Frequently Asked Questions
Embossing is the process of raising an area on the page. The process of embossing is achieved using two plates. There is a male plate and a female plate, which press together with the sheet in between to create the emboss. This is done under very high pressure to make the emboss sharp and permanent.
As this is a two-sided process, you can see the indent on the back side of the item that is being embossed. This can be done on most stocks, both light and heavy. Some stocks are better suited to this process and will allow us to make a more pronounced emboss.
Debossing is the process on indenting into a sheet of card. Unlike embossing this is usually done with only one plate pressing from the front. The process of letterpress and foil stamping both naturally create a debossed effect when being applied. In order to achieve a strong effect using debossing it is important to use the right stock. Thinner stocks and those that are more dense or coated will not give a noticeable debossed effect. Ideally you would choose a soft, heavy uncoated stock for this process.
Foil is a specialty printing process using heat and pressure to apply a thin layer of metal to an item. When foil stamping this is done with a metal (magnesium) block which has your artwork on it being pressed onto the page. Our digital foil process gets away without having to use a block which is why it's cheaper for short runs. Instead it uses clever technology with the glues to know where to stick.
Foil printing is the only way to get a truly metallic look on a product. There are other ways of printing gold colour but nothing compares to foil!
There is also another category of foils called pigment foils. these include rich colours otherwise not achievable with inks and also white. White foil remains the best way to print white onto a dark surface (such as black card or kraft boards).
Letterpress is the process of direct printing onto a page. This is done with raised letters with ink applied literally being pressed onto the page. The letterpress process was the dominant way of printing for hundreds of years since printing was invented in the 1400's. In the 1970's letterpress was overtaken as the main form of printing by offset presses which were faster and more accurate but In the last 10 years letterpress has had a resurgence as a craft. Today people love the beautiful tactile nature of letterpress printing. This process allows us to use a much wider range and weight of card stocks from kraft cards through to stocks made from 100% cotton.
Letterpress is printed one colour at a time so each colour is a custom mixed ink, a new printing plate and a new set up on the press. As a result most jobs are considered by the number of colours used (i.e. 1 colour, 2 colour or 3 colour jobs)
Please email us your design using the artwork specs details here on our website: ARTWORK FILE SET UP. Make sure you let us know the quantity you need and if there are any special details such as custom card stocks if required.
Turnaround does vary somewhat depending on the job. A standard digital printed job may only take 2-3 working days but letterpress and foil work is more likely to take 7-10 working days. If you have a deadline you need to meet please let us know. We will do our best to get your products to you in time!
When you order with us we will always send you a quote. When you accept the quote and either sign off or supply the artwork we will begin the job. If you are a new customer we will email you the invoice. You will need to make payment on the invoice before we begin the job.
If you are paying remotely we encourage an online bank transfer. For overseas clients you can pay by wire transfer or paypal. If you are collecting in store we accept credit card, eftpos and cash at our premises. Please note paypal and wire transfers incur a surcharge.
This depends on what you are ordering. If you order a digitally printed item we can do a printed proof for you free of charge. If you order digital foil we can do a printed proof for a small charge of $20 +GST. If you order offset, letterpress or foil stamping we cannot do printed proofs. The reason for this is that with these processes most of the cost is incurred in getting plates made and setting up the press before printing can begin.
Please note printed samples can be collected at our studio. If we send via a courier it will also incur a courier fee.
Again this depends. If you get us to do your design you will always get a digital proof to sign off before we proceed to printing. If you supply your files but they are not print ready artwork files then we will also provide a pdf proof once your file is ready for printing. If you are supplying files that are already 'print ready' then there is little point in us supplying a pdf to you as it will simply be a copy of what you have sent us! Just note please check all artwork carefully and thoroughly. While we take all care and always look for issues we claim no responsibility for errors in files once they have been supplied or signed off by you.
A merge print is whenever you want to add something that changes from copy to copy. An example of this is a wedding invite with each guest's name printed directly onto the invite. Merge printing is possible with digital printing processes including our digital foil. Merge prints are not possible with offset, letterpress or foil stamping.
If you are wanting to do a merge print it is preferred if you let us set this up at our end. This is especially true for digital foil. In this case you need to supply us with a 'master copy' of the artwork with one name in place (I recommend using the longest name to ensure it fits). You then also need to supply the list of names as an excel spreadsheet and details of the font you have used for the name. If this font is an unusual font you may also need to supply us with a copy of the font.
Yes we can send you samples. It helps if you can let us know what you are interested in and we can make sure we send you relevant samples. We send out samples via the post for free or if you would prefer them to be sent via courier we will just charge you the courier costs.
Most of the time we do not have minimum order quantities. Obviously if you are ordering wedding invites and only need 30 there's little point ordering 50 or 100! However depending on the print processes we are using there is often a point where ordering less does not really reduce the cost. This is especially the case with offset, letterpress and foil stamping.
The one exception to this is business cards. in some categories (digital printing) we have a MOQ of 50 cards and with our offset options there is a minimum of 250 cards.