It’s not exactly what they teach in letterpress school, but I like to use graph paper. It provides horizontal and vertical lines that are so helpful when I’m registering. I have tympan paper laying around, but graph paper (with proper packing) seems to works well for me. I use a nice clean sheet every time. It’s very inexpensive and it goes into…[Read more]

what type of mylar do you use? I’m open to something different just want it to fit nicely on the press

You don’t necessarily need to used oiled tympan paper… I use a lot of brown paper as well as mylar bought in rolls. It works just fine and is much cheaper!

Hey there! In a pinch, you can use tyvek (like priority mail envelopes from the post office) . . .

If you are using polymer the line weight needs to be .25 pt or higher. Otherwise there is no guarantee that the lines will hold. Make sure to pay attention to the weight of the serifs on your type- that is one area that I have found a lot of people overlook.Good luck!

thanks jen! i admire your work very much, makes me want to do only metal and wood.

If you’ve scanned or gotten the images at at least 600dpi, and preferably as black and white bitmaps, you’ll be fine (though I only have experience with magnesium). If the res is too low or you don’t change them to black and white, then you’ll see a halftone screen in them, which isn’t so nice. Hope that helps!Jen

Funny, just ran a job and experienced some paper warp! Nothing major, but it was still there. It happened on the first color, but not really the other three. I was using Lanaquarelle 140# on my Windmill. This has never happened with the other stocks that I frequently use, like Reich’s Savoy, Lettra, Mohawk Superfine on the Windmill or my…[Read more]

It does, but I think only if the paper is damp or if it’s going around a cylinder . . . or if the press involves water or dampness!

i asked her to be more clear with her question, she has experience with letterpress.”I should be clearer..I meant the paper stretches the more times you send into press”does this really happen?thank you for your time,ondine

That’s funny! I don’t have any litho experience, but could it be that they were thinking of the paper warping as the cylinder or blanket got warm, or something? I think you can safely answer “an infinite number!”

Have you tried painting the edges with Matte Medium first? Might help prevent bleeding.

Thanks, I looked over both websites online so far, but neither had any that I could find. Since it’s a rare item, it might not be listed. I’ll contact them about it. Thanks for a hint. 🙂

I know that both John Barrett of Letterpress Things and NA Graphics have had these in the past. I’m pretty sure NA Graphics has them custom made every once in a while and John get some from them when they do it. If you haven’t contacted either of them, they should both be in the Briar Press yellow Pages.