Letterpress is the oldest of the major printing processes. It uses a plate with fixed raised surfaces and pressure to apply ink to the material. This pressure also leaves a slight indent (or relief) in the paper.

As more cost-effective printing methods have been developed (such as Digital and Offset output), the usage of letterpress has declined greatly. However, the old-world charm of Letterpress has now become a highly sought-after look and feel.

Letterpress is a more labour intensive process (compared to Digital and Offset output), and hence premium and expensive service.

This specialty classic style output creates the most elegant pieces – perfect for wedding invites, special occasion flyers and premium business cards.

Get a Glimpse of Jukebox Letterpress Printing In Action

Samples of our Letterpress products are available by ordering a Specialty Sample Pack.

The recommended stocks for Letterpress are the Cotton or Pulp stocks.

Cotton

Pulp

The following stocks are available for a standard order of letterpress business cards:

• 45pt Brown Kraft
• 40pt Cotton
• 20pt Cotton
• 20pt Pulp
• 16pt Pearl Silver

If you are interested in a stock that is not listed above, please request an inquiry via a Print Quote.

We offer the widest range of colours with Letterpress output. You can specify any CMYK value, or standard Pantone formula colour. We also have options for specialty inks in Fluorescent, Pastel and Metallic shades. To view available Pastel and Fluorescent options, see:

Letterpress Pastel Colours

Letterpress Fluorescent Colours

We offer silver, gold, bronze, brass and copper for Metallic ink options.

Please note, if you require White or a specialty ink colour not listed as one of our regular options, you can submit a Print Quote request for pricing and availability.

We use high-quality offset-grade inks on our Letterpress machinery.

See: What colours are available on Letterpress?

We can provide a wide range of pastel colours for Letterpress, including:

	Pantone 0131 U	Pastel Yellow
	Pantone 0331 U	Pastel Red
	Pantone 0521 U	Pastel Magenta
	Pantone 0631 U	Pastel Violet
	Pantone 0821 U	Pastel Blue
	Pantone 0921 U	Pastel Green
	Pantone 0961 U	Pastel Black

Colour samples are for guidance only.

We can offer a wide range of custom colours for Letterpress via a Print Quote.

Our range of fluorescent colours for Letterpress include:

	Pantone 801 U	Neon Cyan
	Pantone 802 U	Neon Green
	Pantone 803 U	Neon Yellow
	Pantone 804 U	Neon Orange
	Pantone 805 U	Neon Red
	Pantone 806 U	Neon Magenta
	Pantone 807 U	Neon Violet

Colour samples are for guidance only.

We can offer a wide range of custom colours for Letterpress via a Print Quote.

The finest detail for Letterpress output is 0.5pt line-weight.

Letterpress printing is a different process for printing. As it is an older form of printing, there are some restrictions on the design. Our Prepress team will inform you of any issues.

We have a wide range of products available with Letterpress output. The most popular uses for Letterpress include:

• Business Cards
• Wedding Invitations
• Posters

Please note, the largest size we can Letterpress is 12 x 18 inches.

Colours cannot be combined in the same way they are with Offset and Digital output.

Colours should be solid. Gradients, shades and colour combining can be done using colour half-tones, however this is not recommended. This is a complex process that a designer will need to set up for you.

Ink colours can be "overprinted" on to each other – however as we cannot test every ink colour, the combined colour can be somewhat unknown, so it is not a recommended setup.

Yes, Letterpress can be combined with other forms of printing such as CMYK Digital or Offset output. Please place a Print Quote request for this.

Letterpress is not just for printing letters and text – it can be used to print many kinds of graphics.

The name “Letterpress” is from a time when individual pieces of movable metal type (letters) were arranged and set for printing. Letterpress processes are now more advanced than this, we cast custom plates for each order which can be any combination of text, shapes and graphics.

Letterpress is the oldest of the major printing processes. It uses a plate with fixed raised surfaces and pressure to apply ink to the material. This pressure also leaves a slight indent (or relief) in the paper.

It is not a CMYK print like Digital or Offset output.

Letterpress is a more labour-intensive process (compared to Digital and Offset output), and hence premium and expensive service.

See: What is Letterpress?

Debossing is a process for making an indented image in a material, using a metal die. There is no ink involved in this process, and the die used will also create the debossed design as a reverse embossed (raised) design on the other side of the card. 

Letterpress is a printing process with the main purpose of adding ink - Letterpress was not designed with the purpose of making an indent, however this is a result of the process. We offer blind letterpress, which is the same process as letterpress just without using any ink - this is offered as an option to create an impression on one side of the cardstock without affecting the other side of paper like the debossing method will.

This blind letterpress process is not the same as traditional debossing and will have a bit more subtle effect, as debossing will create a much deeper indentation than letterpress.  Blind letterpress is useful for one ply orders since it will not show an emboss on the opposite side.

We can offer colour matching (and even Pantone colours) on Letterpress – however there still can be some minimal colour shift.

Yes, the amount of pressure used for letterpress products can be specified by adding a note during the order process. This will affect the impression left in the finished product. Please contact our Customer Service team to ensure that the note was received and to verify that it can be achieved.

Although there is a minimum level of pressure that has to be used, letterpress impressions cannot be very deep like the deboss method. For a more pronounced impression, you may want to consider a deboss or emboss order.

We can process Letterpress jobs with up to twenty colours – however there are strict requirements for this type of job.

For designs that have more than three colours – these will need to be requested via a custom order. Please request a Print Quote and upload your print-ready file for review. An estimator will assess your design and will notify you if we can accept the job.

For standard orders of single or double sided letterpress business cards, we accept a maximum of three spot colours (or "passes"). Below is a breakdown of the variations:

1 pass

• 1 colour one side only

2 passes

• 1 colour front side, 1 colour back side OR
• 2 colours one side only

3 passes

• 2 colours front side, 1 colour back side OR
• 3 colours one side only

The use of the same ink-colour on both sides of the card is counted as two separate passes. For example, if the colour black is used on both sides of the card and magenta is used on the front side only, it would be considered as a three colour letterpress business card.