If your design contains a sizable area of ink coverage, black on black ink/foil, or any other low contrast color combination, this disclaimer page is for you. While large areas of ink coverage can be accomplished with letterpress, there are some properties inherent to letterpress printing.
Please read the following and discuss any concerns with us.
1.) LARGE FLOODS OF COLOR ARE NOT IDEAL FOR LETTERPRESS
Solid colors are difficult to control and there will be some color variation throughout your print run. Some prints may have darker ink coverage, some may have lighter ink coverage. We keep a sharp eye on consistency while printing, but color on letterpress is added and controlled manually by hand.
2.) SOLID AREAS MAY APPEAR “SALTY”
It may be necessary to print with less ink coverage in solid areas of ink in order to keep details in your artwork crisp. The resulting mottled ink appearance is referred to as “saltiness”. Depending on the color you have chosen in combination with the paper type & color, there may be more or less saltiness in the final prints. Darker colors on a textured cotton stock demonstrate the most salty appearance and light colors on a smooth stock demonstrate a less salty appearance.
3.) LARGE SOLID AREAS DO NOT OFFER IMPRESSION
Solid floods of color do not generally make use of the deboss impression possible with letterpress printing. Text, lines and smaller patterns represent ideal artwork while graphic elements or text reversing out of solid areas do not. Knocked out graphic elements in your artwork will not create much, if any, noticeable impression into the paper.
4.) LARGE AREAS OF IMPRESSION CAUSE SHEET CURLING
Letterpress with heavy impression is physically altering the thickness of paper. With large areas of artwork under heavy impression, the sheet may want to bubble or curl. The more artwork area on a press sheet, the less likely it is that the final printed piece will lay completely flat.
5.) LARGE AREAS OF INK AND A BLEED DESIGN CAN CAUSE EDGE IMPERFECTIONS
When you have a large area of ink coverage and combine that with a bleed design (the ink runs off the edge of the card), you will sometimes have imperfections around the edge of the card where the blade pulls the cotton fibers part.
6.) FINE TYPE AND AREAS THERE ARE KNOCKED OUT (NOT FLOODED) MAY BE SLIGHTLY FILLED IN
To achieve a nice flood of ink, it takes a lot of ink. When you have white areas inside this flood, the ink may sometimes seep into the white areas due to the cotton fibers in the paper. If you want perfectly crisp lines, floods of ink are not the best combination with fine or detailed areas within the flood.
7.) DESIGNS THAT HAVE WHITE ON WHITE, BLACK ON BLACK, OR ANY LOW CONTRAST COLOR COMBINATION WILL NOT BE GUARANTEED FOR LEGIBILITY
What is legible or readable is a standard that varies from person to person. For this reason, CottonPaperie will make no claims to legibility for designs that use low contrast color combinations. The customer accepts 100% of the responsibility in a design being readable or legible if a low contrast combination is chosen. 8.) A BLIND DEBOSS PRINTED OVER LETTERPRESS INK CAN CAUSE TEXT TO BECOME FLATTENED AND LESS CRISP
When printing a blind deboss, we recommend that the blind deboss is not printed on top of text or other design elements. Printing a blind deboss over text can cause the text to become flattenedd and have a smudged appearance. Cotton Paperie makes no guarantees how text will look if a blind deboss is printed over the text.
If you decide to proceed with your current design, we will require written confirmation (via email) that you have received and read the above disclaimer and will accept the final product knowing that it has been letterpress printed and produced as professionally as possible.
