Impressed by Letterpress

It was interesting to learn about letterpress printing at the National Print Museum workshop by printing a letterhead based on the letterhead I produce on the computer.   I had fun; doing the 36pt “Menteith” was a doddle; the instructor, Con, was great, and very helpful when it came to letterspacing “CONSULTING”; but, boy, 8pt text takes a long time when done by hand, especially when you don’t know the layout of letters in the case. Dropping the type after you’ve finished and having to squint each time at both the piece of type and the case layout diagram to work out where to put it back takes even longer.

The original:

Original letterhead

Hopefully the only reverse the company experiences:

Type ready to be printed

Hot on the press:

Letterhead on the press

Impressed by letterpress:

Letterpress letterhead