Letterpress Printing - The Evolution of the Letterpress Invitations

Letterpress printing has roots in 8th century China, as well as 15th century Europe, but has emerged today as the preeminent style of printing for wedding invitations, baby announcements, and custom stationery in general. What began as a way to mass-produce images, and subsequently books and other materials, has now become a highly-sought after craft when creating custom, fine paper goods.

How it works

Traditionally, a reverse set of movable type is loaded into the flat press bed to be inked. Rollers pick up ink from a plate to disperse on the type. The inked plate then moves out of the way to allow the press to imprint the paper with the inked type. In most cases, it is necessary for the printer to individually load and remove each sheet of paper before and after printing. The involved role of the printer ensures that every attention is paid to detail. Without his involvement, a mistake could go unnoticed on every piece until the job is finished, resulting in a loss of time and material.

Luckily for modern-day printers, there is a more flexible, accommodating way to print what you need, by using photopolymer plates as opposed to individual letters. With the rise of the digital age, designers can create a host of images, with or without text, and produce exquisitely detailed results. Artists are also now able to scan in their work, create a plate, and arrive at a printed finished product.

Using a plate may sound like the easy way out, but it actually allows for more intricate details and is easily damaged if handled incorrectly. Each color of a piece must be printed individually on the press and it takes an expert printer to register each layer properly. Because so much attention and time is devoted to each print, letterpress can potentially be pricier than other forms of printing you may be more familiar with. The beauty of letterpress, however, is incomparable to these other methods.

Printing in the past

The Chinese were the first to carve relief tiles or blocks to be pressed into material (originally cloth, then paper) with an early pre-cursor of the modern-day printing press. Most of these images were used to create repetitive patterns on fabric for textiles across Europe and Asia. With the advent of cast, reusable, movable type in the 1400's, Europe could now use a press to produce countless volumes of literature, as well as news and propaganda. During this time, the press underwent a series of dramatic changes, resulting in a mechanized machine capable of carrying out every aspect of the printing process, with the exception of loading the paper. In the 20th-century however, a fully-automated press was also invented. Up until the mid-1900's the word 'printing' was synonymous with letterpress. It was only with the introduction of other methods, such as offset lithography, that the trend began to change.

A modern rise in popularity

With the arrival of new printing techniques in the mid to late 1900's, letterpress took a backseat, but not for long. When shops began selling their antique presses, artists and designers picked them up to give them a 21st century update. Many design and decorating magazines began featuring letterpress printed stationery and gave rise to an increased desire for something different. Brides sought after the textured, weighty papers that would set their invitations apart from all others and created a market for the small press operations in business