design + print process - sarah from parrott design studio:

I mix of all of my inks by hand using the Pantone Matching System {PMS}. Clients will send me things like paint chips or fabric swatches and I will find the perfect PMS color to match.

My press can be run by a small motor or human-powered by spinning the fly wheel on the left. I did not use the motor for two years, & ran the press entirely by my left arm. It was not until a very large project came my way that I decided to attach the motor {and I am very glad that I did!}


As the motor spins the flywheel, I turn the inking plate by hand {under the three moving rollers in this photo} until all of the ink is evenly distributed on the rollers & plate. My press is from 1898, so as you may imagine a few pieces are missing, but nothing that hinders the printing process or outcome, however I need to do many things manually, such as turning the inking plate. 


I use magnesium dies for all of my printing. Once my ink is ready, I place my die & furniture into the chase. The chase is a metal frame & the furniture are wood blocks of various widths & lengths that fill the chase for lock up. To the right of the die you will see a quoin, which is turned with a key to tighten everything in place in the chase. 


Here I am placing the chase into my press. As you will see the chase does not lie flat, therefore everything needs to be locked in place or it is going to move when the rollers ink it up. 


Locked & ready to go. 


Here you can see the rollers have gone over the die, inking the surface. 


Once the paper to be printed is lined up with the die, it is held in place with gauge pins on tympan, which is hard paper, inserted on the platen. Here the blank piece of paper is ready for the ink. 


Letterpress as we know it today is highly sought-after due to the impression made on the paper. This impression can be controlled by adjusting the packing {extra pieces of paper} behind the piece of paper to be printed or by adjusting the platen. I like the impression to be noticeable to the eye & by touch, but I do not like it when the impression is so deep the paper cracks or when the impression is really noticeable on the backside of the paper. Occasionally only a kiss, when the die just touches the paper & little to no impression is made, is acceptable, especially with double-sided jobs.


Voilà! The first color of the first invitation is complete. This particular invitation is only one color, so it only requires one pass through the press. If the design had two colors, then it would need to go through the press a second time once I completed the first color.