Letterpress, a 500 year old craft, is a relief printing process. The basic theory and practice have remained essentially unchanged over the past five centuries. The raised portions of the typeface form the printed image area. The recessed areas, do not print, and create the negative space surrounding the image. Letterpress printing imparts a a subtle, embossed impression into the surface of the paper.
Printing the image begins with the typeface, ornaments or engravings carefully composed, fitted together, then locked into an iron frame called a chase. The chase is positioned in the press in such a way to allow the rollers to pass over the image, inking only the raised portion of the type and designs. Each sheet of paper is individually hand fed onto a smooth surface called a platen. As the press closes, the raised, inked image makes contact with the paper and prints the impression.
Many of the type styles being used in our everyday lives have evolved from the original families created centuries ago for the letterpress process. The first moveable type styles were designed to imitate the hand-lettered quality of calligraphy used for early books and documents. Those typefaces inspired many families of styles. From those typefaces, classics evolved and beautifully endure the test of time. Today there are talented artisans involved in the 'art of the letter' dedicated to their craft and keeping letterpress a viable craft.
Our studio presents to you some of the those classic typefaces, whose distinctiveness of character and beauty of design are deeply rooted in the history of printing. We proudly preserve a part of that richness at Fine Point.
This is an old proofing press from a newspaper company in Philadelphia. I use it as a place to mix my inks.