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After 500 years, letterpress printing is still going strong. The impression the type and relief blocks make in the paper is tactile and beautiful, giving letterpress work a textured look and feel. Here at Blackbird, we use a Chandler & Price "Old Series," which is a platen letterpress (circa 1904). Platen presses were used to print almost everything for the first 400 years that printing presses existed. A platen letterpress works by putting two flat surfaces together; one surface holds the paper, and the other surface holds the type and the images. When the inked surface holding the type and images presses against the paper, it produces a graphic representation. The letterpress printing process is broken down here into a few essential steps. Any original artwork desired for the print must be created prior to setting up the press. This includes drawing an image, transferring it to wood or other suitable materials, and cutting away the negative space to create a "relief" of the image. Additionally, large sheets of paper are torn or cut down to the desired size of the final printed piece. And the printing process begins... |
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1. Setting type in a composing stick “Movable” type is set by hand, letter by letter, in what is known as a composing stick. The type is movable because the letters can be arranged and rearranged. A single line is composed, than a second line can be set, etc. |
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The press is designed to print type and images that are the same height, called “type high,” which is .918”. Movable type has been designed at this height and images such as woodcuts or metal image plates are mounted on wood to become type high. |
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Once the type is set and proofed for errors, it is locked up into a chase, which is a metal frame that holds the type and images in place. Ink is applied to the ink disk, and the rollers are moved over the disk to create a uniform surface of ink to be distributed onto the type and images. The chase is then secured into the press. |
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The printing begins. The paper is placed on the platen, which is then pressed into contact with the inked type and images. |
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The prints are then allowed to dry. The result is a beautiful, tactile impression in the paper. Each print is one-of-a-kind with slight variations in each piece. |
