Letterpress Inks & Colours.

What inks do you use?

We mainly use rubber based inks which dry by absorption. We also use oil based inks which dry by oxidation.

Which Pantone’s should I use?

We match our inks to the PANTONE Matching System (PMS). Choose your spot colours from the PANTONE Solid Uncoated colour book. You can also select from this library in Adobe software. Please provide a PMS Uncoated colour reference with your artwork.

If you can’t provide a Pantone Solid Uncoated reference we can mix the inks to match most other swatches such as CMYK or RGB, however we cannot guarantee the colours will look how you intended.

I don't have access to a Pantone book, what do I do?

If you are unable to provide the correct colour reference we can match to a swatch of paper, fabric or even a cutting from a magazine. We have even matched inks to a bridesmaid’s dress in the past!

Can I have white ink on dark stocks?

Letterpress inks are more transparent than opaque therefore inks on light paper work better than light coloured inks on dark papers. Unless this is the desired effect we recommend keeping to light coloured papers.

Printing on dark papers is possible and we can achieve some striking results printing a transparent white or tint. Metallic colours are not completely opaque but can print well onto dark papers with striking results.

For optimal results we would advise printing a hot foil for an opaque print. Read more about Hot Foil.

Can you print a large solid area?

Large solids do not print as well as other printing techniques. The texture of the paper will show through the ink and appear uneven and patchy. We sometimes print with more pressure to help print solids and this can cause the paper to buckle. We cannot guarantee a solid flat area of colour over a certain size and will need to view your artwork before we commit to print.