Perhaps the more important question to ask is what am I interested in printing/think I can make a living printing.  Are you looking at wedding/stationery?  Broadsides/posters?  Business cards etc??Surprised your friends didn’t gush about Vandercooks, since that seems to be a very popular press.  The FAG is the Swiss version of the Van…[Read more]

A lot would depend on your composition imposition process.  If you are running polymer and working with a digital front end, then digital proofs should be more than sufficient.  However, on a high end job, or using a “new” brand of paper/ink/plate, proofs would be valuable in evaluating results in house, or to spec with customers.  If you ou…[Read more]

In most production shops, a sheet such as this would be printed on an envelope, so there’s a handy place to keep samples, art, revisions, proofs and whatever other stuff winds needing to be with the job for future reference.  Mine are printed on 6 x 9 inch envelopes, and while needing to have a few revisions (customer info), here is a sample of…[Read more]

Actually, a flat spot on a Morgan Expansion truck would merely have the roller ride harder on the form.  A flat spot on a roller (caused by leaving the rollers on the ink disk) will cause complete non-inking that does move around.  I changed out a roller with a flat spot and it vastly improved things–now to get rid of the other roller that has a…[Read more]

Pardon my frumpy production questions but:How long are the print runs you intend?Big Solids?Need to print quickly?Have a lot of time to devote to printing?Frankly, from a production point of view, I’d certainly recommend the C&P’s, but if you’re biggest run in 30 or so pieces, better to devise a frisket/register system for the Challenge or Poco. …[Read more]

For long term storage it’d be metal or glass.  For medium term storage WAXED paper cups.  Under no circumstances is plastic really good, as the ink solvents will outgas through the plastic, leaving the ink as  a skin on the outside of the cup.  Plastic is good for a day or two, but for more than that, use something else.

You would pretty much create a die line that is 5 or 10 percent larger than your art and have a steel rule die made.  When die cutting, if you can do it right, you can “kiss-cut” the label stock so that you have a waste lip that can be peeled back, rather than a full cut out label that you have to separate the adhesive layers on.  Of course a l…[Read more]

Well, congratulations! That said, I presume that your business has risen to the level where it is making enough money to pay the monthly rent of having a commercial space, or that you intend to invest enough effort to create inventory to run a retail operation. I can certainly see the advantages of having the shop at a different location from t…[Read more]

Hmmm…    When I change rollers, I do the following:    Pull chase and run rollers to halfway down the chase area–this is where the springs have the least tension.    Remove the single roller first, otherwise it gets in the way later.    Working at the right side roller saddle/bracket, put my thumb at the top corner of the saddle and lever out t…[Read more]