Letterpress printing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Letterpress printing is a term for printing text with movable type, in which the raised surface of the type is inked and then pressed against a smooth substance to obtain an image in reverse. In addition to the direct impression of inked movable type onto paper or another receptive surface, the term letterpress can also refer to the direct impression of inked media such as zinc "cuts" (plates) or linoleum blocks onto a receptive surface.
Early Chinese woodblock printing used characters or images carved in relief from before 750AD, and this form of printing was widespread throughout Eurasia as a means of printing patterns on textiles. Printing of images, first on cloth, then from about 1400 on paper was practised in Europe. In the 1400s, Johann Gutenberg (among others) is credited with the invention of movable type printing from individually-cast, reusable letters set together in a forme (frame). This had previously been invented in Asia, but the two inventions were probably not connected. He also invented a wooden printing-press where the type surface was inked and paper laid carefully on top by hand, then slid under a padded surface and pressure applied from above by a huge threaded screw. Later metal presses used a knuckle and lever arrangement instead of the screw, but the principle was the same.
With the advent of industrial mechanisation, the inking was carried out by rollers which would pass over the face of the type and move out of the way onto a separate ink-bed where they would pick up a fresh film of ink for the following sheet. Meanwhile a sheet of paper was slid against a hinged platen (see image) which was then rapidly pressed onto the type and swung back again to have the sheet removed and the next sheet inserted (during which operation the now freshly-inked rollers would run over the type again). In a fully-automated 20th century press, the paper was fed and removed by vacuum sucker grips.
Rotary presses were used for high-speed work. In the oscillating press, the forme slid under a drum around which each sheet of paper got wrapped for the impression, sliding back under the inking rollers while the paper was removed and a new sheet inserted. In a newspaper press, a papier-mâché mixture (flong) was used to make a mould of the entire forme of type, then dried and bent, and a curved metal plate cast against it. The plates were clipped to a rotating drum, and could thus print against a continuous reel of paper at the enormously high speeds required for overnight newspaper production.
As computerised typesetting and imaging replaced cast metal types, letterpress began to die out, as high-speed photographic imaging onto smooth flexible plates (lithography) became more economical (see Offset printing). However, photopolymer plates and the invention of Ultra-Violet curing inks has helped keep rotary letterpress alive in areas like self-adhesive labels. There is also still a large amount of flexographic printing, a similar process, which uses rubber plates to print on curved or awkward surfaces, and a lesser amount of relief printing from huge wooden letters for lower-quality poster work.
A small amount of high-quality art and hobby letterpress printing remains — fine letterpress work is crisper than offset litho because of its impression into the paper, giving greater visual definition to the type and artwork. Today, many of these small letterpress shops survive by printing fine editions of books or by printing upscale invitations and stationery, often using presses that require the press operator to feed paper one sheet at a time by hand. They are just as likely to use old printing methods as new, for instance by printing photopolymer plates (used in modern rotary letterpress) on restored 19th century presses.
The process requires a high degree of craftsmanship, but in the right hands, letterpress excels at fine typography. It is used by many small presses that produce fine handmade limited-edition books, artists' books, and high-end ephemera such as greeting cards and broadsides.
To bring out the best attributes of letterpress, graphic designers need to understand the capabilities and advantages of letterpress. For instance, since most letterpress equipment prints only one color at a time (unlike presses for offset printing which often use four-color process printing), designs are best limited to one or two colors. Photographic work is usually avoided entirely. Letterpress printing's strengths are best crisp lines, pattern work, and/or typography.
[edit] Letterpress Education
Letterpress publishing has recently undergone a revival in the USA, Canada and the UK, under the general banner of the 'Small Press Movement'. Discarded by commercial print shops, affordable letterpress printing presses (in particular, Vandercook cylinder proof presses and Chandler & Price platen presses) became available to artisans throughout the country. The movement has been helped by the emergence of a number of organizations that teach letterpress such as New York's Center for Book Arts and Studio on the Square, the San Francisco Center for the Book, Bookworks, Black Rock Press and the Minnesota Center for Book Arts.
Several dozen colleges and universities around the United States have either begun or re-activated programs teaching letterpress printing in fully-equipped facilities. In many cases these letterpress shops are affiliated with the college's library or art department, in others they may be independent, student-run operations, or extra-curricular activities sponsored by the college.
[edit] Further reading
- Blumenthal, Joseph. (1973) Art of the printed book, 1455–1955.
- Blumenthal, Joseph. (1977) The Printed Book in America.
- Jury, David (2004). Letterpress: The Allure of the Handmade.
- Ryder, John (1977), "Printing for Pleasure, A Practical Guide for Amateurs"
- Stevens, Jen. (2001). Making Books: Design in British Publishing since 1940.
- Ryan, David. (2001). Letter Perfect: The Art of Modernist Typography, 1896–1953.
- Drucker, Johanna. (1997). The Visible Word : Experimental Typography and Modern Art, 1909–1923.
- Auchincloss, Kenneth. "The Second Revival: Fine Printing since World War II". In Printing History No. 41: pp. 3–11.
