Sunday, April 18, 2010



Printmakers Show

We have just finished printing an invitation for a printmakers art show featuring an engraving taken directly from a 1600's book. The engraving of a printers workshop is perfect for the show titled "The Printer's Devil". In the picture you can see the pressman "pulling the devil's tail" a term describing the pull of the impression lever.

Working from a photo of the original print that is hundreds of years old, we created our own modern day photoengraving. Of course we printed the image by letterpress much as it was done in the days before computers. The plate was set up in our Heidelberg windmill letterpress and, with some black ink added, we were off & running.

For the text portion of the invitation we took advantage of some more "modern" technology, now known as digital letterpress, and made a photopolymer plate to print the lettering in a blackletter style to match the time period.

Who would have thought technology used hudreds of years ago would still be treasured in our modern electronic age. The art of Letterpress lives on and that makes us happy.