FAQs for Designers
Letterpress and foil stamping basics:
LETTERPRESS PRINTING is a technique in which paper is pressed against raised type or imagery transferring the ink while simultaneously leaving a textural imprint on the paper.
From its invention by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century, it was the most common method of printing text up until the 19th century, and it remained in wide use until the second half of the 20th century.
PressNY, runs two mid-century Heidelberg Windmill platen presses.
We anchor copper or photopolymer plates (etched in water to create a raised surface) to the machines and calibrate exactitude for placement.
The presses allow for one color per run, so if you’d like two colors, each piece of paper will go through the press two times, and so on...
Multi-color work is achieved by washing down the press, changing out the plate, inking up the press in a different color, recalibrating for placement, and sending all the pieces though an additional time.
FOIL STAMPING is a process where heated copper is stamped onto metallic foil then onto the paper, leaving the design of the copper die and simultaneously debossing the paper, much like letterpress.
How do I get an estimate?
We would love to discuss your project to determine costs and timeline.
Feel free to contact us via email at info@pressnewyork.com and please include as much information as possible.
Design: To help ensure our expectations align, please include an image and anything else you think would be helpful. If you don’t know some of the details, such as exact paper or color scheme, we are happy to guide you.
Quantity: Please include quantity, taking into account you may need extras for items that are going to be mailed. For business cards, clarify quantity for each individual’s name.
Colors: Also, let us know how many colors are in your design, as each color is a separate press run and will affect pricing.
How do you want to get the digital files?
Please send PDF files.
All type MUST be outlined.
For artwork, vector-based files are the gold standard - you’ll get crisp clean lines. All art should be able to be turned to black. Letterpress and foil stamping are relief printing processes so anything you want printed must be able to be 100% solid - absolutely no grayscale.
If you’re looking for something more warm and fuzzy - like a hand drawn art, please use the instructions below to create usable files.
Can I use hand drawn art?
The short answer is yes, but please follow the instructions.
Scan it in black and white at 1200 dpi and save it as a TIFF. If you open this file in Photoshop it should be a bitmap file.
Don’t convert a color or grayscale image to black and white and then save it as bitmap. It will be pixelated. After scanning, place your image into Illustrator and from there you can adjust the color of the image.
How do I specify an ink color or a foil color?
For letterpress printing: Please spec a solid uncoated Pantone number. We mix all of our colors, by hand, to your specs. If you’re not sure about your color, you can come in for a press check when your job is being done, or you can send us a swatch to match.
Keep in mind that digital and physical colors will vary.
For letterpress printing with no ink: this is referred to as “blind debossing”. Results have a tendency to vary depending mostly on paper texture. Thicker paper with more texture brings out debossing better than smoother papers. If there's no concern regarding how the impression appears on the back of the card, then thinner papers work fine.
For foil stamping: Foil comes in a variety of colors. Let us know the color you envision and we will find the closest match. If you’re unsure, we can help choose or you can schedule a time to come in and select from our catalogs.
How is the ink coverage for BIG images?
Large areas of solid color don’t print consistently. A square inch of filled-in color might be fine, depending on a number of factors, but larger areas tend to appear cloudy.
Most light ink colors can’t be letterpress printed on dark stock. If you're looking to get a light color on dark stock, we recommend foil stamping, which works marvelously.
How large of an area can you print?
The largest sheet size that we can accommodate is 9.5”x 14.5”
We can print up to 8.5”x 13” in one press run, however, (aside from business cards) we typically do not gang up multiple pieces on a sheet and print them together because a large print area is very difficult to fill-in and won’t have as deep an impression as a smaller print area.
What kind of paper do you have in house? And if I want something more specific, can you help me get it?
If it exists, we can probably get it.
Feel free to contact us for a list of what we typically keep in stock.
In addition to the standard fare, we carry a variety of thick, custom-mounted papers. Samples are available upon request or we can set up a time for you to come in and check out what we have.
How do I get started once I’ve sent you the design?
To begin your job we require a 50% deposit. Final payment is due before we ship your job to you. Payment may be made with cash, check, credit card, Zelle, or ACH.
Can I come in to see my job before it gets printed?
So you want to come in and make sure that everything looks great and we nailed the color you were dreaming of...
We love press checks because we’ll know that you’re getting exactly what you want, and we like visitors.
To come in for a press check, just let us know and we’ll schedule a time.
