A while back the local Habitat for Humanity approached my studio and asked if we would print postcards for an upcoming fundraiser. There’s a lot of work involved, but I’ve already learned a lot about letterpress printing from this project. It’s so different from any kind of printing I’ve done before–I’m glad to be learning the ropes from Ed Rettig, who’s been in the business most of his life.
First I designed the postcard layout in InDesign. Then we sent the file to Beaver Engraving up in Portland and they sent us back the polymer plate in this picture. It’s a cheaper and more modern alternative to traditional lead type, but is printed similarly.
Here are some of the finished prints–later they’ll be cut down to postcard size. Ed let me do a good portion of the printing this afternoon, so I got pretty familiar with the process and the press…
…pictured here. I would have gotten some action shots of the printing itself, but my hands were both busy and covered in ink. All in all, a good afternoon.
Christy Turner 