How to Design for Letterpress

Letterpress can push your design to the next level, but before letting your imagination soar, it is important to know the limits and possibilities of letterpress printing. Here are some helpful tips on how to design for Letterpress.

1. Know your medium

Letterpress is a wonderful, time-tested process with unique qualities. Before even beginning your design, there are a few things to keep in mind about how Letterpress works.

Letterpress is a spot color printing process

When designing for Letterpress, it is important to remember that you’re dealing with a spot color printing process, and not the 4 color (CMYK) process. Where the 4 color process matches your on-screen colors by combining percentages of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black, a spot color process is very specific, using pure color rather than a mixture of CMYK. It is very important to reference your spot colors in person, and not simply rely on the on-screen rendition, as this can be vastly different from the actual Pantone color. Pick your colors in person using PMS, or the Pantone Matching System, then use those specific colors in your design (This post is written for Adobe Illustrator, but Photoshop and InDesign also contain Pantone swatches).

Letterpress inks are translucent and will overlap

Letterpress inks are thinned out and translucent to best work with the equipment. What does this mean for your design? If you have overlapping elements, the colors may blend unfavorably once printed. Do not overlay objects and design elements unless you want their colors to blend (you may preview this effect by switching transparency mode to “Multiply”). Of course, you can certainly use this feature to your advantage to achieve new colors without paying for additional inks.

Every color is printed separately

This might already be apparent based on the previous Letterpress qualities, but every color in your design will be printed separately, and you will need to separate these colors for your printer. In Illustrator, it is easy to put each color on its own layer (described later in this post). The image below shows one color of our 3 color business cards, separated into its own layer:
Note that photographs, full-color imagery and gradients will not print well unless you know how to separate your colors (using techniques like halftones).

Letterpress literally ‘presses’ your imagery

Letterpress always makes an impression. When you send a printer your separated design, every layer/color is etched onto its own metal plate. This metal plate is then coated with your specified spot color and pressed onto the paper to apply the ink, creating an impression in the process. A light impression is called a “kiss.” A deep, noticeable impression is called a “bite.” For our business cards, I requested a “bite” on the front and a “kiss” on the back (putting a deep impression/bite on both sides of your design will show through to the other side).

2. Create your design accordingly

Now that you know more about what Letterpress can offer, you can begin developing your design. I used and recommend Illustrator, as it provides crisp designs that are easily translated to this printing technique. A few tips for your design:

Sketch it out first. This is important for any design, but especially a project as costly as Letterpress. You want to ensure you are completely satisfied with your design before investing in this technique.
Keep Letterpress constraints in mind. Do not use full-color images, extremely small type, or razor thin strokes. Use techniques like halftones and tints with purpose, and keep in mind that they might not always show up as they would with an offset press.
Utilize the benefits of Letterpress, such as a kiss/bite or by taking advantage of translucent inks to create a third color. You can also get fancy with custom die-cuts (notice the 3-corner die cut on my design below).
Choose your colors wisely. Color can be a great asset to your design, if utilized properly, and remember to use spot colors, not CMYK.

Here is the finalized mock-up of my design:

3. Prepare your design for print

Printers will ask for your files in whatever best fits their work flow and setup. With that in mind, here are some general file preparation tasks that should make your printer’s life easier:

Separate your colors

Unless you’re paying a fee to have this done for you, you will need to separate your colors before sending your file to print. To separate your colors in Adobe Illustrator:

First be sure that your artwork is all set. Save this editable art file in case you want to make changes later on.
Once you’ve saved, choose “Save As” and name it something straight forward, like “Business Card Front.”
Group your objects together (Object > Group). In my case, I grouped all of the shapes and text.
Outline any live text (Type > Create Outlines) and then expand any stroked objects (Object > Expand).
With your group selected, open your Pathfinder window (Window > Pathfinder) and click the “Merge” button under “Pathfinders.” This will ensure that nothing is accidentally overlapping.
At this point, all of your colors should be on the same layer, everything grouped and merged into one object.
Use your Direct Selection Tool and select one of your colored objects.
In your top menu bar, click “Select > Same > Fill Color.” This will select every object with that same spot color.
Without deselecting this color group, create a new layer (Layers window > Create New Layer).
Move your selection to the new layer – Edit > Cut > Select your new layer in the layers palette > Edit > Paste in Front (you must choose “Paste in Front” to keep everything aligned).
Once your selection is on your new layer, regroup it (Object > Group). This layer should now have every object from the one selected spot color.
Repeat this process for remaining spot colors.
Once every color is on its own separate layer, save the file. If you have a double-sided design, save each side as its own separate file.

In the example below, the gold objects are on layer one, the red “web” bubble is on layer 2, and the deep red “creative strategy” bubble in on layer 3:

Pull your bleeds

If you want your design to go right to the edge, you will need it to “bleed.” This simply means expanding the color/imagery past the trim mark. A good rule of thumb is to expand your bleeds at least 1/8″ past your trim marks. For example, if your finished business card is going to be 3.5″ x 2″, your design should be at least 3.75″ x 2.25″ with bleeds included. Note: You should get specifics from your printer before finalizing your file, to ensure your file meets their specifications.

Utilize your given space

When printing mass quantities, it is usually cost effective to print more than one design at a time. In my case, I placed my business card design 4 times on the same file, to decrease press runs and therefore, decrease cost. By printing 4 cards at once, space, time and resources are used efficiently. Here is the design after the first color was pressed (notice how different this printed gold color is compared to my original on-screen mock-ups):

4. Double check, then send to print

Once you’ve finished your design, separated your colors, checked your bleeds and margins, and specified any final details like foil stamping or die-cuts, then you are ready to roll. Save your files in an acceptable format, send them off and wait to see how your freshly Letterpressed design comes out! Most printers will also bring you in to do press checks, but if not, always request press checks for Letterpress, to ensure that what’s being printed is exactly how you want it before the entire order goes through.

Our newly printed examples

Check out some photos of the recently finished 3 Roads Media business cards below. Special thanks to Denver’s own Foils + Dies for the beautiful finished products.

The final product

Design details:

Created using Adobe Illustrator CS5
3-color wrap-around design
3-corner die cut
Deep “bite” for front design/light “kiss” for back design
Font: Rockwell