Letterpress beginnings...

Back in 2008 I wrote a blog post about buying my Adana press on eBay as I planned to move over from printing cards with my Gocco to Letterpress. Sadly, my plans were put on hold due to lack of space (and probably the steep learning curve required!) I did buy some lovely Crane's Lettra paper though, which has been sitting in a box waiting to be put to good use, along with various tubes of Adana ink and other essentials.

On Saturday I finally got everything set up in my office; I ended up covered in ink, nothing new there, but it was enjoyable working with the press and I'll certainly be printing again soon using some of my own designs.

Here is my first official Letterpress card, made using a vintage block of a Scottish Terrier. Available to purchase on Folksy & Etsy, as usual.

Typesetting Lesson

Last week I spend an enjoyable day with Mike, Treasurer of the British Printing Society and his two cats. He is my letterpress mentor and very kindly offered to teach me the rudiments of typesetting, using one of his Adana 8x5 printers.

I'd already read "Type and Typesetting", published by Adana, but like many people I find it much easier to learn something while actually doing it. It was useful to have grasped the basics of Ems & Ens etc in advance though especially since maths was never my strong point.

Although I'm going to be using my Adana for very simple words and phrases in my card designs, I think it's important to be shown how to print the correct way. Using a composing stick for the first time was interesting and I'm certainly not going to break any records for speed, but it was immensely satisfying to see something I'd typeset being printed.

I realise now that I should have taken a series of instructional photos for this blog, but hey ho, you'll just have to watch this fabulous 1950s video I found instead. Pay attention because there are questions at the end. Answers on a postcard please....

My Adventures in Letterpress

I am very excited by my new toy, an Adana 8x5 Letterpress which I recently bought on eBay. My press dates from around the early 1950s and is showing a few signs of neglect, but nothing that a bit of tender loving care can't sort out. A few parts were missing but I'm hoping to pick up some bits and pieces shortly before I begin work on my first card designs. I've also just joined the British Printing Society which has some useful information and links on Letterpress.

I love all the terminology associated with letterpress printing. I think that getting to grips with it all is going to keep me busy for quite some time...