In the United States market, hot metal is a hot topic. The country’s letterpress printing industry is very developed. Many people have learned the necessary embossing skills at school or as apprentices, and now the letterpress printing factories generally employ a few employees. Fifteen years ago, the main business of such printing plants was the printing of invitations, stationery, tickets, monochromatic and bi-color flyers, and small posters. However, with the development of the times and technological progress, letterpress printing was gradually replaced by offset printing. Printing is also seen as an ordinary manufacturing process, rather than a technology with cultural heritage.
The American Toppan Printing Factory knows the advantages of letterpress printing technology (compared with lithographic offset printing). Full Circle Press, the Full Circle Press, said: "It can give prints a distinctive look - even feels different from offset. Its tactile and embossing depth can cause dramatic changes in prints. People It is widely believed that the reason why Toppan Printing can survive under the constraints of offset printing is to have its own uniqueness, and although its market demand is much smaller than offset printing, the overall development trend of this industry is still very healthy.
Scale problem
Then, why can the embossing technology only thrive in the United States but cannot take root in other countries? According to Marjorie Wilser, owner of Three Toad Press in California, USA, “The United States has unique conditions for developing the letterpress printing industry. We not only have a large number of letterpress printing machines and people interested in this technology, but also universities and colleges. There are perfect training programs.†But Robert Lilley, a letterpress printing specialist, has a different attitude. He said: “The United States has Martha Stewart, famous for printing letter of invitations using a letterpress printing machine. She has caused many people to pay attention to this technology. Whether it is Martha Stewart's promotion of the increase in market demand, or universities have strengthened the training of relevant technical personnel. In short, the resources of the American letterpress printing industry are far better. In the UK."
U.S. employees are also very keen to promote letterpress printing technology worldwide. Judith Berliner recently gave a speech entitled "Impressed with Letter Press" at a forum hosted by Paper Specs, a US paper network, to promote printpress technology to print buyers around the world. Nearly 200 listeners listened to Berliner about the quality of letterpress printing and how to identify a letterpress print job. Berliner explained: “The color of the embossed job is very lively, because the ink can directly penetrate the paper, and the offset printing often has to pass the ink in an indirect way, and it is also necessary to dilute them with water. When using a letterpress printing machine, We can quickly shut down or change paper, so we can print the same effect on two different grades of paper. In addition, we can use a letterpress printing machine to print on heavier paper because these papers will be printed It's always stable.†What's shocking is that Full Circle Press also allows listeners participating in the forum to express their views on this ancient and modern technology.
Such forums are almost unimaginable in the United Kingdom. However, the British Toppan Printing Factory has also seen the huge potential of this market and is trying to make use of these opportunities.
Take the example of Incline Press in Oldham. Graham Moss, owner of the company, was very interested in file protection and book repair, and thus contributed to the creation of Incline Press. In 1990, Moss purchased a small press for the production of labels on the spine, and from then on began to have a keen interest in the application of the press. After printing a series of yellow pages and cards for friends and relatives, Moss became a professional book printer. He said: "The letterpress printing technology and its value in the arts have been buried for more than thirty years. We need to make appropriate publicity. Otherwise, nobody would regard letterpress printing as an art or craft."
But Moss does not think this is a bad thing. He said: “We can use letterpress printing as an industry to rebuild, and each school can also use the embossing process as a compulsory course for graphic designers. But the letterpress printing Not only does this need to be developed,†he said in an evaluation of Oxford's hardcover book printing exhibition held every two years: “From the standpoint of the exhibition, there are many people who are interested in letterpress printing in addition to the popular Internet technology. It's amazing."
The emergence of modern letterpress printing presses provides the UK with a new opportunity to combine ancient technology with modern civilization. Helen Ingham is a British letterpress printing expert. She was originally a graphic designer and entered the field of letterpress printing while studying at the Central Saint Martins School of Design Art. Ingham currently has a stamping studio in Luton, which provides customers with printing services for posters, cards, beer coasters and business cards. She said: "By integrating different processes together, we can produce a lot of exciting innovative products."
Far ahead of the United States
In the course of his studies, Ingham moved to the Hatch Show Print Printing Plant in Nashville for an internship and began to study the similarities and differences between the United States and the United Kingdom. She said: “Compared with the United Kingdom, the United States is full of letterpress products everywhere, especially after the Second World War, large-scale production has prompted people to increase investment in advertising and printing. In addition, the United States University There are also a lot of letter presses and printing plants in the country, depending on their economic strength and space resources."
At Tufnell Park in London, two other graduates from St. Martin’s University are fighting for their own letterpress printing. In a 1.2-meter-wide letterpress shop, Chrissie Charlton and Vicky Fullic used their Adana hand-printing presses to print everything from handkerchiefs to calendars for their customers. Of course, when doing graphic design, They still use Apple Computer.
In the United States, letterpress printers always mix different technologies together. As the representative of a new generation of letterpress printers, Matt Borghi, owner of The Future of Letter press, creatively combines Apple computers with hand-held printers. He said: "If you still want to stay in the letterpress printing market, you must allow yourself to have multiple production capabilities such as offset printing, Toner printing, and variable data printing."
So, does the British Toppan Printing Factory still have the chance to reshape its glory? The high-end stationery shop Paperchase has now begun to use a letterpress printing machine to produce greeting cards. Although some people think that they can't change the fact that Letterpress printing is declining, Moss thinks that people's pursuit of the recovery element will certainly promote letterpress printing to a certain extent. Tim Honnor, head of Piccolo Press, believes that designers have become the main force in creating market demand. He said: “Because many schools have set letterpress printing as the basic course of graphic design, some designers can understand the unique advantages of letterpress printing. We are trying to promote this technology. We think that the printing is very beautiful. , so I hope other people can also realize this. Of course, they may also be persuaded to invest in this technology."