be doing it myself, but as they're the size of a dining table, we just don't have the space.  Not to mention, they're crazy-pricey.

Cool facts about the polymer plates:
-These can be reused over and over. In fact, we're still using a plate from our first wedding job, back in 2008. The print quality hasn't diminished one bit.
-And you know what else? They're recyclable! We just send a pack of scraps and old-old wedding designs back to Boxcar. Awesome.

So, from start to finish:

Let's use this wedding design as our example. Here's the design from the .ai file.

Here's the plate, after trimming from the larger sheet. You can see how the text & image are raised.

And here's a photo of the printed invitation:

You can't tell by this photo but the text and art are crisp and the impression is strong.

So, that's how we do a lot of our cards. It's great not to be limited to what we can find on ebay!

Whimsical Village Print

This print block was an ebay score- just too intriguing to pass up. Here's how it looks printed:

It fits an A2 card nicely

Close up of the little houses and groovy trees

So you see why it had to be purchased, right? Too fun. It's such an old and worn print block that it's surprising how well it prints.

Latest Wedding Project

We just completed our first wedding job of 2010!

The bride provided the design and requested a hand-drawn sand dollar, which ashley happily created.



Paper: Crane's Lettra in ecru, 110lb
Ink: inviting's signature chocolate brown

Best wishes to Lauren & Zac, getting married this June!

Playing with type...

When the rollers are inked and there's still time to print, what is one to do? Play, of course!

Had some sample papers to test out and a fun ornate partial-alphabet to try, which prints very crisply! : )

Like to Share Recipes?

Hot off the press:

This fall, recipe cards are something we'll be making more of. When sharing holiday dishes with the office or neighbors, it's always nice to include a recipe so that they may recreate it. Much nicer than a computer printout, no? They're a nice, traditional way of sharing, and our little image sure is cute!

The metal type is Lydian, one we've never used before, but is in great condition with it's clean angular form. Little produce image was found in our type accessories drawer.

We can customize these for you, different inks, add a name, etc. Just contact us at rsvp at shopinviting dot com

Don't know about you, but fall can't get here fast enough!

More New Cuts

These arrived today, from here.

Shopping...

Been naughty and doing lots of shopping for cuts. Even recruited a mother, who came through.
Check out this cut, found in Castroville, TX!

So finely detailed, I can't wait to see how it prints!